Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name…
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from the TPLF (D)evil.” (Lord’s Prayer adaptation.)
Thank God Almighty, We shall be delivered from the TPLF Devil soon!
Can you talk/negotiate with the Children of Lucifer?
It is official. At least from the Ethiopian Government’s side.
Redwan Hussien, National Security Advisor to PM Abiy Ahmed on October 20, 2022 tweeted “AUC has informed us that the Peace Talks is set for 24 Oct, 2022 to be held in South Africa. We have reconfirmed our commitment to participate.”
But terrorist TPLF has kept mum.
That’s because there will be NO NEGOTIATIONS!
A couple of weeks ago, terrorist TPLF agreed to travel to South Africa for “peace talks” but at the last minute chickened out.
The million-dollar question is: Is it possible to negotiate with the Children of Lucifer?
I have studied the negotiation strategies and tactics of the TPLF over the years and arrived at key empirically supported conclusions.
For the TPLF, negotiations are elaborate zero-sum games of deceit, duplicity, treachery, trickery, pretense and smoke and mirrors.
Infected with zero- sum thinking, TPLF leaders are convinced they can outsmart, outmaneuver, outfox, out manipulate, outplay, outperform, outcheat, outhustle and out bully their opponents.
They are convinced in any negotiation, they must win all the time and their opponents must lose every time.
In the past, those who have negotiated with the TPLF have made a Faustian bargain. They have sold their souls to TPLF to gain a few crumbs.
The “zero-sum” negotiating strategy of the TPLF
Fighting in the bush decades ago, the TPLF leaders perfected their negotiation strategy: Weaponize “negotiations” to annihilate your enemies.
In the bush, the TPLF would invite leaders of opposition elements, dissidents within its ranks and others it suspects or wants to destroy to a “negotiation”, wine and dine them and then literally slaughter them overnight.
On November 4, 2020, that was exactly what the TPLF did to the leadership and troops of the Ethiopian Northern Command. They invited them to a “discussion” over dinner and overnight slaughtered them.
Hours before the slaughter at the Northern Command headquarters, terrorist TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael negotiated for delivery of money to Tigray with PM Abiy Ahmed.
When PM Abiy airlifted 1.2 billion birr to Mekelle Airport, Debretsion had already launched his “menreqawi” (blitzkrieg) attack.
Few truly understand how the TPLF has cleverly and strategically used “negotiations” to seize and remain in power for 27 years!
In 1991, the TPLF used “negotiations” in London to swiftly install itself in power.
What a “negotiation” that was!
The TPLF hoodwinked Herman Cohen, then Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, at the negotiating table into announcing “the rebel leadership has assured us that they plan for a broadly based provisional government leading to a democratic constitution for Ethiopia.”
“Broad-based provisional government” ended up being a narrowly based minority apartheid state totally dominated by the TPLF.
For decades, every time the TPLF found its rear end in the ringer and boxed in, it squealed like a stuck pig, “We are ready to negotiate! We are ready to talk!”
For the TPLF, negotiations, discussions, mediation, discussion, etc., are all games.
Game of thrones.
Deadly games.
Zero-sum games. That means the TPLF always wins 100 percent of the time and everybody else loses 100 percent of the time.
Ultimately, negotiation for the terrorist TPLF is a “sick joke.” So said terrorist TPLF negotiator Getachew Reda.
A quick overview of TPLF use of “negotiations” strategies and tactics is instructive.
In 1984-85, when Tigray was undergoing severe famine, TPLF set up a scam organization called “Relief Society of Tigray” (REST) and negotiated with international NGOs for food distribution. TPLF leaders diverted $95 million of that aid for weapons purchases and other activities unrelated to famine relief.
In 2000, the TPLF negotiated to settle the dispute over Badme in a “final and binding” international arbitration. When Badme was awarded to Eritrea, the TPLF reneged and demanded further negotiations.
In 2006, TPLF leader Zenawi negotiated in “a handshake” with US General John Abizaid to wipe out Al Shabaab in Somalia. That handshake led to billons of dollars in U.S. military and other aid to Ethiopia. What is less known is the fact that Zenawi had also negotiated with Al Shabaab to continue minimal military presence so that Zenawi could use them as a boogeyman to milk the U.S. aid cash cow.
In 2008, in “elections for regional parliaments”, the TPLF won 1,903 of 1,904 seats. The TPLF won by 99.999 percent.
In May 2010, the TPLF “won” all the seats in “parliament” by 99.6 percent.
In May 2015, the TPLF “won” 100 percent of the seats in “parliament”.
Such total and complete zero-sum electoral “victory” occurred in a country where there are 79 registered opposition political parties.
In August 2007, the late TPLF leader Meles Zenawi “pardoned” 38 opposition political leaders to “give impetus to political negotiations in Ethiopia after more than two years’ crisis and stalemate.”
