The Crocodile Tears of the Bli-Den (Blinken-Biden) Administration Over “Human Rights” Violations in Ethiopia (Part I): In Honor of the Inauguration of the Adwa Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Author’s Note: Today, February 11, 2024, is a date that shall live in eternal glory in Ethiopian history and immortal memory in the consciousness of all Africans. If Ethiopia’s victory at the Battle of Adwa in 1896 teaches Ethiopia’s enemies and frenemies anything, it is this: Ethiopians will never, never be dictated to by any foreign power great or small. They will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, suffer any trial and tribulation, make alliances with any friend and resolutely oppose any foe to make sure their sovereignty, unity, dignity and territorial integrity is defended and preserved.
Alemayehu Gebremariam ZeBehre Ityopia
ዓለማየሁ ገብረማርያም ዘብሄረ ኢትዮጵያ
Eagle sheds crocodile tears
The “Ugly American” ambassador to #Ethiopia once again sheds crocodile tears (boo-hoo) on behalf of the Bli-Den (Blinken-Biden) administration over “human rights violations” substantiated by anonymous and fake “reports.”
In his February 9, 2024 tweet, Ambassador Ervin M ass inga (or is Mess-inga?)proclaimed:
Thus brayed Ambassador Ervin M ass inga.
How life imitates literary art!
M ass inga (or is it Mess-inga?) is the modern equivalent of the Ugly American Ambassador depicted in the fictional Louis Sears character in the eponymous 1958 novel by Lederer and Burdick.
In that novel, Ambassador Sears bemoans the fact that the people of the fictional country of Sarkhan are “strange little monkeys.”
In the second paragraph of the opening chapter of that novel, Sears explodes in anger, “I don’t give a damn what the Prime Minister and all those little advisors of his say…”
In his confirmation hearing statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, all M ass inga talked about was rights this and human rights that in Ethiopia. M ass inga imperiously declared, “We need to ensure there is accountability for the atrocities committed during the conflict (TPLF terrorist war in Ethiopia launched in a sneak attack on Ethiopian federal troops in the Tigray region of Ethiopia).”
“Ensure accountability”? How?
I am not sure what kinds of strange creatures Sheriff M ass inga expected to find in Ethiopia. But he rolled into Addis some four months ago like the proverbial swaggering, bow-legged new Western sheriff to tell Ethiopian government officials to clean up their “human rights” record or scram outta town before sundown because he, like Sears, “does not give a damn what the Prime Minister and all those little advisors of his say…” It was clear from his Senate hearing testimony that M ass inga thought he would show up in Addis as a badass ambassador, kick ass and take down names! Just like Ambassador Sears.
Poor Massinga is clueless about Ethiopians’ capacity for defiance, resistance and resilience!
In his latest tweet (reproduced above), M ass singa proclaims the “US is deeply concerned by numerous reports of human rights violations and targeted civilian killings” in certain parts in Ethiopia and demands “unfettered access by independent human rights monitors.”
For the record, every single statement issued by the US embassy in Addis about alleged human rights violations in Ethiopia is laced with the phrases “concern” or “deep concern.” What the hell does “deep concern” mean anyway?
What “numerous reports of human rights violations is M ass inga talking about? Prepared by whom? Verbal reports? Documented reports subject to factual challenge and verification?
Massinga impertinently demands investigation in Ethiopia by “impartial human rights monitors and investigators”? Does he mean those monitors and investigators that are on the State Department and CIA payrolls?
M ass singa does not say.
Yet he boldly, shamelessly and recklessly casts his scurrilous allegations (horse manure) of human rights violations against the Ethiopian government without compunction and in depraved indifference to the truth or falsity of the contents of the anonymous fake reports.
M ass inga’s “reports” amount to nothing more than hearsay and double hearsay.
M ass inga demands investigation and prosecution of alleged extraordinary human rights violations based on word-of-mouth, he said-she said allegations made by those who have an axe to grind against the Ethiopian government. He does not provide a shred of evidence that can withstand rigorous cross-examination in a court of law. He is clueless that extraordinary prosecutable criminal allegations of human rights abuses require extraordinary evidence of the occurrence of such abuses.
