Selling a conflict to the world
Amanuel Biedemariam

Before the start of the Iraq war, we all witnessed the US war-machine in full gear in order to sell the war. It was a multi faceted approach and an approach that certainly exposed the ideas of the inner workings of the Bush administration and a snap shot on how the US approaches work in general. The over-zealot nature, the hubris, miscalculations and the lies that were exposed because of the mishandling of the Iraq war helped a lot of people to come out and expose the US . It is a public record and a subject of many books. It damaged the credibility of the US for the foreseeable future.

Selling conflicts and managing conflicts is an integral part of any US administration  regardless of who is in power ; that is why you see the so called US experts get recycled over and over again.

In the beginning of the Eritrean and Ethiopian conflict, there were pundits who played the games of selling the war brilliantly. Initially they gave the appearance of neutrality but over time their cover was blown and forced to take sides in this case they sided with Ethiopia . We all recognize David Shinn as one of the main players in the Horn who peddled and influenced opinion.

Predictably and on queue, here comes David Shinn giving interviews with the VOA as a neutral observer and expert of the Horn trying to sell the newly concocted conflict between Eritrea and Djibouti . For the curios, this is what he said; “I think it’s playing into a competition that is going on between particularly Ethiopia and Eritrea throughout the region. In addition, we certainly have seen that in Somalia it self and I think it’s starting to play out to some extent in the case of Djibouti. Djibouti has been an important ally of Ethiopia, particularly economically, in terms of virtually all Ethiopian exports and imports passing through the port of Djibouti. This of course is a huge moneymaker for Djibouti, so it’s in their interest to continue this relationship. Eritrea may see the concept of putting pressure on Djibouti as perhaps indirectly creating some additional concern in Addis Ababa,” he says.
For any one who likes to pay attention, these are subliminal messages, particularly this one that insinuate a motive; “This of course is a huge moneymaker for Djibouti, so it’s in their interest to continue this relationship. Eritrea may see the concept of putting pressure on Djibouti as perhaps indirectly creating some additional concern in Addis Ababa.”  According to David Shinn, Eritrea wants Ethiopia to utilize its ports and Ethiopia will sure be forced to use Eritrean ports if Djibouti is destabilized.
This is under handed way of assigning guilt and blame to Eritrea in order to label it aggressor as they have done in the past with Ethiopia effectively! This statement is a compliment to the statement the State Department gave to the international community, which puts the blame directly on Eritrea with out any verification in contradiction to the French observation that refutes the incursion!

In the same breath, Mr. Shinn managed to put this in a larger context by hinting this is another way that Ethiopia and Eritrea are expanding their proxy wars in the wider Horn region and her is the quote; “I think it’s playing into a competition that is going on between particularly Ethiopia and Eritrea throughout the region. In addition, we certainly have seen that in Somalia it self and I think it’s starting to play out to some extent in the case of Djibouti.”

The meeting that just ended in Djibouti is a ploy by the US and a last ditch effort by the failed diplomat, Dr. Janday Frazer, to give Ethiopia a way out and deflect attention from their failures in Somalia. It is obvious in retrospect; one of the objectives of the meeting was to pull Djibouti into the conflict.

This statement by the Foreign Ministry of Eritrea is a fitting perspective to the point; “Indeed, the sad and well-known fact is that US policy and meddling in our region – starting from the border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia to the situations in the Sudan, Kenya and Somalia – is contributing to the proliferation and aggravation of crises. Consequently, the resolution of problems has become elusive and the stability of our region undermined.”

A seasoned Horn expert like David Shinn should know and understand by now, that Eritrea and the people of the Horn are not to be fooled by his deception. Eritrea will never view Djibouti as a competition that needs to be destabilized. Eritrea , since 2001 worked very hard to establish and foster a neighborly relation with Djibouti based on cooperation and not on competition. Furthermore, Eritrea makes it clear to the world, repeatedly, that doesn’t intend to work with the minority clique in Ethiopia . 

Shinn also said, regarding the United States policy for the region; “You have to look at the region as a whole. You can’t try to address any of these issues by looking separately at one country. I mean obviously there are bilateral relationships and you have bilateral dealings with each country. But if you treat your policy on strictly a bilateral basis it’s almost guaranteed to fail.”

Obviously, David Shinn must believe the current instability in the Horn is the intended outcome ideal for the US, confirming Eritrean believes. Otherwise, he would press the US hard to change the failed policies that pins a one country against the other and help to foster relations of cooperation. Unfortunately, history does not allow us to have faith in the judgment of US. David Shinn must also understand Eritrea was not handed to us in a silver platter!