In October 2007, “in spite of continuing negotiations between the government and the opposition, the political environment continued to deteriorate.”
In the 2007 “negotiations”, the TPLF had a double zero-sum game “win”. It validated the 38 railroaded opposition leaders were actually criminals because they accepted a “pardon”, and 2) forced them publicly to “admit” crimes they never committed to receive a pardon.
In 2009, the TPLF engaged in “negotiations” for the release of political prisoners, only after the political prisoners “had signed a paper admitting they tried to overthrow the government in an ‘unconstitutional’ manner.” Double zero-sum game win for the TPLF again.
In 2009, TPLF thugmaster Meles Zenawi led the African climate change negotiators to the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen and delivered a zero-sum ultimatum: Fork over $40 billion or we will “delegitimize you.”
In 2010, the TPLF negotiated for the release of Birtukan Midekssa, the first female Ethiopian political party leader and current head of the Ethiopian Elections Commission, after she “apologized for denying being granted a pardon in 2007” and “imploring the prime minister to grant her a second pardon for her to be able to see her aging mother and child.”
In 2010, the TPLF engaged donors in “negotiations” to allow them to send election observers and called their election report “useless trash that deserves to be thrown in the garbage”.
In 2013, TPLF head honcho and current leader of the attack on the Northern Command Debretsion Gebremichael said, “Ethnic federalism is equality. TPLF supremacy is nothing but a conspiracy. To say Tigreans are supreme (everywhere), that is not the reality. That is a zero. Zero.” True. It is a zero-sum game for the TPLF.
In 2016, after the Addis Ababa Masterplan faced popular opposition, the TPLF said they wanted to negotiate the plan. Not a chance.
In 2016, when the first state of emergency failed to control the popular uprising, the TPLF again said they want to negotiate. No one was interested.
In October 2016, the TPLF showed their entire negotiating strategy when they massacred 800 plus people celebrating the Irrecha Festival in the town of Bishoftu, some 45 miles southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
In 2017, when the second state of emergency failed to control the popular uprising, the TPLF pleaded they want to negotiate. Too late.
Whenever the TPLF talked about negotiations, it also always tightened its political grip and continued its massacres, mass arrests, mass detentions and mass torture of innocent citizens.
Cry “negotiations” when drowning in the deep blue sea of oblivion
Today, the terrorist TPLF finds itself between the devil and the deep blue sea.
But I repeat myself.
I should have said, “The TPLF devil finds itself in the deep blue sea (a/k/a deep doo doo) and is sinking to the bottom fast.
As the TPLF drowns in its own sea of doo doo, its Western bankrollers, paymasters and press-titutes are drowning the world in lies, damned lies and disinformation.
The TPLF successfully weaponized the word “negotiation” to seize and keep power for 27 years.
In its September 11, 2022 statement, terrorist TPLF identified its spokesman Getachew Reda and one of its “generals,” Tsadkan Gebretensae, as leaders of its negotiating team at the African Union sponsored peace conference.
On July 5, 2021, the TPLF peace negotiator designee Reda told the Associated Press the idea of ceasefire and negotiations is a “sick joke”:
Translation:
So we have to make sure every inch of our territory is returned to us, to the rightful owners. Second, you need to get all the services. It could be air services, transportation services, electricity, telephone services and everything.
The people of Tigray are part of the Ethiopian Federation. They deserve every service the rest of the country gets. There’s no way we will negotiate about anything whatsoever until these services are restored to the people of Tigray.
Abiy government’s announcement of a unilateral ceasefire should be treated with the contempt it’s so richly deserves because it is so vacuous. It means nothing.
First and foremost, we destroyed his army and they are still fighting to hold onto territory. They have been destroying the livelihood of our people. They cut off lights. They cut off electricity. They have cut off telecom. They are doing everything to make life absolutely miserable for our people. And they tell you, they have unilaterally declared a ceasefire so our peasants can survive the planting season.
That is a joke. A very sick one.
So our response is, it should be treated with a contempt it so richly deserves. (Italics added.)
Like the African hyena in the jungle, the TPLF hyena on the prowl having temporarily escaped the trap says, “Contempt for ceasefire and peace negotiations.”
Reda has always categorically rejected the possibility of peace talks under the sponsorship of the African Union (AU) and has rejected the AU-designated mediator former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo.
Translation
Interviewer: How did you decide to change your mind from just a few weeks ago you were saying no talk under the umbrella of the African Union. Now you’re saying you’re open to peace talks.
Reda: Well, to set the record straight we have never rejected the role of the African Union. We know the African Union as a continental organization has a role to play in resolving conflicts in Africa.
(Translation of Amharic statement in last part of video above.)
