Shabait.com (Asmara)
29 August 2007
editorial
Asmara — The regional unrest that has been caused by the war of aggression against Eritrea in 1998 using the border issue as a pretext has not yet been resolved. Although the issue was supposed to have found a solution through the decision adopted in April 2002, the process of implementation has been delayed for several years due to the US Administration's negative and unjust stance and its disregard for international laws and agreements. This no-war no-peace situation that has been ongoing for five years despite the dangerous consequences to the supremacy of law also implies declaration of war on our region's peace and stability. Moreover, this assertion of the law of the jungle over the destiny of the people of this region has created a dangerous situation.
The fact that the US Administration supported and encouraged the TPLF regime's instigation war of aggression against Eritrea can be verified though ample evidence. Washington's provision of massive political and military support to the TPLF in the ensuing wars is also not a well concealed secret. It is also a recent memory that the US had sought to secure Ethiopian interests by trying to incite political problems inside Eritrea as well as overthrowing the Government of Eritrea. The concealed intervention of the US to influence the decision of the Boundary Commission before the ruling was adopted is also a fact that should not be left unmentioned in the history of this dispute.
In keeping with the constant violation of international laws and principles, in January 2006, a junior US official, accompanied by TPLF leaders, had paid a visit to the surroundings of Badme, an area that had been awarded to Eritrea by the Boundary Commission but still remains illegally occupied by Ethiopia. Furthermore, following this lawless visit in gross violation of Eritrea's territorial integrity, this particular US official repeated word for word the excuses the TPLF regime has been spouting to evade the implementation of the Boundary Commission's final and binding ruling. She even went on to give a nonsensical 'proposal' that a referendum be conducted to determine the fate of Badme.
Even now the same official in a recent briefing claimed that the Boundary Commission's ruling "separates agricultural lands from their wells and is difficult to implement". Such a statement not only undermines the Algiers Agreement, signed under the mediation of international bodies including the United States but also reflects the US Administration's utter disregard for international laws and principles.
One of the reasons for the US Administration's negative and illegal stand against Eritrea might be because it chose Ethiopia as an instrument to secure its strategic security interests in the Horn region. Although the Government of Eritrea will not comment on Washington's choice of a stooge, it will not in anyway tolerate the United States' unlawful compromising of Eritrean people's lives and sovereignty to suit the interests of its agents. Hence, denouncing the US Administration's violation of international laws and principles is only a natural and legal response of a government that looks out for the interests of its country and people. And criticizing the US Administration when it is making a mistake is good not only for the Eritrean people but also for the US Administration itself.
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