Ethiopian Tyrant Discredited at G-8 Summit

“There is no benevolent dictator. The only good dictator is a dead dictator”.*

Prof. George Ayittey (America based Ghanaian Economist). 

First of all, 99 percent of us, Ethiopian people living at home and abroad, were sad and angry when we heard the news about the invitation of our benevolent leader to the G-8 summit by the Obama administration. We changed our minds after seeing what happened on Friday, May 18^th 2012. We owe the American president Barack Obama for inviting and hosting our "leader" in Washington DC to discuss the world’s "food security" not because we agree with the premise of this invitation, but because a young exiled Ethiopian journalist, Abebe Gellaw, who is charged with terrorism/treason charges in absentia, gave your Ethiopian ally aka Meles Zenawi the taste of his medicine - humiliation. We, 99 percent of Ethiopians all over the world, indebted to those 20 seconds which allowed us to watch/witness your ally being shocked/humiliated/embarrassed in front of the whole world; had it not been for your gracious invitation, we might never ever have seen

such EPIC and historic moment. The mini-dictator had the audacity to say arrogantly this at his World Economic Forum in Ethiopia last week: “There is no direct relationship between economic growth and democracy, historically or theoretically, I don’t believe in bedtime stories, contrived arguments linking economic growth with democracy.” Hmm, well by now he should damn well know how wrong he was after he experienced one of the few shocking moments in his whole life at a place he least expected - America. All hell broke loose when your ally thought he was in his comfort zone and was, as usual, about to give his expertise on the twenty plus years of lies, deception he mastered. We, 99 percent of Ethiopians all over the world, urge Mr. American president and other world leaders from the West and the East who are parading Zenawi at your fancy conferences, to watch again and again those 20 seconds of your friend's humiliation/shock/embarrassment/terror and then you'll understand how it feels to live like that for over two decades, day and night. What Gellaw said at the meeting was what is inside hearts and minds of millions of Ethiopians at home and abroad. We need freedom, freedom, freedom!!! Nothing more, nothing less! It's our birthright as much it is to an American, an Englishman/woman, a Swede or wherever s/he lives in the free world. We aren't asking for a favor/charity; we've had enough with 20 years of torture, harassment, killings, imprisonments, corruption and nepotism. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) supposedly remarked in 1939 that "Anastasio Somoza (Nicaragua's dictator from 1937-1956) may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch”, and thanks to such selfish and hypocritical policies from subsequent American leaderships and the West, millions of people, including Ethiopians all across the globe, are being subjected to live under constant terror, harassment, extrajudicial killings/imprisonments, starvation, wars, diseases, genocides, displacements etc. by their dictatorial regimes and cohorts. Fifteen years ago, Zenawi promised to us we'll have 3 decent meals/day, but today‘s reality is different. Forget about three meals per day: for millions of us, feeding ourselves once a day has become a huge nightmare thanks to his misguided policies and the top-down, corrupt system. President Obama told Ghanaian Parliament in 2009 that: "Africa doesn't need strong men, it needs strong institutions." Meanwhile, Ethiopia's premier, one of Africa's longest serving strongmen, is using food aid as a weapon against opposition supporters, jailing opposition party members/leaders and critical journalists, and cracking down on press and civil society organisations that reported on Ethiopia's accession into authoritarianism. No wonder that his ruling party won over 99 percent of seats in the parliament in 2010. Obama’s and the rest of the world’s ears were deaf to these disturbing and horrific gross human rights violations in Ethiopia; well, he's their "son of a bitch". Please do us a favor Mr. President, invite Zenawi once again. This is a lesson every dictator and their friends should learn from. TYRANT-FREE 2012, Amen!!!   

*Defeating Dictators: Fighting Tyranny in Africa and Around the World