America is Watching!?
Diplomacy by hypocrisy is “diplocrisy”.
Edmund Burke, the British statesman and philosopher, said “Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for
never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.”
We’ve heard
many promises on human rights in Africa from President Obama and his
Administration over the past four years. “We will work diligently with
Ethiopia to ensure that strengthened democratic institutions and open
political dialogue become a reality for the Ethiopian people… We will
work for the release of jailed scholars, activists, and opposition party
leaders… We align ourselves with men and women around the world who
struggle for the right to speak their minds, to choose their leaders,
and to be treated with dignity and respect…. Africa’s future belongs to
its young people… We’re going to keep helping empower African
youth… Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.
We
support strong and sustainable democratic governments…. America will be
more responsible in extending our hand. Aid is not an end in itself…
[Dictatorship] is not democracy, [it] is tyranny, and now is the time
for it to end… America is watching…” All empty promises and cheap talk.
Last week, the U.S. State Department released its annual Human Rights Report for 2013. In his remarks launching that report, Secretary of State John Kerry announced
…[These] reports show brave citizens around the world and those who would abuse them that America is watching…
So anywhere that human rights are under threat, the United States will proudly stand up, unabashedly, and continue to promote greater freedom, greater openness, and greater opportunity for all people. And that means speaking up when those rights are imperiled. It means providing support and training to those who are risking their lives every day so that their children can enjoy more freedom. It means engaging governments at the highest levels and pushing them to live up to their obligations to do right by their people…
Is America really “watching” and “standing up”?
I am always curious when someone is watching. Big Brother is watching! Aargh!!
When
Kerry tells “brave citizens” in Ethiopia like Eskinder Nega, Reeyot
Alemu, Wobshet Taye, Sertkalem Fasil, Bekele Gerba, Olbana Lelisa,
Abubekar Ahmed, Ahmedin Jebel, Ahmed Mustafa and so many others
“America is watching”, what does he mean? Does he mean America is
watching them rot in Meles Zenawi Prison #1 in Kality and/or #2 in
Zewai? Does he mean America is watching Ethiopia like birdwatchers watch
birds?
Or like amateur astronomers watching the starry night sky? Perhaps like
daydreaming tourists at the beach watching the waves crash and the
summer clouds slowly drifting inland?
Is “watching” a good or a
bad thing? If we believe Albert Einstein, watching is no good. “The
world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch
them without doing anything.” (Silent watchers, watch out!) Like Nero
Claudius Caesar who watched Rome burn from the hilltops singing and
playing his lyre. Or, (I hate to say it but it would be hypocritical of
me not to) like Susan Rice who watched Rwanda burn. Her
only question was, “If we use the word ‘genocide’ and are seen as doing
nothing, what will be the effect on the November [Congressional]
election?”
I like it when Human Rights Watch (HRW) watches because
when they watch they witness. They saw the genocide and crimes against
humanity in the Ogaden and Gambella and they have witnesses. They
watched independent journalists jacked up in kangaroo court and
railroaded to Meles Prison #1 or #2. (Sounds like the equivalent of a
hotel chain? Well, they do put chain and ball on innocent people at the
Meles Zenawi Hilton.)
I like watching watchdogs watch crooks,
criminals and outlaws. I mean “watchdog journalists” like Eskinder,
Reeyot, Serkalem, Woubshet and many others. These journalists used to
watch power abusers and alert citizens of the crimes they were watching.
Now the criminals are watching them in solitary at the Meles Zenawi
Hilton.
I also like the way the watchdogs’ watchdog watch those
who dog the watchdogs. I am referring to the Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ). The CPJ guys are like McGruff, the crime watchdog,
always tracking to “take bites out of crimes” committed against
journalists. Not long ago, they
watched and sounded the alarm that Reeyot Alemu was heading to solitary
confinement just because she complained about inhumane and inhuman
treatment in Meles Zenawi Prison. Last week, the CPJ watched Woubshet Taye being hauled from the Meles Zenawi Prison #1 to Meles Zenawi Prison #2. (They think he will be forgotten by the world lost in the armpits of Meles Zenawi Prison #2.)
I
pity those who just watch. Like the “foolish and senseless people, who
have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear” or those who
may “indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not
understand.” I have no idea what the Obama Administration is watching,
perceiving or seeing in Ethiopia? I would like to believe they are
watching human rights abuses and abusers and the criminals against
humanity.
But how is it possible to watch with arms folded, ears plugged
and wearing welding goggles? I wonder: Could they be watching the
tragicomedy, “The Trials and Tribulations of the Apostles of Meles”?
Perhaps they are watching kangaroo courts stomping all over justice and
decency? I am certain they are not watching the political prisoners.
Perhaps they are watching the horror movie, “Dystopia in Ethiopia”?