Unless we get permission, the African union cannot mediate the negotiations. That’s it. Finished. What we’re saying is that we will not waste time with a person (President Obasanjo) who gives out sacramental bread in the name of St. Abiy (PM Abiy Ahmed).
Recently, terrorist TPLF “general” Tsadkan Gebretensae and leader of the TPLF negotiating team declared there is nothing to negotiate because the TPLF has already won the war.
Translation
What I am answering is the question, ‘After this, is it even possible to raise the question of negotiations?’ The war is finished. The conflict is getting finished in war. It is being finished in the war. With whom are we going to negotiate? They’re not giving us an alternative opportunity. Have forcing this the conflict in war. Therefore, it will end in war. The conditions that would prevent conclusion of the conflict by are now being cleared.
On September 11, 2022, terrorist TPLF raised the white flag and declared it want to negotiate. It wants peace.
The TPLF has used negotiations as a strategy to:
divide and make a separate peace with Oromos, Amharas and other ethnic groups to keep itself in power.
wage a war of attrition against their opposition.
neutralize and delegitimize their opposition and publicly make them their lackeys.
stall for time until they can cook up new tricks.
hoodwink the donors and loaners because the word “negotiation” perks up their ears.
blunt legislative efforts in the U.S. House and Senate aimed at sanctioning them.
bring the international community and opinion to their side.
Clean up their international image and put on a kinder and gentler face and conceal their blood-soaked hands in a white glove.
Remain in power for one more day. One more week. One more month. One more year.
And NOW, to weasel their way out of criminal prosecution for treason, crimes against humanity, war crimes and a host of other charges.
The TPLF does not believe in a non-zero-sum, win-win games in negotiations. They must win 100 percent of the time.
They sneer at good faith bargaining, negotiation, compromise and conciliation.
Negotiation for the TPLF is about one-upmanship. It is about hoodwinking and crushing their adversaries.
The real problem with the TPLF is that they negotiate with zero-think mindset.
They see anyone else winning in any matter small or big (political or economic) as a devastating loss to them.
They have a mindset of losers with a deeply ingrained conviction in their collective psyche that political opponents committed to democratic principles are mortal enemies, not merely political competitors.
TPLF’s 11 doctrines of negotiations
Negotiate without negotiating. For the TPLF, negotiations are essentially elaborate public relations games. That means window dressing negotiations and going through the motions of negotiations. The TPLF’s cardinal negotiation tactic is: Negotiate without negotiating and bargain without bargaining. In other words, pretend to be negotiating and bargaining but in the end take everything and give nothing.
NEVER engage in real negotiations, only make-believe ones. For the TPLF, negotiation is a game of attrition and a process of wearing down the opponent and frustrating them to walk away. Then TPLF will blame the breakdown of negotiations on them.
Negotiations should be used to bait and trap. The TPLF’s history of negotiations shows that it likes to use a prolonged process of enticing, delaying and stringing along the opposition until the moment the trap is sprung on them. The TPLF uses negotiations as one would bait a mouse with cheese into the trap. The TPLF will make all sorts of cheesy promises, commitments, assurances, etc., to attract the opposition to the “negotiating table” only to slam shut the trap on them in the end.
Throw crumbs at the opposition and watch them fight like dogs. In negotiations, the TPLF will use ethnic politics, sectarianism, regionalism, etc. to divide and conquer their opposition. The TPLF will throw crumbs to the various ethnic opposition leaders and watch them fight and tear each other up. It is like the master throwing a bone to a bunch of hungry dogs.
Negotiations are weapons of mass public distraction and confusion. By talking “negotiations”, the TPLF hopes to create an atmosphere of hope and optimism of a negotiated settlement of disputes. They use negotiations to hoodwink the people into believing that this time it is for real and will make the hard choices and make things right. The people’s hopes are always dashed.
Negotiations are for suckers (fools). The TPLF slicksters believe they can outsmart, outmaneuver, out-trick and out-finesse their opposition any day of the week. They believe they are invincible. They think of their opposition as a bunch of cowards, fools and idiots. Susan Rice captured the essential attitude of the T-TPLF leaders in her eulogy of Meles in 2012 when she said Meles “liked to call” his opposition “fools or idiots”. The TPLF guys believe that they are negotiating with fools and idiots when they sit down with the opposition.
Negotiation is a competitive blood sport. For the TPLF, that means take the easy way first to bring pressure on the opposition to negotiate a deal. If the “opposition” wants to play hardball, offer them rewards, money, jobs, business opportunities. If that does not work, threaten or slam them in jail for violating the “anti-terrorism law”. Alternatively, torture and kill them.
The purpose of negotiation is to cut down your opponent, not to cut a deal. That is the essence of the TPLF’s zero-sum game. The late Zenawi once said of the opposition, “We will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever.” The T-TPLF will crush anyone who is foolish enough to sit down and negotiate with them.
