Short grass wanting to be tall

By Haileselassie Girmay

It is only two years back when two characters  featured in this article ostensibly postured to be  seen as champions for  peace at whatever costs,  forcing their views down the throats of  others  who happened to be under their  control or sphere of influence.

 If you can recall Clair Short The British  Secretary of State for  The International Development  told Ethiopians in an uncompromising language that Ethiopia better deployed  its resources to combat famine rather than waste the valuable resources in a futile war against Eritrea conducted  under the pretext of protecting its sovereign territory. This stance of the Secretary of State  for the International Development complied with what her Eritrean handlers at the time  effectively had wanted  her to express on their behalves.

A year ago down the line she was also  heard to saying that as long as she had access to Afghanistan to drop food packages to the needy, she would not care much  as to the consequences of the war and bombs raining on the nation.  

Now, a few day back  she had made a monkey of herself not by accident as some may want us to believe but as a  matter of pattern of a trait.

Clare was not under duress to speak out against the Prime Minster at the time and in the manner she did. She called him "Reckless" that he is , and wanted to be seen as a champion bearer of those who stood  against his desire to wage unholy war  because she thought the whole white world was turning against him. As the saying goes, "More catholic than the Pope" Clare   had stretched from pole to pole to be on top of every conceivable diametrically opposing things. By coming out against the Prime Minster she wanted steal  the lime light from those who opposed the war and shortly after   in a bizarre way  she came  round full circle and championed  the  predicaments of the Prime Minster whom he had boxed in himself in an intractable and no win situation with the rest of the world. By going against the Prime Minster first and coming to his rescue next, She has become Goliath and David at the same time. For in becoming so  she had managed to accomplished one major thing:  detracting the  issues  and focus of those who opposed war and let the devil out of the box. War is now looming and we shall simply count the victims.

We will never know if the British Parliament would have stopped the Prime Minster from going to war without UN mandate. History will always weigh heavily on Clare Short  as a woman who helped precipitated the war that could have possibly been prevented. This said I always suspect Clare Shorts as a woman of unsettled trait. It is a known fact that she had  abandoned her newly born  only child and only after birth, and only  met  him for the first time when he had turned forty years of age a couple years ago. I know she could have had serious personal problems preventing her from rearing the child but so do all women caught in similar problems. Yet some defy the odds and tighten their girdle and  look after their own babies. Clare did not and this says a lot about the  reliability of the person.

Likewise the authorities in Ethiopia who when urged to defend the country against the Eritrean aggression,  they  prevaricated for two years under the pretext that they would not wage war against a sovereign Eritrean state. For if they were to do so that would put them on a collusion course with the UN. Now they had to  go out of their way to show solidarity and support of the "Willing"  to three nations who are waging war that lacks United Nations mandate. Add to this the nations the Ethiopians leaders are sticking out their necks in  support, even though their support is extraneous, did more than  putting obstacles for Ethiopia to right wrong during the conflict with Eritrea.

Embarrassingly only two nations - if Eritrea is be considered as one -  from Africa are giving uncalled for and ineffectual support to this war efforts of the big nations.  If there is a sense of injustice perpetrated by the neighbouring Arab nation against Ethiopia in the past, this is not the time and the way to pay back. But I do not think it is a matter of principle that has brought this feckless gesture;  it is a question of personal interest of the political leaders to prolong their shelf  life in the absence of popular support. 

This is not Ethiopia's war and the country should stay clear out of it.

Short grass wanting to be tall.