Sure, it’s a scary movie but it really isn’t real. But if it is real,
what’s the big deal? The same horror film has been playing all over
Africa since before independence. Get over it!
From where I am
watching, the Obama Administration seems to be watching Ethiopia
peekaboo style; you know, cover your face with the palms of your hand
and “watch” between the fingers. “I seee yooou!” That is, stealing
elections, sucking the national treasury dry, handing over the best land
in the country to bloodsucking multinationals, jailing journalists and
ripping off the people.
Doesn’t “America is watching,” sound like
Orwellian doublespeak. You know, “War is peace. Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength.” Dictatorship is democracy. Watching is turning a blind eye.
When
America is watching, those being watched in Ethiopia are watching
America watching them. They watch America waffling and shuffling,
double-talking, flip-flopping and dithering, equivocating, pretending,
hemming and hawing and hedging and dodging. But those chaps in Ethiopia
watch like George Orwell’s Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four) who
watched everybody and everything in Oceania. Well, Big Brother Meles is
gone from Ethiopiana but the “Little Brothers of the Party of Meles”
keep on watching and yodeling:
…The
Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in
the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What
pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from
the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the
others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites.
The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in
their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own
motives.
They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had
seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around
the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and
equal. We are not like that. We know what no one ever seizes power with
the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.
One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a
revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the
dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of
torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to
understand me.
Oceania Ethiopiana!
I have been watching
America watching Ethiopia for a very long time. I have been watching the
Obama Administration watching and coddling the criminals against
humanity in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda. I must confess that I enjoy
watching and re-watching President Obama’s speeches in Accra, Cairo,
Istanbul and elsewhere. “History is on the side of brave
Africans…” (whatever that means).
I liked watching former
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton declare moral victory on the Chinese
and capture the commanding moral heights. “We don’t want to see a new
colonialism in Africa… It is easy to come in, take out natural
resources, pay off leaders and leave… and not leave much behind for the
people who are there.” Right on! Power to the people of Africa! Down
with colonialism! (I think that may be a bit passé.)
Sometimes I
feel bad watching. When I watch hard earned American tax dollars
bankrolling ruthless African dictators who laugh straight to the bank to
deposit their American tax dollars, I really get bummed out. I am
peeved when I watch the American people being flimflammed into believing
their tax dollars are supporting democracy, human rights and American
values in Africa. But when I watch those miserable panhandlers “enfolded
in the purple of Emperors” bashing and trashing America on their way
back from depositing their foreign aid welfare checks, I just plain get
pissed off!!
“America is watching,” but is America watching where its tax dollars are going? It is NOT. According to an audit report by the Office of the Inspector General of US AID in March 2010 (p. 1), there is no way to determine the fraud, waste and abuse of American tax dollars in Ethiopia:
The audit was unable to determine whether the results reported in USAID/Ethiopia’s Performance Plan and Report were valid because agricultural program staff could neither explain how the results were derived nor provide support for those results.
Indeed, when the audit team attempted to validate the reported results
by tracing from the summary amounts to the supporting detail, it was
unable to do so at either the mission or its implementing partners… In
the absence of a complete and current performance management plan, USAID/Ethiopia is lacking an important tool for monitoring and managing the implementation of its agricultural program.
Watching diplocrisy in Technicolor
There
is nothing more mind-bending and funny than watching hypocrisy in
Technicolor. Earlier this month, in an act of shameless diplocrisy,
Secretary Kerry expressed grave reservations about the legitimacy of the
election of Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela. Maduro won the election by a razor thin margin of 50.66 percent of the votes. Opposition leader Henrique Capriles rejected the results alleging irregularities and demanding a recount of all votes.
Kerry
supported Capriles’ demand for a recount. “We think there ought to be a
recount… Obviously, if there are huge irregularities, we are going to
have serious questions about the viability of that [Maduro]
government.” White House spokesman Jay Carney also issued a statement calling for a recount of all the votes.
… Given the tightness of the result — around 1 percent of the votes cast separate the candidates –
the opposition candidate and at least one member of the electoral
council have called for a 100 percent audit of the results. And this
appears an important, prudent and necessary step to ensure that all Venezuelans have confidence in these results.
In our view, rushing to a decision in these circumstances would be
inconsistent with the expectations of Venezuelans for a clear and
democratic outcome.
In May 2010 when the late Meles Zenawi claimed 99.6 percent victory in the parliamentary elections and leaders
from Medrek, the largest opposition coalition, and the smaller All
Ethiopia Unity Party alleged glaring election fraud, vote rigging and
denial of American food aid to poor farmers unless they voted for the
ruling party, the U.S. response was “see no evil, hear no evil and speak
no evil.” White House National Security Spokesman Mike Hammer could only express polite “concern” and muted “disappointment”:
We acknowledge the conclusion of Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections on May 23, 2010…
We are concerned that international observers found that the elections fell short of international commitments. We are disappointed that
U.S. Embassy officials were denied accreditation and the opportunity to
travel outside of the capital on Election Day to observe the voting.
