By Meron Agonafer
I am one of the thousands of Ethiopian Americans who toiled to get you elected. For two years, I was a volunteer for your presidential campaign. I made thousands of phone calls, organized precinct walks, recruited volunteers, and contributed funds to send volunteers to Nevada, Colorado and Pennsylvania. I published letters to the editor in my local newspaper in support of your candidacy. I did it all while looking after my then 18 months old son.
I promised my boy that you will be the next President of the United States. I was enthusiastic about my engagement in your campaign because I believed so strongly that your administration would be fundamentally different from your predecessors in dealing with African dictators like Meles Zenawi.
Now you are the President, I am sad to say that your administration is yet to make any meaningful policy changes toward Ethiopia. Of course, Mr. President, you have so much on your plate—two wars, an economic crisis and the ongoing policy debates in Congress.
However, at the expense of sounding alarmist, I want to bring to your attention that if the current dismal political situations in Ethiopia continue unabated, Ethiopia will be a failed-state. Such a real prospect should alarm your administration.
Mr. President, due to its repressive nature, the Zenawi’s regime is widely despised and rejected by the vast majority of Ethiopians. And the United States’ unconditional support to this murderous regime has been greatly resented by Ethiopians. That should be a concern to the United States, because the enormous public opposition to the Zenawi’s regime can make millions of Ethiopians potentially susceptible to recruitment and radicalization by internal and external radical groups.
To avert a colossal failure, Mr. President, now is the time to formulate a new policy toward Ethiopia. Mr. Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, has been surprisingly intimidated to condemn the abhorrent human rights record of the Zenawi’s regime. The U.S. State Department should not have double-standards on human rights in Darfur, Sudan, and Gambella, Gondar and Ogaden, Ethiopia.
You set a high bar for yourself during your presidential campaign to be tough on corrupted dictators and to honor human rights—don’t lower the bar now, Mr. President. Don’t be hoodwinked or deceived by a vicious and notorious dictator like Meles Zenawi. You cannot count on a person like Mr. Zenawi, who has no principles and credibility, to advance U.S. interests in East Africa—it simply cannot be done.
Please advise your State Department to take the issues of human rights violations in Ethiopia seriously, and to set up a Committee to examine political conditions on the ground. A democratic and stable Ethiopia will be a strategic and reliable ally to the United States.
With tremendous respect! Meron Agonafer
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FORUM | 17 Comments
Thank you Meron. Well said
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December 18th, 2009 at 4:49 AM
Nice try. Obama is a politician not a priest who listen to a plea of human suffering. If you help him get elected in order to bring change in Ethiopia, it is a big mistake. Ethiopia’s problem is primarily caused by Ethiopians and the solution is with Ethiopians. Obama is elected to lead the US and not Ethiopia. If this means the destruction of Ethiopia, he will do it. After all he is a politician. So, if you need change in Ethiopia, use the experience of your campaign for Obama’s election to galvanise Ethiopians to bring change in Ethiopia.
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December 18th, 2009 at 4:57 AM
Excellent notification, dear sister.
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December 18th, 2009 at 7:53 AM
Ethiopia has only God its people.
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December 18th, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Meron,
Reall good articale and I wishes luck your message reaches Mr. Obama. I want to travel to the moon. The American did it. Why not me? Oh, how good dream is. There is a saying in tigrigna, “Wecho ente gemtelkayo Wecho” loosley translated a blanket of the some side. No matter who comes in the white house the US policy will not change. Rember, the US has permanent interest not a permanent friend. If you believe that Ethiopia is our best allay crup is real think twice. Ethiopia at the present is a can do it for the dirty work of the US foriegne plicy in the region. Meles and his hench men are amassing the miger resource of Ethiopia with help of America. They are stashing $1.2b in US banks while poor Ethiopian are starving. Pleas wake up and work for the couse to claim Ethiopia for Ethiopian not for the interest goup. Dedicated you energy, maney and time for the petraite who are giving their life for the beterment of a united Ethiopia.
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December 18th, 2009 at 11:48 AM
meron, you are a true petriotic ethiopian american,well said, I admire your entusiastic to our beloved country and people, the human right situation in our country is severlly deteriated, although this persident that I help and support to get elected put a deaf ear to our people,he needs to be accountable. long live our country and our people!
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December 18th, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Meron,
You sound like the many naive Ethiopians who think the fortunes of the Ethiopian people can be solved by a magic wand by western leaders. You complete faith in western leaders needs to change, when western politicians are campaigning to get elected they will tell what you want to hear, when they get in office they serve their masters, i.e. those who pay their bills, not a naive campaingn volunteer like you.