In negotiations, use them and lose them. The TPLF will use and lose their opposition as soon as they feel assured the opposition has served their purposes and their grip on power is not threatened.
Always, always negotiate from a position of strength and victory is assured. For the past 27 years, the TPLF has been able to do that because controlled and owned everything: the political process, the economy, the civil service and the military.
What is there for the Ethiopian government to negotiate with the TPLF now?
Knowing the history of TPLF “negotiations”, what is there for the Ethiopian Government to negotiate at the hour 11:59?
The TPLF now wants to negotiate for one and only one purpose: Cut a deal that will absolve them of all the crimes against humanity and war crimes they have committed since they came to power in 1991.
The TPLF is militarily defeated.
They are losing battles on all fronts.
Ethiopian Defense Forces are tracking and droning them.
TPLF special forces and dragooned militia and child soldiers are fleeing the battle space. Their commanders are surrendering to ENDF by the hundreds.
In the early days of the law enforcement action against terrorist TPLF, PM Abiy Ahmed set three preconditions for negotiations:
1) Release all hostages including federal troops, abducted citizens and other illegally held prisoners.
2) Turn over all weapons and implements of war stolen from the Northern Command.
3) Turn over terrorist leadership on the “Most Wanted” list, and other high-level criminals are fugitives from justice.
Like Reda said, negotiation with the Ethiopian Government is a “sick joke.”
Only a Faustian bargain to be gained in a TPLF negotiation
My views on negotiations and bargaining with TPLF are well known.
In my 2009 commentary, “Loan Sharking Ethiopia’s Future!”, I warned, “Don’t make a pact with the TPLF devil!”
I expounded on that theme in my August 2016 commentary, “Ethiopia: Beyond the Politics of Hate”.
I cautioned, “It is unfair to condemn the ordinary people of Tigray for the sins and transgressions of the TPLF Devils.”
The TPLF is willing, able and ready to make a Faustian deal with anyone, at any time and in any place!
Goethe’s Dr. Faust made a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for wealth, success, worldly pleasures and power.
The TPLF will also promise and deliver wealth, success, worldly pleasures and power to anyone, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion, etc., who is prepared to sell his soul.
Now, it is the TPLF is outta luck, ammunition, troops and options.
Now, the TPLF must face the music for its decades-old crime spree.
I knew how it would all end for the TPLF. With prophetic precision.
In my February 3, 2013 commentary, “They Shall Inherit the Wind”, I wrote:
Scripture teaches that “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.” Meles and his worshippers have profoundly troubled the Ethiopian house and they shall inherit the wind!
It is written, “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.”
In my December 27, 2015, commentary, “The “End of the Story” for the T-TPLF in Ethiopia?”, I reflected on the final chapter to be written on the TPLF.
I was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
The TPLF tyrants and murderers have fallen. And they can’t get up!
I read T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Hollow Men”, as I thought about the end of the TPLF.
Eliot’s poem is about the inhabitants of a desolate underworld populated by empty and defeated people facing horrors of war of their own making.
Just like the TPLF.
Eliot said the world of “hollow men” and “stuffed men” ends “not with a bang but a whimper”.
So it has for the terrorist TPLF bleating, “Negotiations. Ceasefire. Peace talks. Please somebody, help!”
TPLF, I told you so. But you would not listen to me.
TPLF, you troubled the Ethiopia House and now you shall inherit the wind.
TPLF, you will never, never be in a position to trouble the Ethiopia House.
Sure, you can cut a deal with the Devil or shake the devil off!
My advice to anyone who is even thinking about negotiations: “The devil is in the TPLF details…”
As I argued in my 2009 commentary, for the TPLF negotiation means playing a “zero-sum game”.
They win all the time, everybody else loses every time.
They have one and only one negotiating strategy. “Might makes right. My way or the highway, jail or death!”
The T-TPLF will negotiate in earnest only and only if they are guaranteed they will remain the only dominant political, economic and military force in Ethiopia.
It is true one does not negotiate with the Devil.
One conducts exorcism to get rid of the Devil.
I make one exception.
One can still negotiate with the TPLF Dedebit Devils if they Disarm, Demobilize and Demilitarize!
The alternative is an exorcism for DDDDDevisl.
Run, Devil, run. Ddddddddddd
But you can’t hide!
I am reminded of a poignant remark by Teddy Roosevelt in a speech (a worthwhile read) he gave on Labor Day in 1903:
The death-knell of the republic had rung as soon as the active power became lodged in the hands of those who sought, not to do justice to all citizens, rich and poor alike, but to stand for one special class and for its interests as opposed to the interests of others.
The death-knell of the democratic party in Congress and the White House, which inflicted great injustice on Ethiopia by shamelessly siding with terrorist TPLF, shall ring on November 8, 2022.
November is to remember!
