Vicki Huddlestone and another former US diplomat in Addis wrote
this today on the NY Times. This is one of the most bizzare and outwardly dim-witted comment I have ever read from former US diplomata.
Third Para:
Sadly, Congress is poised to fuel the march toward war by passing a bill that threatens to cut off technical assistance to Ethiopia, one of our closest allies, if it does not, among other things, release political prisoners, ensure that the judiciary operates independently and permit the news media to operate freely. Ethiopia has already freed opposition leaders, reformed parliamentary rules to give opposition parties greater legislative responsibility and approved a new media law that meets international standards.
Are the writers implying cutting off assistance to Ethiopia could cause the border war? Or Is there something the Times editors erroneously left out which would have made this piece more rational than it appears to be?
Fourth Para:
A far better approach would be to buttress Ethiopia against threats to its survival — by helping it resolve its border conflict and ensuring that it reopens negotiations with insurgents and traditional leaders and permits international investigation of reported military abuses (including allegations of rape and murder). Ethiopia has begun this process by allowing the United Nations and humanitarian aid agencies to assist civilians in the Ogaden. A far better approach to what? To ensuring the respect of human rights? How incoherent, fallacious and pure non sense this article is is quite flabbergasting.