The fact of the matter is that M ass inga’s aim in braying his tweet is not to advance the cause of vindication of Ethiopian human rights abuses in an Ethiopian court of law but to throw red meat to the dogs of disinformation war in the Western fake news media and for political consumption in the court of world public opinion.
Why is M ass inga not willing to disclose the “numerous (verbal /written) reports of human rights violations” and their sources?
In the past, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa has made it a practice to disclose the factual basis for its allegations and accusations against the Ethiopian government when it is reasonably sure its sources are credible. How many times has the US embassy cited Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to base its “deep concern” for alleged human rights violations in Ethiopia? (In passing, I shall observe that these two so-called human rights organizations are the service of the intelligence services despite their pretension of neutrality and independence.)
The fact that M ass inga has not and will not disclose the sources of his “reports” is because the “reports” he cites as evidence are nothing more than allegations based on fake news and disinformation gathered from idle, know-nothing, do-nothing, good-for-nothing, ne’er-do-well, cognac-sipping, kitfo-eating, trash-talking #Ethiopian diaspora noisemakers, Chicken Littles and YouTube click baiters hanging around pubs, restaurants and bars in Washington, DC.
That is a fact!
That is why I now challenge M ass inga to publish his so-called “numerous reports” and disclose their sources to support his outrageous, false and unsubstantiated accusations against the Ethiopian government.
Of course, M ass inga will NEVER disclose them because he does not want to compromise the identity of his Ethiopian diaspora noisemakers. The fact of the matter is that if he has credible and substantial evidence of gross human rights abuses, let him present it in public. I have no doubts the Ethiopian government will prosecute anyone whose guilt can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. I will personally support any effort directed to the apprehension and prosecution of any culprits involved in gross human rights violations!
What a tangled web we weave when we practice to dismantle Ethiopia under the guise of “deep concern for human rights violations”?
The fact of the matter is that neither the Bli-Den (Blinken-Biden) administration nor their Stepin Fetchit ambassador in Ethiopia gives a rat’s ass about human rights in Ethiopia. That is a fact established beyond a shadow of doubt.
If the Bli-Den administration was genuinely interested in holding human rights violators in Ethiopia accountable, it would have presented its evidence to Ethiopian officials through normal diplomatic channels and tried to reach an understanding on what needs to be done. If the Ethiopian government rejects the evidence and refuses to discuss the issue, M ass inga could then tweet about his efforts and why it failed in a respectful manner.
So, what is the real purpose of M ass inga’s tweet? Advance bilateral relations? Find a pathway to address human rights problems?
No. Not in the least. The real purposes are 1) showboating (show off US moral superiority over the Ethiopian savages) and grandstanding (seeking global attention as a human rights defender in Africa), 2) naming and shaming the Ethiopian government as a despicable human rights violator and 3) demonize and dehumanize Ethiopians as a nation.
As I have demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt over the past several years, the singular aim of the Bli-Den admiration’s policy in Ethiopia is/has been and continues to be Ethiopia’s total and complete destruction. Period! (Access links to my dozens of meticulously evidenced and cogently argued commentaries on the diabolical foreign policy objectives of the Bli-Den administration in the above hyperlink.)
For the Bli-Den administration “human rights” is a question of moral relativism, double standard (that is human rights violations depends on who is violating it. If friends, allies and lackeys are doing the violations it ok.)
Surprisingly, in its March 20, 2023 report, Amnesty International (the State Department’s disinformation arm) concluded, “the US State Department reports perpetuate double standards.” It accused the Biden Administration “of continuing a policy of double standards when it comes to failing to call out the human rights abuses of key security partners.” The Biden administration “gives its allies a pass on human rights and applies human rights standards selectively, expediently and conveniently. (But it is all window dressing by AI.)
Of course, the whole world knows the Bli-Den administration practices double standards in human rights condemnations.
