Open Letter to Ethiopian Generals & Party Officials.
By Rasselas Weldemariam
This letter is particularly addressed to high Prosperity Party officials, including Gen. Abebaw Tadesse, Gen. Yilma Merdassa, Gen. Hassen Ibrahim, Gen. Getachew Gudina, and all other generals & colonels.
It is a wake-up call to stop committing crimes against the Ethiopian People.
Dictators possess the capability to manipulate and control their followers, frequently driving them to commit heinous crimes and atrocities. Numerous notorious dictators, including Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and Colonel Mengistu Hailemariam, persuaded their followers that their regimes would endure indefinitely, despite historical evidence revealing that dictators rise and fall.
After inciting their followers to commit such crimes, dictators often meet violent ends or flee, leaving behind blood-stained armies and cadres. Unfortunately, it is the blind followers who pay the biggest price.
In the case of Ethiopia, sadly, the army pledged allegiance to dictator Mengistu Hailemariam instead of Ethiopia. When it became evident that the army was on the verge of defeat, senior generals like General Fanta Belay, Demessie Bulto, and many others opted to force him out of the country while he was en route to East Germany. They made a significant error by showing excessive consideration towards him. They orchestrated a coup d’état to rescue the army from defeat, save young soldiers from perishing in a senseless war, and bring about peace. However, dictators possess a mesmerizing influence over mindless cadres and followers. Consequently, these unquestioning followers went on to obliterate the last chance for survival.
A few brigades of the airborne division proceeded to assassinate generals like Demessie Bulto and others on the streets of Asmara. Airborne commandos, led by a cadre named Mesfin Kebede, eliminated almost all the generals who were leading the Army in Eritrea. Following the massacre of the generals in the streets of Asmara, the dictatorial regime crumbled, resulting in defeat. As the army attempted to escape to Sudan, approximately ten thousand soldiers were mercilessly massacred by the EPLF. The aftermath was one of total humiliation, as the army was disarmed, subjected to humiliation, confined to concentration camps, and eventually released to beg on the streets to support their families.
Similarly, Hitler, convinced that his regime would endure for thousands of years, propagated beliefs in the superiority of the Aryan Race, deeming defeat unthinkable. However, when he initiated Operation Barbarossa—the invasion of the vast Russian territory—real generals recognized the ambitious nature of waging war on the Eastern front against British and American allies, along with a war of annihilation against the Soviet Union.
Hitler, a simple corporal and army messenger during the First World War, lacked education in military science, akin to Abiy Ahmed. Abiy Ahmed, too, served as a messenger and a basic radio operator, devoid of knowledge in military science.
So, generals like Field Marshal Rommel conspired to prevent Hitler from sealing the final defeat of Germany. They sought to eliminate Hitler to avert a disastrous defeat that resulted in 5.3 million casualties, with approximately 1.1 million dying in Soviet POW camps. The number of displaced Germans is estimated to be between 12.0 and 16.5 million. The West German government in 1958 estimated the death toll attributable to flight and expulsions at 2.2 million.
When danger looms, seasoned generals like Rommel and Demise Bulto foresaw it in the distance, but dictators remain blind to catastrophic failure. No doubt, Abiy will face defeat!
Hitler, akin to Mengistu, sought revenge by instructing loyal SS guards to assassinate the generals.
A message to Abiy’s Generals:
Consider Birhanu Jula, for instance. He is not a soldier in Semen Shewa; he was a soldier of Mengistu Hailemariam who surrendered to the TPLF and adopted his father’s name, Jula, for use by the TPLF to subjugate and harm his own ethnic groups and families.
I want to emphasize to other generals, such as General Abebaw, that dictators are not everlasting.
Despite the tricks and illusions of Abiy Ahmed, his regime will last a maximum of two and a half years. He will be ousted soon, either by a bullet or through the ballot box in two and a half years.
Abiy is the most reviled figure in Eritrea, Tigray, Amhara, Oromia, Gurage, Gammo, Welayeta, Somali, Somalia, the entire Orthodox Christian and Muslim communities, excluding a few Oromo extremists.
Even Protestant prophets, who once defended him, now prophesy about his inevitable demise in the Minilik palace. Almost unanimously, all Protestant preachers, who often claim to have a direct line to God, assert that Abiy’s time is up, and he will meet his end. While I don’t endorse their claims of having the prophets’ knowledge of God’s telephone number, I acknowledge their intuitions and capacity to draw logical conclusions. It seems evident that Abiy is already gone!
It’s not a complex algorithm that cannot be solved. Dictators consistently select the most ignorant and gullible individuals in society who lack independent thinking. They indoctrinate them, convincing them that Abiy is a god destined to live forever and rule for millennia, assuring them they can commit atrocities in his name without consequences, as their false deity will shield them.
Individuals like Gen. Abebaw, Temesgen Tiruneh, Sahelework Zewde, Dr. Birhanu Nega, Belete Molla, and Daniel Keberet believe Abiy is a god. For them, he is eternal, providing justification for killing, raping, and pillaging in the name of their demigod who they believe will protect them.
Abiy Ahmed, like all dictators, understands the necessity of deception, talking about what the people want until he secures power. Post-election, he exhibited animosity towards Ethiopia and Ethiopians. If he manages to survive a coup or an assassination attempt by his inner circle and bodyguards, he will face opposition from Fano in the north and east, and OLA from the west and south.
His time is limited. Therefore, the Ethiopian army should align its loyalty with Ethiopia and the Ethiopian people, not with a dictator.
Being ordered won’t exempt you from facing justice. Asserting that one was commanded to kill is not a valid defense in a court of law. Even if individuals receive such orders, it is within their power to decide whether to shoot and kill or to shoot and miss.
Similarly, a policeman interrogating a detainee can choose to record a statement or opt to inflict pain and suffering. A judge receiving instructions to obstruct justice has the choice to harm others or uphold life and the rule of law.
Engaging in killing without legal justification renders one a criminal. For example, General Abebaw cannot justify bombing and killing innocent people solely because Abiy ordered him to do so. He engages in killing for personal satisfaction, wealth, and gains land through these actions. He is essentially a mercenary who kills for profit.
Some may believe they can act with impunity, killing as they please, with plans to escape to the US if Abiy falls. However, this strategy will not be effective.