On November 4, 2020, the terrorist TPLF attacked the Ethiopian Northern Command and unleashed unspeakable death and destruction. In the end, they failed.
November 8, 2022 is just over two weeks away.
What will happen on November 8, 2022?
I believe congressional democRATs will suffer defeat unprecedented in American history. At least, that is my fervent hope and desire.
So, Ethiopian American voters, “Remember, remember the 8th of November!” Drive democRATs and the democraTICK party outta Congress day.
In the lyrics of my doggerel song lyrics for the TPLF:
TPLF, the end is near
It is simple and clear
You have a choice to surrender
Or go six feet under!
En route to HELL.
Negotiate with the TPLF Devil?
Hell, I’ll be signin’ and dancin’ in the streets… “Shake the devil off!
Shake the Devil off Ethiopia!
Shake, rattle and roll the TPLF devil off Ethiopia!
Can I get a witness?
==========
An excellent summary of my commentaries on TPLF negotiation strategies and tactics has been prepared by FetaDaily, forward clip to 7min. 56 seconds.
I invite my readers to read the full commentaries here and here.
Deliver Us From the TPLF (D)evil!
Posted in Al Mariam's Commentaries By almariam On October 21, 2022Can you talk/negotiate with the Children of Lucifer?
It is official. At least from the Ethiopian Government’s side.
Redwan Hussien, National Security Advisor to PM Abiy Ahmed on October 20, 2022 tweeted “AUC has informed us that the Peace Talks is set for 24 Oct, 2022 to be held in South Africa. We have reconfirmed our commitment to participate.”
But terrorist TPLF has kept mum.
That’s because there will be NO NEGOTIATIONS!
A couple of weeks ago, terrorist TPLF agreed to travel to South Africa for “peace talks” but at the last minute chickened out.
The million-dollar question is: Is it possible to negotiate with the Children of Lucifer?
I have studied the negotiation strategies and tactics of the TPLF over the years and arrived at key empirically supported conclusions.
For the TPLF, negotiations are elaborate zero-sum games of deceit, duplicity, treachery, trickery, pretense and smoke and mirrors.
Infected with zero- sum thinking, TPLF leaders are convinced they can outsmart, outmaneuver, outfox, out manipulate, outplay, outperform, outcheat, outhustle and out bully their opponents.
They are convinced in any negotiation, they must win all the time and their opponents must lose every time.
In the past, those who have negotiated with the TPLF have made a Faustian bargain. They have sold their souls to TPLF to gain a few crumbs.
The “zero-sum” negotiating strategy of the TPLF
Fighting in the bush decades ago, the TPLF leaders perfected their negotiation strategy: Weaponize “negotiations” to annihilate your enemies.
In the bush, the TPLF would invite leaders of opposition elements, dissidents within its ranks and others it suspects or wants to destroy to a “negotiation”, wine and dine them and then literally slaughter them overnight.
On November 4, 2020, that was exactly what the TPLF did to the leadership and troops of the Ethiopian Northern Command. They invited them to a “discussion” over dinner and overnight slaughtered them.
Hours before the slaughter at the Northern Command headquarters, terrorist TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael negotiated for delivery of money to Tigray with PM Abiy Ahmed.
When PM Abiy airlifted 1.2 billion birr to Mekelle Airport, Debretsion had already launched his “menreqawi” (blitzkrieg) attack.
Few truly understand how the TPLF has cleverly and strategically used “negotiations” to seize and remain in power for 27 years!
In 1991, the TPLF used “negotiations” in London to swiftly install itself in power.
What a “negotiation” that was!
The TPLF hoodwinked Herman Cohen, then Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, at the negotiating table into announcing “the rebel leadership has assured us that they plan for a broadly based provisional government leading to a democratic constitution for Ethiopia.”
“Broad-based provisional government” ended up being a narrowly based minority apartheid state totally dominated by the TPLF.
For decades, every time the TPLF found its rear end in the ringer and boxed in, it squealed like a stuck pig, “We are ready to negotiate! We are ready to talk!”
For the TPLF, negotiations, discussions, mediation, discussion, etc., are all games.
Game of thrones.
Deadly games.
Zero-sum games. That means the TPLF always wins 100 percent of the time and everybody else loses 100 percent of the time.
Ultimately, negotiation for the terrorist TPLF is a “sick joke.” So said terrorist TPLF negotiator Getachew Reda.
A quick overview of TPLF use of “negotiations” strategies and tactics is instructive.
In 1984-85, when Tigray was undergoing severe famine, TPLF set up a scam organization called “Relief Society of Tigray” (REST) and negotiated with international NGOs for food distribution. TPLF leaders diverted $95 million of that aid for weapons purchases and other activities unrelated to famine relief.
