𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐬 S𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 S𝐚𝐦𝐞 O𝐥𝐝 S𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 “𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 U𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦” 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐍 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥, 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍!

First posted on X (Twitter) on September 1, 2024
https://x.com/AlMariam1/status/1830227899346997708

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐫-𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐋𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

On August 27, 2024, Egypt sent two plane loads of small arms and ammo to Somalia as part of a military agreement. It is also said that Egypt will send 10,000 troops to help the Somalia “government”. The payload and troop deployments are supposed to signal Egypt’s first public military foray and show of muscle in Horn of Africa politics. It is also intended to scare Ethiopia by announcing Egypt arrival on its eastern doorsteps. The regional and social media Chicken Littles are clucking, “Egypt is in Somalia. The sky is falling on the Horn of Africa. Egypt is going to invade Ethiopia” That Egypt has been supporting terrorist groups to destabilize Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa is old news.

𝐎𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟒, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝟐 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐋𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭. The heroic Ethiopian Air Force intercepted and shot down that Egyptian plane. There were prior secret Egyptian weapons deliveries to the TPLF. The fact is Egypt has tried to wage conventional war by invading Ethiopia and engaging in asymmetric warfare using terrorists, mercenaries, insurgents and soldiers of fortune (bandas) recruited from the local population for two centuries.

For decades, Egypt has been “Crying Havoc!” and threatening to “let slip the dogs of war” on Ethiopia because Ethiopia is building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). On June 5, 2020, I wrote a commentary titled, “Is Egypt Secretly Planning a Proxy War on Ethiopia?” and explained Egypt’s foolish intrigue in the Sudan to establish a forward operating base, to conduct a surgical air strike on the GERD and air dropping special operations teams to destroy the dam. Read https://almariam.com/2020/06/05/is-egypt-secretly-planning-a-proxy-war-on-ethiopia/…

Now, Egypt is doing proxy saber-rattling in Somalia. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬, 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 “𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭” 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐬𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐤𝐡 𝐌𝐨𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐦𝐞. The embarrassingly unavoidable question is whether a Somali state/government exists because of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), particularly Ethiopian troops are keeping the Al- Shabab boogeyman (Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen) hiding under the desert shrubs and rocks.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 “𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭” 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬) (𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞) 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐰. 𝐈𝐟 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐞 (𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐲) 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐌𝐒𝐎𝐌, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬.

Truth be told, Somalia President Sheikh Mohamud and his buddies spend most of their time sitting chewing chat, drinking qawha coffee and playing boardgames like Layli Goobalay (“exercise with circles”; “Gebeta”).

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. “𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 (𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏). 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧 (𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐒, 𝐄𝐔, 𝐀𝐔…) 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.”

Al-Shabab continues to mount terrorist operations almost at will as Sheikh Mohamud and his cronies sit around chewing chat, drinking qawha coffee and playing Layli Goobalay. On February 6, 2024, Al-Shabaab attacked a market in the Somali capital of Mogadishu killing 10 and injuring dozens.

On February 11, 2024, Al-Shabaab attacked a UAE training mission at a military base in Mogadishu killing several. On March 15, 2024, Al-Shabaab attacked a hotel killing, maiming and wounding dozens. On June 8, 2024, Al-Shabaab terrorists attacked four military bases and overran the town of El Dher until they were defeated by a U.S.-assisted airstrike. On July 22, 2024, dozens of Al-Shabab terrorists were killed in the southern tip of Somalia trying to overrun army bases. On August 3, 2024, Al- Shabab attacked a beach hotel and killed 32 people and wounded 63. On August 17, 2024, Al-Shabab planted a bomb in a tea shop killing and wounding dozens. In late July 2024, Al-Shabaab conducted an incursion into Ethiopia only to meet its doom. Nearly one thousand terrorists were wiped out by heroic Ethiopian forces who had advance intelligence of the Al-Shabaab operation.

The fact of the matter is that Al-Shabaab continues to wage an insurgency against the Somalia “government” at will and controls swaths of central and southern Somalia, where it rules with an iron fist and collects taxes. Egypt now wants to play regional peacemaker through it bilateral military agreement or by by contributing troops to a new peacekeeping mission in Somalia to be launched next year. Egypt’s hidden agenda is to have the Somalia “government” insist to the African Union that Ethiopian troops be removed from the new AMISOM and replaced by Egyptian troops. If that is successful, Egypt could conduct proxy war on Ethiopia. Poppycock! I am not terribly worried about an Egyptian land, air or proxy war in Ethiopia. With all due respect to the Egyptian military (which in fact is a military-business-industrial complex), its record of military defeats is its badge of shame.

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲. 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞.

Businessmen are not warriors and businessmen, no matter their starched battle dress, can never deliver on the battlefield. The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the 1956 Suez Crisis, the 1967 Six-Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur (Ramadan War) wars proved disastrous for Egypt. Egypt’s military has not been able to defeat a terrorist group let alone a country.