Pray tell, did the US State Department demand “unfettered access” to Gaza or an “impartial investigation” of allegations of genocide and human rights abuses there?
Then, why make such demands in Ethiopia?
“Human rights” for the Bli-Den administration is a political tool to name and shame those who refuse to do its bidding and a cudgel to keep them silent against breaches of their sovereignty.
That double standard echoes President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attitude towards Latin American dictators. Roosevelt almost a century ago said of Nicaragua’s dictator Somoza Garcia. “Somoza may be an S.O.B., but he’s our S.O.B.”
A century later, for the Bli-Den administration, there are S.O.B human rights violators but they get a pass because they are our own S.O.B. human rights violators.
The Bli-Den administration’s “deep concern” is not about human rights violations in Ethiopia. Their deep concern is over the failure of their policy to dismantle Ethiopia.
Lo and behold! Ethiopia stands tall and victorious despite Bli-Den’s diabolical efforts that left no stones unturned: Crippling sanctions, covert support for terrorists that attack Ethiopia, pressure on multilateral institutions to squeeze the financial life out of Ethiopia, thwarting Ethiopia determination to follow its own democratic path, undermining Ethiopia’s role as Africa’s beacon of hope and freedom from imperialism, preventing Ethiopia from choosing its own friends, and mercilessly punishing Ethiopia for its unflagging defense of its national unity, resolute assertion of its dignity and absolute refusal to negotiate away its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Bli-Den administration wants to treat Ethiopia as its colonial outpost in Africa. Its diplomatic language laden with such phrases as “unfettered access by independent human rights monitors” and demand for “impartial investigation” is proof of Bli-Den’s imperial hubris and arrogance. It is an inexcusable offense to the dignity of all Ethiopians to demand “unfettered” anything from them.
What if Ethiopians refuse to give “unfettered access”? More sanctions? More pressure on the World Bank and IMF to deny loans?
La-di-da!
M ass inga is well advised to remember that Ethiopia today is celebrating the inauguration of the Adwa Memorial Museum. Anyone who commands/demands Ethiopia to provide “unfettered access” to its sovereignty especially as Ethiopians celebrate the Battle of Adwa makes my blood boil. My ancestors fought and died not to give “unfettered access” to Ethiopia in the Battle of Adwa and sure as hell their direct descendants today will not allow such access!
If the history of the Battle of Adwa teaches the world and Ethiopia’s enemies and frenemies anything it is this: Ethiopians will never, never be dictated to by any foreign power great or small. They will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, suffer any trial and tribulation, make alliances with any friend and resolutely oppose any foe to make sure their sovereignty, unity, dignity and territorial integrity is defended and preserved.
What is profoundly disturbing to me as an American citizen of Ethiopian ancestry dedicated to improved relations between Ethiopia and the US is the plain and unmistakable fact that M ass singa seems to believe he can effectively represent American national interest in Ethiopia by conducting twitter diplomacy.
M ass inga’s whining-on-Twitter points to one and only one thing to me. By choosing to conduct diplomacy by tweet, all communication between him as US ambassador and Ethiopian government must have completely broken down.
Only a nitwit will use Twitter to conduct bilateral diplomacy. Did M ass inga even contemplate the impact of his braying diplomacy-by-tweet on Ethiopian officials?
I cannot be sure, but for me braying tweets to pressure or persuade Ethiopian officials proves M ass inga is a diplomat wanna be who cannot distinguish international diplomacy from street-level community advocacy. If he had wanted to be effective as a diplomat, he would have made respectful efforts to communicate with Ethiopian government officials and try to understand their positions, agree to disagree and respect their national policy instead of mindlessly trash-tweeting.
But like Ambassador Sears in the “Ugly American,” M ass inga just “don’t give a damn what the Prime Minister and all those little advisors of his say.”
The real question is, “Will a silly tweet by M ass inga change the minds of Ethiopian officials about his baseless allegation of human rights violations.” I very much doubt it. But if his intention is to piss them off, I should think he probably has achieved his objective.