In 2000, the TPLF negotiated to settle the dispute over Badme in a “final and binding” international arbitration. When Badme was awarded to Eritrea, the TPLF reneged and demanded further negotiations.
In 2006, TPLF leader Zenawi negotiated in “a handshake” with US General John Abizaid to wipe out Al Shabaab in Somalia. That handshake led to billons of dollars in U.S. military and other aid to Ethiopia. What is less known is the fact that Zenawi had also negotiated with Al Shabaab to continue minimal military presence so that Zenawi could use them as a boogeyman to milk the U.S. aid cash cow.
In 2008, in “elections for regional parliaments”, the TPLF won 1,903 of 1,904 seats. The TPLF won by 99.999 percent.
In May 2010, the TPLF “won” all the seats in “parliament” by 99.6 percent.
In May 2015, the TPLF “won” 100 percent of the seats in “parliament”.
Such total and complete zero-sum electoral “victory” occurred in a country where there are 79 registered opposition political parties.
In August 2007, the late TPLF leader Meles Zenawi “pardoned” 38 opposition political leaders to “give impetus to political negotiations in Ethiopia after more than two years’ crisis and stalemate.”
In October 2007, “in spite of continuing negotiations between the government and the opposition, the political environment continued to deteriorate.”
In the 2007 “negotiations”, the TPLF had a double zero-sum game “win”. It validated the 38 railroaded opposition leaders were actually criminals because they accepted a “pardon”, and 2) forced them publicly to “admit” crimes they never committed to receive a pardon.
In 2009, the TPLF engaged in “negotiations” for the release of political prisoners, only after the political prisoners “had signed a paper admitting they tried to overthrow the government in an ‘unconstitutional’ manner.” Double zero-sum game win for the TPLF again.
In 2009, TPLF thugmaster Meles Zenawi led the African climate change negotiators to the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen and delivered a zero-sum ultimatum: Fork over $40 billion or we will “delegitimize you.”
In 2010, the TPLF negotiated for the release of Birtukan Midekssa, the first female Ethiopian political party leader and current head of the Ethiopian Elections Commission, after she “apologized for denying being granted a pardon in 2007” and “imploring the prime minister to grant her a second pardon for her to be able to see her aging mother and child.”
In 2010, the TPLF engaged donors in “negotiations” to allow them to send election observers and called their election report “useless trash that deserves to be thrown in the garbage”.
In 2013, TPLF head honcho and current leader of the attack on the Northern Command Debretsion Gebremichael said, “Ethnic federalism is equality. TPLF supremacy is nothing but a conspiracy. To say Tigreans are supreme (everywhere), that is not the reality. That is a zero. Zero.” True. It is a zero-sum game for the TPLF.
In 2016, after the Addis Ababa Masterplan faced popular opposition, the TPLF said they wanted to negotiate the plan. Not a chance.
In 2016, when the first state of emergency failed to control the popular uprising, the TPLF again said they want to negotiate. No one was interested.
In October 2016, the TPLF showed their entire negotiating strategy when they massacred 800 plus people celebrating the Irrecha Festival in the town of Bishoftu, some 45 miles southeast of the capital Addis Ababa.
In 2017, when the second state of emergency failed to control the popular uprising, the TPLF pleaded they want to negotiate. Too late.
Whenever the TPLF talked about negotiations, it also always tightened its political grip and continued its massacres, mass arrests, mass detentions and mass torture of innocent citizens.
Cry “negotiations” when drowning in the deep blue sea of oblivion
Today, the terrorist TPLF finds itself between the devil and the deep blue sea.
But I repeat myself.
I should have said, “The TPLF devil finds itself in the deep blue sea (a/k/a deep doo doo) and is sinking to the bottom fast.
As the TPLF drowns in its own sea of doo doo, its Western bankrollers, paymasters and press-titutes are drowning the world in lies, damned lies and disinformation.
The TPLF successfully weaponized the word “negotiation” to seize and keep power for 27 years.
In its September 11, 2022 statement, terrorist TPLF identified its spokesman Getachew Reda and one of its “generals,” Tsadkan Gebretensae, as leaders of its negotiating team at the African Union sponsored peace conference.
On July 5, 2021, the TPLF peace negotiator designee Reda told the Associated Press the idea of ceasefire and negotiations is a “sick joke”:
Reda has always categorically rejected the possibility of peace talks under the sponsorship of the African Union (AU) and has rejected the AU-designated mediator former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo.
Recently, terrorist TPLF “general” Tsadkan Gebretensae and leader of the TPLF negotiating team declared there is nothing to negotiate because the TPLF has already won the war.
On September 11, 2022, terrorist TPLF raised the white flag and declared it want to negotiate. It wants peace.