I have a simple advice for you, the answer to the miseries that the Ethiopian people are subjected to lies in Ethiopians themseves, not some western leader who barely knows they even exist. Melles is America’s errand boy, in short his regime is more important to American leaders than any Ethiopian individual who lives in America, when you start to realize that you will be much better off.
Appealing to Obama to deliver the Ethiopian people from the yoke of Melles is like praying to a god in a monastery that doesn’t answer your prayers, in the end you will be disappointed, just like Americans you are endowed with brain to think with, hands to work with, legs to walk and run with, eyes to see with, ears to listen with and a tounge to speak with, use your senses and you will realize how far they can get you.
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December 18th, 2009 at 2:44 PM
Thank you for taking your time, spending your $, and energy.
Most of us tried our best to get Obama elected, hoping he will keep his promise of “change”! Here and abroad. It looks like our effort is so far ended up, I am afraid, to be for no “change” at all in Ethiopia!
So, our best bet for the sake of our nation is to tell Obama as a united Ethiopian voice to tell him keep his promise of change or else our people will stand up together and make the change! Get the murderer Meles out of our people’s life!
Long live Ethiopia!
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December 18th, 2009 at 3:28 PM
Please people for haven’s sake, do not expect Obama or any western leader to free us from the grip of weyane. America never in it’s history supported the causes of oppressed people, rather they pamper dictators who are despised by their own people. The only change comes from us, the people when we are united and fight as one people. When we are united and get stronger, then Obama and his western allies will be with us and discard weyane as an old furniture. For now, Obama has to stick with weyane, because there is no a viable opposition to replace weyne. The Americans are always with the stronger and not with the weaker.
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December 18th, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Obama is the one who make me hate politician even more.Typical politician always lie and cheat,but we took Obama to be a man of integrity and some some sense of honesty,but he is more dangerous than the typical politician because of his race and background which he uses to fool people like us so that we go out in grove to elect him.He should not get a single vote from Ethiopians in particular and Africans in general.
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December 18th, 2009 at 6:38 PM
You said it right, Ethiopia deserves the attention of the president when it comes to human rights in Ethiopoa. But one thing is clear, we are the real force to to get Meles out-off office. Let us get organized and support the opposition.
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December 18th, 2009 at 10:27 PM
I have been asking this for the last twenty years and let me ask it again here..Tell me a country or situation where the West has helped build a democracy (willingly) at any time ever, and I will tell you when exactly dictatorship will end in the world.
The west has never ever been a support of democracy for developing nations. To the contrary, they have always suppressed it.
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December 19th, 2009 at 1:18 AM
Selam ma ppl:
In my opinion, the fastest way to remove Meles and the Woyane hyenas is to enthusiastically support the president of Eritrea Isayas Afeworki than President Obama. I suspect Meles is more scared of Isayas than Obama.
Thanks for reading……Yared
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December 19th, 2009 at 3:54 AM
Good job Meron on articulating the voices of Ethiopians. My question here is, How is President Obama going to get and read this message? Is it addressed to him?
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December 19th, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Dear fellow Ethiopians;
Real change in our country comes through the sweat and tear of Ethiopians; and nobody else. Let’s ask ourselves what have we done to change the situation. We have to start to take ownership of the struggle. Who elected Hailu Shawel, Lidetu Ayalew, Ayele Chamisso…etc They were elected due to the absence of a chaleenge from us, we all made a mistake of letting them represent us. We all need to be serious and choose an effective opposition and support it full time; change it if it needs change; Obama is a single person who has his own agenda; I guess everyone should be assured by now that he is not an angel to our cause, he didn’t mention even once about the situation in Ethiopia, it is not because he doesn’t know, he has his daily briefing about any country on the planet, it is because he doesn’t care, or we didn’t give him any reason to care, when we are strong and show our capability to change the regime, then the western nations might take us seriously. Remember the west was supporting Meles while he was at war with Mengistu, because he has an army at the time, otherwise nobody would have noticed his existence.
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December 19th, 2009 at 8:32 PM
Those who want freedom must fight for it by themselves.
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December 21st, 2009 at 2:18 AM
MerOn
YOu really are one heavy duty moron. Keep dreaming that some guy from far far land will come and do the dirty job that your don’t dare do. Idiots like you are responsible for leaving my great country. You r still a night mare.
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July 16th, 2011 at 2:17 AM