What a singularly apocalyptic and portentous achievement for M ass inga for the four months he has been in Ethiopia!
The fact of the matter is that M-ass inga wanted to ambush the Ethiopian government with his tweet, put it on the spot, embarrass and intimidate them by making outrageous allegations of human rights abuses. He calculated that if the Ethiopian government does not respond immediately, then the fact that he issued the tweet by itself becomes evidence of actual human rights violations as the fake Western media will churn it and quote him to declare human rights violations indeed have taken place despite the absence of any material proof such violations have occurred. Indeed, that is exactly what has happened as Reuters picked up his tweet. But this is an old hit-and run trick the US embassy has used and perfected for years to embarrass and intimidate Ethiopian officials and demonize Ethiopia. It does not work anymore because nobody gives a rat’s ass about Bli-Den’s campaign of demonization of Ethiopia. So, “fergit bout it!”
Truth be told, if M ass singa wants to conduct diplomacy by braying tweets, that is his prerogative. I wish him happy “hee-haw!
Nothing personal against Massinga
This commentary is not a personal invective against Massinga.
I know Massinga is not among the foreign policy coterie formulating US foreign policy in Ethiopia. I am sympathetic and genuinely feel sorry for him because he is a black man deliberately selected to serve as a diplomatic hitman and lightning rod– and as an Azazel goat — for the corrupt New World Order Bli-Den administration in Ethiopia.
The Bli-Den administration needed an ambassador with a black face in Ethiopia. All ambassadors/envoys that preceded him in the Bli-Den administration, including the gourmand Mike Hammer and Jeff Feltman (TPLFeltman), are held in utmost contempt for their outrageous conduct openly consorting with TPLF terrorists. During the TPLF terrorist war, Feltman issued urgent calls to Americans to leave Ethiopia with the utmost speed to clear the way for a terrorist TPLF takeover. Few (except US government workers) left. Interestingly, PM Abiy Ahmed at the time issued a counter call to Ethiopian Americans to return to their ancestral homes, and they returned by the tens of thousands!
Massinga was handpicked and sent to Ethiopia as a lightning rod to divert and attract the wrath of the Ethiopian people from the Bli-Den administration, and alternatively as an “Azazel goat” (to carry the sins and crimes committed by the Bli-Den administration in Ethiopia.)
Fact: It took the Bli-Den administration nearly two years to find a black ambassador to appoint in Ethiopia; and they believed they hit the jackpot by finding a black man who says “my father’s parents and grandparents, struggled with the Portuguese colonial regime in what is now Mozambique.”
But M ass inga is just a hapless messenger. He does and says what he is told by his bosses at the State Department. He is just a mouthpiece in a black face taking the heat for Bli-Dens. Regardless, Massinga represents Biden as a head of state with plenipotentiary powers. Massinga is sorely mistaken if he expects kid gloves treatment in Ethiopia just because he is a black American diplomat with African grandparents. Be that as it may, Massinga needs to be told straight up that Ethiopians know he is just doing the dirty work for The Man
I would like to put things in context. I understand the price Brother Massinga is paying to serve The Man.
People should know the US State Department is a hostile workplace for African American diplomats. The Department has special and historical problems attracting, retaining and promoting black foreign service personnel.
In 2008 “African Americans composed 5.6% of the approximately 11,471 members of the U.S. Foreign Service. This percentage falls short of the number of African Americans in the civilian workforce and the general population.” In 2019, eleven years later, African Americans represented 5.3% of the Department of State Foreign Service Generalists! Obviously, someone does not want too many African Americans in the US Foreign Service.