The TPLF has used negotiations as a strategy to:
divide and make a separate peace with Oromos, Amharas and other ethnic groups to keep itself in power.
wage a war of attrition against their opposition.
neutralize and delegitimize their opposition and publicly make them their lackeys.
stall for time until they can cook up new tricks.
hoodwink the donors and loaners because the word “negotiation” perks up their ears.
blunt legislative efforts in the U.S. House and Senate aimed at sanctioning them.
bring the international community and opinion to their side.
Clean up their international image and put on a kinder and gentler face and conceal their blood-soaked hands in a white glove.
Remain in power for one more day. One more week. One more month. One more year.
And NOW, to weasel their way out of criminal prosecution for treason, crimes against humanity, war crimes and a host of other charges.
The TPLF does not believe in a non-zero-sum, win-win games in negotiations. They must win 100 percent of the time.
They sneer at good faith bargaining, negotiation, compromise and conciliation.
Negotiation for the TPLF is about one-upmanship. It is about hoodwinking and crushing their adversaries.
The real problem with the TPLF is that they negotiate with zero-think mindset.
They see anyone else winning in any matter small or big (political or economic) as a devastating loss to them.
They have a mindset of losers with a deeply ingrained conviction in their collective psyche that political opponents committed to democratic principles are mortal enemies, not merely political competitors.
TPLF’s 11 doctrines of negotiations
Negotiate without negotiating. For the TPLF, negotiations are essentially elaborate public relations games. That means window dressing negotiations and going through the motions of negotiations. The TPLF’s cardinal negotiation tactic is: Negotiate without negotiating and bargain without bargaining. In other words, pretend to be negotiating and bargaining but in the end take everything and give nothing.
NEVER engage in real negotiations, only make-believe ones. For the TPLF, negotiation is a game of attrition and a process of wearing down the opponent and frustrating them to walk away. Then TPLF will blame the breakdown of negotiations on them.
Negotiations should be used to bait and trap. The TPLF’s history of negotiations shows that it likes to use a prolonged process of enticing, delaying and stringing along the opposition until the moment the trap is sprung on them. The TPLF uses negotiations as one would bait a mouse with cheese into the trap. The TPLF will make all sorts of cheesy promises, commitments, assurances, etc., to attract the opposition to the “negotiating table” only to slam shut the trap on them in the end.
Throw crumbs at the opposition and watch them fight like dogs. In negotiations, the TPLF will use ethnic politics, sectarianism, regionalism, etc. to divide and conquer their opposition. The TPLF will throw crumbs to the various ethnic opposition leaders and watch them fight and tear each other up. It is like the master throwing a bone to a bunch of hungry dogs.
Negotiations are weapons of mass public distraction and confusion. By talking “negotiations”, the TPLF hopes to create an atmosphere of hope and optimism of a negotiated settlement of disputes. They use negotiations to hoodwink the people into believing that this time it is for real and will make the hard choices and make things right. The people’s hopes are always dashed.
Negotiations are for suckers (fools). The TPLF slicksters believe they can outsmart, outmaneuver, out-trick and out-finesse their opposition any day of the week. They believe they are invincible. They think of their opposition as a bunch of cowards, fools and idiots. Susan Rice captured the essential attitude of the T-TPLF leaders in her eulogy of Meles in 2012 when she said Meles “liked to call” his opposition “fools or idiots”. The TPLF guys believe that they are negotiating with fools and idiots when they sit down with the opposition.
Negotiation is a competitive blood sport. For the TPLF, that means take the easy way first to bring pressure on the opposition to negotiate a deal. If the “opposition” wants to play hardball, offer them rewards, money, jobs, business opportunities. If that does not work, threaten or slam them in jail for violating the “anti-terrorism law”. Alternatively, torture and kill them.
The purpose of negotiation is to cut down your opponent, not to cut a deal. That is the essence of the TPLF’s zero-sum game. The late Zenawi once said of the opposition, “We will crush them with our full force; they will all vegetate like Birtukan (Midekssa) in jail forever.” The T-TPLF will crush anyone who is foolish enough to sit down and negotiate with them.
In negotiations, use them and lose them. The TPLF will use and lose their opposition as soon as they feel assured the opposition has served their purposes and their grip on power is not threatened.
Always, always negotiate from a position of strength and victory is assured. For the past 27 years, the TPLF has been able to do that because controlled and owned everything: the political process, the economy, the civil service and the military.
What is there for the Ethiopian government to negotiate with the TPLF now?
Knowing the history of TPLF “negotiations”, what is there for the Ethiopian Government to negotiate at the hour 11:59?
The TPLF now wants to negotiate for one and only one purpose: Cut a deal that will absolve them of all the crimes against humanity and war crimes they have committed since they came to power in 1991.
The TPLF is militarily defeated.
They are losing battles on all fronts.
Ethiopian Defense Forces are tracking and droning them.
TPLF special forces and dragooned militia and child soldiers are fleeing the battle space. Their commanders are surrendering to ENDF by the hundreds.
