West Wants to Keep TPLF Relevant, Says American Analyst

Addis Ababa October 26/2022 (ENA) Many Western institutions, media and governments want to make the terrorist TPLF relevant in making Ethiopia ungovernable, the American political-economic analyst Lawrence Freeman told ENA.

The analyst underscored that Ethiopia has been under repeated attacks by these Western forces due to the country’s policy success and its potential in development in the African continent.

According to him, some forces in the West which have the tendency to control Africa have used the conflict in northern Ethiopia as a means to eliminate the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

As Ethiopia has been making significant military advancement in its counter offensive against TPLF, various western institutions, media and governments have come out threatening Ethiopia, he noted.

“Recently, Ethiopia has controlled the city of Shire, a militarily strategic place. According to reports, it is moving to Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region. This is an important military victory. Various western institutions, media and governments have come out threatening Ethiopia over the past two weeks.”

For him, this is the extension of the long term policy from forces in the West that do not want independent political leaders controlling African nations like the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Therefore, these forces have engaged in a constant destabilization of Ethiopia and try to make the country ungovernable.

“They want to make the TPLF relevant in making Ethiopia ungovernable. Now, if you look at Tedros Adhanom,  the Chief of WHO, you see that his statement really violates his position and he should consider resigning because he has really taken a very pro-TPLF position. As a member of a major organization of the UN, this really is a violation.”

The American analyst pointed out that forces in the United Nations, European Union and United States want to keep the TPLF around to sustain the divisive ethnic group in Ethiopian body politic, calling that “nonsense.”

Freeman also criticized the double standards of the West, repeatedly mentioning the northern  Ethiopian problem that of only Tigray the victim. But they  don’t mention the millions of people who have been displaced in Amhara and Afar regions.

He argues that they (the West) are  responsible for the problem in Ethiopia, adding that if there had been full support for the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from the very beginning, there would not have been this human suffering.

“If the international community, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken, US President Joe Bidden, the European Union and others had supported the government, this would have never  reached these conditions.”

The analyst also noted that at this time Ethiopia is under repeated attacks by the “Western oligarchal forces” due to the country’s policy success and potential in development in Africa.

This is the extension of the long-term policy from forces in the West he called “ oligarchal forces” which do not want independent political leaders to control the African  nations.

These forces don’t want to see the African government developing their nations, he pointed out.

“We saw many attempts to overthrow African leaders, assassinating them and throughout all sub-Saharan Africa actually.”

The analyst believes that it is because of the success of its policy as well as its potential for development that attracted the vicious attack on the Government of Ethiopia.

“People who understand geopolitics, the reason Ethiopia is under attack is because of its potential in development, its leadership, and economic development. This is not hard to understand,” Freeman underscored.

Despite the war in northern Ethiopia, the country is pursuing a path eliminating poverty and promoting development, including light industry and light manufacturing. Hopefully, the country will transform into heavy manufacturing, he elaborated.

The progress on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the nation’s independent industrial policy in manufacturing parks could be something that would be imitated by other African nations.

These successes by the prime minister and the Prosperity Party have brought about discomfort to  these oligarchal parties in the West, and now they  are fueling chaos in Ethiopia, the American analyst said.

They particularly, play the ethnic polarization card in Ethiopian body politic which  was introduced by TPLF, he pointed out.

“There is one nation, a Republic of Ethiopia. There is no Tigrayan nation, Oromo nation, and Amhara nation. There is one nation, that is Ethiopia. In fact, you have seen all the statements coming out of the US congress members, Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State and the UN which still treat Tigray as a legitimate nation and give equivalence to the actual nation and elected government of Prime Minister Abiy.”

At this time the Western  forces have been pressing the Ethiopian government to declare   immediate ceasefire in order to rescue TPLF, Freeman stressed, adding that “this indicates desperation in their part.”

Freeman believes that “it is important to militarily defeat the insurgent rebel group that has been trying to overthrow the elected government. The elimination of ethnicity as a political entity in Ethiopia is also important.”