Since 2013, Egypt has been involved in its largest military campaign in the Sinai peninsula. Egypt deployed 88 battalions with 42,000 soldiers to defeat an ISIS-affiliated (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In 2018 El-Sisi launched Operation Sinai to “purge the country of terrorists”. However, “despite brutal methods and substantial military effort, the Egyptian government has little to show from the past five-plus years of counterinsurgency operations in the Sinai aside from hundreds of military and civilian casualties and an undeterred adversary.”

If Egypt cannot defeat a few thousand (less than 5 thousand) terrorists in over a decade, could it defeat Ethiopia by marching its army from Somalia or flying its air force 2,300 miles or from Mogadishu? For decades, Egypt has threatened to go to war with Ethiopia over use of Nile waters. In September 2019, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told the U.N. General Assembly, “The Nile is a question of life, a matter of existence to Egypt.”

In other words, the “Nile question” is a matter of life and death for Egypt. In 2013, Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi declared, “As president of the republic, I confirm to you that all options are open. If Egypt is the Nile’s gift, then the Nile is a gift to Egypt… If it diminishes by one drop, then our blood is the alternative.” In other words, the Nile River will be a river of blood and obviously not Egyptian.

In 1979, Egyptian president Anwar Sadat threatened to go to war with Ethiopia dramatically declaring, “We are not going to wait to die of thirst in Egypt, we’ll go to Ethiopia and die there.” History supports Sadat’s prophesy. Tens of thousands of Egyptian soldiers (see references below) invaded Ethiopia in the 1870s and were “totally annihilated”.

Ethiopia shall again be a graveyard for Egyptian invaders should they be foolish enough to try it! In May 19, 2020, El-Sisi directed Egyptian armed forces to be on the “highest state of alert”. But if Egypt were to be foolish enough to wage war or invade Ethiopia, it would not be the first time; nor would the outcome of such an invasion be much in doubt. Egypt has had imperial designs on Ethiopia at least beginning in the 1820s when Mohammad Ali Pasha sought to expand his empire throughout sub-Sahara Africa by defeating Sudan, dominating the Red Sea and controlling the port city of Massawa which was part of Ethiopia. Ali Pasha’s passion was control of the Nile and indeed the principal reason for his invasion of the Sudan. He wanted to make sure there was no interference in the flow of the Nile through the Sudan. But he was unable to reach Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile.

In 1875-76, Egypt was determined to militarily subjugate Ethiopia and control the Blue Nile once and for all. Egypt deployed a large army well-equipped and trained army led by European and American officers. In the Battle of Gundet (1875) and Battle of Gura (1876), Ethiopian forces “completely annihilated an Egyptian expeditionary force”. According to one historian: “The Battle of Gura abolished any practical opportunity for Egypt to gain control over Ethiopia. The heavy Egyptian losses (almost 14,000 men died in three months), the economic damage to the Egyptian economy and, above all, the Egyptian depiction of the Ethiopian warriors as having a demonic character, prevented any future Egyptian invasion of Ethiopia.”

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. What is the history lesson for El-Sisi? In the Art of War, the ancient Chinese general and military strategist advised: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” In Ethiopia, we know our historical enemy. We have taught him hard lessons in the past. We are not afraid because we know the enemy and know ourselves. We need not fear the result of a hundred battles with the Egyptian invader.

Somali citizens are out in the streets by the tens of thousands demonstrating that they do not want Egyptian weapons or forces in Somalia. The only thing Egyptian intervention can achieve in Somalia is to stoke the fires of ethnic division, regional secession and fratricidal warfare. Egypt will surely suffer heavy losses if it tries to side with the Somali “federal government” against other groups in Somalia.

In the face of all the Egyptian verbal pyrotechnics and furtive efforts to wage proxy war on Ethiopia from Somalia, the Ethiopian government issued a calm but firm response. “We cannot stand idle while other actors are taking measures to destabilize the region and the Somalia government colludes with external actors to destabilize the region.” So, the Saber-tooth Paper Tiger challenges the Black Lion and brags about the size of his armed forces, tanks, war planes, missiles, machine guns and artillery. It is true Ethiopia does not have as many tanks, war planes, missiles, machine guns and artillery as Egypt.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲. 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝟐𝟒/𝟕/𝟑𝟔𝟓 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜.

Egypt can do all the saber-rattling it wants. It can station its troops in Somalia (specifically Mogadishu since it will not dare to station them anywhere else in Somalia). It can send planeloads of weapons. It is true Ethiopia does not have the an atomic or hydrogen bomb. When push comes to shove, Ethiopia has something far more devastating and frightening.

The is an old African American spiritual that carries a big message for Egypt: It’s gonna rain, it’s gonna rain, you better get ready and bear this in mind. God showed Noah by the rainbow sign, no more water, but fire next time.

I say: It’s better for Egypt and bear this in mind No more fire, the water next time. If Egypt wants to rain fire on Ethiopia, she should know, in the words of the great Bob Dylan, “And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard And it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall” on Egypt.