The limitation of independent observation and the harassment of independent media representatives are deeply troubling.
An environment conducive to free and fair elections was not in place even before Election Day. In recent years, the Ethiopian government has taken steps to restrict political space for the opposition through intimidation and harassment,
tighten its control over civil society, and curtail the activities of
independent media. We are concerned that these actions have restricted
freedom of expression and association and are inconsistent with the
Ethiopian government’s human rights obligations.
…We urge the Ethiopian government to ensure that its citizens are able to enjoy their fundamental rights. We will work diligently
with Ethiopia to ensure that strengthened democratic institutions and
open political dialogue become a reality for the Ethiopian people.
Victory by 50.66 percent is irrefutable evidence of election fraud in Venezuela but “all Ethiopians should have confidence” in the 99.6 percent election victory of Meles Zenawi? Sounds like election certification in Oceania. Rigged elections are free and fair elections!
Watching “fools, idiots” and sanctimonious diplocrites
If
Susan Rice is to be believed, critics of Meles Zenawi and his regime
(and by implication critics of U.S. policy that supports the regime) are
“fools and idiots”. I guess if one must choose between being a
“fool/idiot” and a hypocrite/diplocrite, one is well-advised to choose
the former. A fool does or does not do the right thing because s/he
lacks intelligence and understanding. S/he has the potential to learn
and make right choices. But the cunning diplocrite does the wrong thing
with full knowledge and understanding of the wrongfulness of his/her
acts. S/he is unteachable and incorrigible. No one knows more about the
difference between right and wrong than diplocrites, yet they do wrong
because they don’t give a _ _ _ _!
The U.S. has been practicing
diplocrisy in Ethiopia for the past two decades. It has propped up the
regime of Meles Zenawi with billions of dollars of “development” and
“humanitarian” aid while filling the stomachs of starving Ethiopians
with empty words and emptier promises. Since 1991, the West in general
has provided Meles’ regime nearly $30 billion in aid. In 2008 alone, $3
billion in international aid was delivered on a silver platter to
Meles, more than any other nation in sub-Saharan Africa. In March 2011,
Howard Taylor, head of the British aid program declared Ethiopia will
receive $2 billion in British development assistance. In 2010, the EU
delivered £152m to Meles Zenawi.
In December 2010, Human Rights
Watch called on the Development Assistance Group (DAG), a coordinating
body of 26 foreign donor institutions for Ethiopia to “independently
investigate allegations that the Ethiopian government is using
development aid for state repression.” In July 2010, a DAG-commissioned
study issued a whitewash denying all allegations of improper use of
aid. In August 2011, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the BBC
reported the “Ethiopian government is using millions of pounds of
international aid to punish their political opponents.” The report
presented compelling evidence of how “aid is being used as a weapon of
oppression propping up the government of Meles Zenawi.” Despite numerous
documented reports of aid abuse and misuse, Western leaders and
governments continue to hide behind a policy of plausible deniability
and the massaged and embellished reports of swarms faceless
international poverty-mongers creeping invisibly in Ethiopia.
The Center for Global Development in its comprehensive 2012 report cautioned,
“The United States could be making a dangerous long-term bet with its
assistance dollars by placing so little emphasis on governance in
Ethiopia”, and US policymakers should temper their expectations for
future development prospects in Ethiopia under the current regime.
Sorry, no one is listening at the U.S. State Department, only watching.
Watching truth on the scaffold and wrong on the throne
“America
is watching.” But is anybody watching America? The people of Ethiopia
are watching America asking, “Is America watching? Watching what?”
The
powerful don’t believe the powerless are watching them because they
equate powerlessness with blindness. The powerless do watch because that
is all they can do. They watch boots pressing down on their necks. They
watch crimes committed against them as they sit helplessly with empty
stomachs and hearts filled with terror. When Kerry says, “America is
watching”, he should be mindful that Ethiopia’s poor and powerless are
watching America with outrage on their faces, sorrow in their hearts and
resentment in their minds.
I have watched Ethiopia’s “best and
brightest” fall silent, deaf and mute watching truth on the scaffold and
wrong on the throne. They have been watching the scaffold and throne
like bystanders watching a crime scene — horrified, terrified and
petrified. Perhaps they should heed Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s counsel,
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.”
But if Robert Lowell is right, it does not
matter who is watching silently, watching peekaboo style, watching by
turning a blind eye, watching for the sake of watching or not watching
at all, because there is One who standing within the shadow watches the
watchers, the watched and the unwatched :
Truth
forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,— Yet that
scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God
within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam teaches political science at California State University, San Bernardino and is a practicing defense lawyer.
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