In the early days of the law enforcement action against terrorist TPLF, PM Abiy Ahmed set three preconditions for negotiations:
1) Release all hostages including federal troops, abducted citizens and other illegally held prisoners.
2) Turn over all weapons and implements of war stolen from the Northern Command.
3) Turn over terrorist leadership on the “Most Wanted” list, and other high-level criminals are fugitives from justice.
Like Reda said, negotiation with the Ethiopian Government is a “sick joke.”
Only a Faustian bargain to be gained in a TPLF negotiation
My views on negotiations and bargaining with TPLF are well known.
In my 2009 commentary, “Loan Sharking Ethiopia’s Future!”, I warned, “Don’t make a pact with the TPLF devil!”
I expounded on that theme in my August 2016 commentary, “Ethiopia: Beyond the Politics of Hate”.
I cautioned, “It is unfair to condemn the ordinary people of Tigray for the sins and transgressions of the TPLF Devils.”
The TPLF is willing, able and ready to make a Faustian deal with anyone, at any time and in any place!
Goethe’s Dr. Faust made a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for wealth, success, worldly pleasures and power.
The TPLF will also promise and deliver wealth, success, worldly pleasures and power to anyone, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion, etc., who is prepared to sell his soul.
Now, it is the TPLF is outta luck, ammunition, troops and options.
Now, the TPLF must face the music for its decades-old crime spree.
I knew how it would all end for the TPLF. With prophetic precision.
In my February 3, 2013 commentary, “They Shall Inherit the Wind”, I wrote:
It is written, “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.”
In my December 27, 2015, commentary, “The “End of the Story” for the T-TPLF in Ethiopia?”, I reflected on the final chapter to be written on the TPLF.
I was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. “Remember that all through history, there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seem invincible. But in the end, they always fall. Always.”
The TPLF tyrants and murderers have fallen. And they can’t get up!
I read T.S. Eliot’s poem, “The Hollow Men”, as I thought about the end of the TPLF.
Eliot’s poem is about the inhabitants of a desolate underworld populated by empty and defeated people facing horrors of war of their own making.
Just like the TPLF.
Eliot said the world of “hollow men” and “stuffed men” ends “not with a bang but a whimper”.
So it has for the terrorist TPLF bleating, “Negotiations. Ceasefire. Peace talks. Please somebody, help!”
TPLF, I told you so. But you would not listen to me.
TPLF, you troubled the Ethiopia House and now you shall inherit the wind.
TPLF, you will never, never be in a position to trouble the Ethiopia House.
Sure, you can cut a deal with the Devil or shake the devil off!
My advice to anyone who is even thinking about negotiations: “The devil is in the TPLF details…”
As I argued in my 2009 commentary, for the TPLF negotiation means playing a “zero-sum game”.
They win all the time, everybody else loses every time.
They have one and only one negotiating strategy. “Might makes right. My way or the highway, jail or death!”
The T-TPLF will negotiate in earnest only and only if they are guaranteed they will remain the only dominant political, economic and military force in Ethiopia.
It is true one does not negotiate with the Devil.
One conducts exorcism to get rid of the Devil.
I make one exception.
One can still negotiate with the TPLF Dedebit Devils if they Disarm, Demobilize and Demilitarize!
The alternative is an exorcism for DDDDDevisl.
Run, Devil, run. Ddddddddddd
But you can’t hide!
I am reminded of a poignant remark by Teddy Roosevelt in a speech (a worthwhile read) he gave on Labor Day in 1903:
The death-knell of the democratic party in Congress and the White House, which inflicted great injustice on Ethiopia by shamelessly siding with terrorist TPLF, shall ring on November 8, 2022.
November is to remember!
On November 4, 2020, the terrorist TPLF attacked the Ethiopian Northern Command and unleashed unspeakable death and destruction. In the end, they failed.
November 8, 2022 is just over two weeks away.
What will happen on November 8, 2022?
I believe congressional democRATs will suffer defeat unprecedented in American history. At least, that is my fervent hope and desire.
So, Ethiopian American voters, “Remember, remember the 8th of November!” Drive democRATs and the democraTICK party outta Congress day.
In the lyrics of my doggerel song lyrics for the TPLF:
TPLF, the end is near
It is simple and clear
You have a choice to surrender
Or go six feet under!
En route to HELL.
Negotiate with the TPLF Devil?
Hell, I’ll be signin’ and dancin’ in the streets… “Shake the devil off!
Shake the Devil off Ethiopia!
Shake, rattle and roll the TPLF devil off Ethiopia!
Can I get a witness?
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An excellent summary of my commentaries on TPLF negotiation strategies and tactics has been prepared by FetaDaily, forward clip to 7min. 56 seconds.
I invite my readers to read the full commentaries here and here.
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