In June 2020, the NY Times in article entitled, “The State Department Was Designed to Keep African-Americans Out,” reported, “An entrenched system of white supremacy controls advancement and promotion at the department, which has failed to recruit and retain black diplomats.” Discrimination and humiliation of black diplomats has been fully documented in various reports, op-eds and analysis. (See also Christopher Richardson, “The State Department Was Designed to Keep African-Americans Out,” New York Times, June 23, 2020, at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/23/opinion/state-department-racism-diversity.html; Robbie Gramer, “Fighting for U.S. Values Abroad, Black Diplomats Struggle With Challenges at Home,” Foreign Policy, June 11, 2020, at https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/11/u-s-black-diplomats-state-department-george-floyd-protests-trumppompeo-state-department-diversity-racial-injustice-police-violence-soft-power/ )
So, I understand the hot mess in which Massinga finds himself. That is why I offer him unsolicited advice that could make his stay in ethiopia pleasant:
“Learn from the fictional Ambassador Sears in the Ugly American. He came to Sarkhan as ignorant, arrogant, officious and meddling ambassador. Take time and learn the Ethiopian official language, familiarize yourself with Ethiopian culture and customs, integrate with the Ethiopian people, make genuine efforts to understand their needs and problems and offer useful assistance. Before braying out orders of “unfettered access” on Twitter, do something that could gain you respect and credibility. For instance, you talked about Ethiopia’s “suspension” from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) at your confirmation hearing. How about unsuspending Ethiopia from AGOA? (Just kidding. Nobody cares about AGOA!)
My personal recommendation to Massinga is this: Read my 2-part commentary, CLASH OF CIVILIZATIONS: ETHIOPIA AND THE U.S. AT THE CROSSROAD. Then you will understand Ethiopians will never buckle under foreign pressure, NEVER! What they will od is They will respond with defiance, resistance and resilience. The following Amharic epigram best describes the Ethiopian character: “የመጣው ቢመጣ ወይ ፍንክች ያባ ቢላዋ የእትዮጵያ ልጅ!” Have it translated. It will help you understand the Ethiopian mind.
It is undeniably true the Bli-Den administration has left no stones unturned to destroy Ethiopia as a nation. In the process, Ethiopia’s head has been bloodied by Bli-Den’s economic sanctions, all out diplomatic attacks, coordinated disinformation campaigns with the Western fake news media and brazen efforts to meddle in Ethiopia’s internal affairs and foment internal dissension. True, Ethiopia has suffered a bloodied but her head remains unbowed.
Paraphrasing the words of the great Maya Angelou:
Bli-Den administration toiled to see Ethiopia broken
With bowed head and lowered eyes
Shoulders falling down like teardrops
Weakened by her soulful cries.
Just like moons and like suns
With the certainty of tides
Just like hopes springing high
Still Ethiopia did rise.
Indeed, Ethiopia shall rise and rise and rise and her enemies shall fall and fall and fall!
Cry me a river of crocodile tears
Massinga has made a hot mess out of Ethiopia-US relations. I pity him!
The Bli-Den administration dries a river of crocodile tears over alleged human rights violations.
In Shakespeare’s “Othello” (Act 4, scene 1), Othello laments:
“Oh, devil, devil!
If that the earth could teem with woman’s tears,
Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile.
Out of my sight!”
I too lament,
Oh, Bli-Den, Bli-Den!
If the Earth/Ethiopia could teem with your crocodile tears
My cheeks would wet with drops of artificial tears.
Begone! Get out of my sight!
True to what is in my heart and mind, “Oh, Bli-Den, Bli-Den! Take your “deep concern” and shove it deep up…!
Congratulations to all Ethiopians on the inauguration of the Magnificent Adwa Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa
Ethiopia’s victory over the might colonial Italian army proved to the world that a black African nation can decisively defeat a European power with advanced weaponry and military strategy. The Adwa victory stands as a reminder to all Africans that they must remain eternally vigilant and pay any price to safeguard, defend and preserve their freedom and independence.
“Now has come an enemy determined destroy our country and subvert our religion. I tolerated him given the hardship my people were facing. But now, with the help of the Almighty, I will not given an inch of my country’s land…” Atse (Emperor) Menelik II, “Adwa War Proclamation,” 1896. የዳግማዊ አጼ ምንሊክ ዓድዋ ጦር ኣዋጅ
