UN NEWS CENTER
The first group of United Nations peacekeepers left Eritrea today, travelling by plane out of the capital, Asmara, as part of the temporary relocation of the mission personnel after the force’s operations were paralyzed when the Horn of Africa country cut off fuel supplies.
Fifty peacekeepers from the Jordanian battalion of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) are now en route to Amman, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists.
In recent weeks UNMEE personnel – including peacekeepers and military observers – have regrouped from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) that separates Eritrea and Ethiopia, which fought a bloody border war in 2000, to Asmara.
The mission decided to temporarily move its personnel from Eritrea because the country cut off fuel supplies. Its personnel in Ethiopia are not affected.
UNMEE stressed today that the relocation is only temporary while the Security Council determines the future of the peacekeeping operation.
Estimated Democratic Delegate Scorecard >> click here
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Primaries and Caucuses update >> click here
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Fox News and CNN call Texas for Clinton. Obama leads in Texas Caucuses. He could still come up with more delegates in Texas… More >>
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Hillary’s Math Problem: Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama. There’s only one problem with this analysis: they can’t count… Read more >>
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Obama Camp Infiltrates Clinton Call: ABC News’ Teddy Davis and Talal Al-Khatib Report: In one of the most bizarre moments of the 2008 campaign, Obama campaign lawyer Bob Bauer called into a Tuesday night Clinton campaign conference call with reporters. The four and a half minute exchange led to a series of antagonistic questions painting the former first lady’s charges of caucus vote tampering as baseless. “I’d be interested to know,” said Bauer, “how is this any different from the series of complaints that you’ve registered against every caucus that you lose?” Listen to the exchange between Bauer and Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson here. The purpose of the Clinton campaign conference call was to accuse Obama’s Texas backers of improperly padding the Illinois Democrat’s caucus vote total… More >>
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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has conceded the Republican nomination to rival Senator John McCain, R-Ariz. But there is no doubt the longshot-turned-contender left his mark on the GOP race. Calling his White House bid the “journey of a lifetime”, Huckabee spoke Tuesday night from Irving, TX commending McCain on an “honorable campaign” and emphasizing his commitment to the Republican party in the fight to the November election… More >>
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Hillary Clinton won Ohio… CNN
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John McCain clinched the Republican presidential nomination Tuesday, an extraordinary comeback for a candidate whose White House hopes were dashed eight years ago and whose second bid was left for dead eight months ago… More >>
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Obama lines up superdelegates: A behind-the-scenes battle broke out late Tuesday over superdelegates who had secretly committed to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), with Clinton campaign officials scrambling to “freeze” them before they announced support for him. The battle reflects the trench warfare that both campaigns expect if the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination stretches on to the Pennsylvania primary on April 22. Democratic officials involved in the conversations said Obama was lining up a package of superdelegates — the party insiders whose votes help select the Democratic nominee — with plans to announce their support as a bloc. Obama also plans to announce he raised more than $50 million in February, considerably more than Clinton’s $35 million… More >>
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Senator Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., are battling in a tight race in the crucial voting state of Ohio, where the former first lady fought hard for white, working class voters she hoped would put her over the edge. Obama, meanwhile, racked up his 12th straight win in Vermont’s Democratic primary — a win that was expected by both candidates and credited to the states sizeable population of liberal and Independent voters who have typically gone for the Illinois senator… Read more >>
(UN News Center) – The first group of United Nations peacekeepers left Eritrea today, travelling by plane out of the capital, Asmara, as part of the temporary relocation of the mission personnel after the force’s operations were paralyzed when the Horn of Africa country cut off fuel supplies.
Fifty peacekeepers from the Jordanian battalion of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) are now en route to Amman, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told journalists.
In recent weeks UNMEE personnel – including peacekeepers and military observers – have regrouped from the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) that separates Eritrea and Ethiopia, which fought a bloody border war in 2000, to Asmara.
The mission decided to temporarily move its personnel from Eritrea because the country cut off fuel supplies. Its personnel in Ethiopia are not affected.
UNMEE stressed today that the relocation is only temporary while the Security Council determines the future of the peacekeeping operation.
Place: Presidents Bar @ the Renaissance Hotel
Location: 999 9th St. NW
Washington , DC 20001
Phone #: 202.898.9000
Time: 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Invited Guests: Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressman Patrick Murphy, and Congresswoman-elect Donna Edwards
Come and be a part of a historical moment, as Barack Obama continues his improbable and inspirational journey to the White House. Barack Obama supporters in the DC metro area are cordially invited to view the results of the Ohio, Texas, Rhode Island, and Vermont primaries at the Presidents (how fitting) Sports Bar located in the luxurious Renaissance Hotel in Washington DC.
Presidents Sports Bar pictured at:
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/photo-tours.mi?mar shaCode=wasrb&pageID=HWRAL&imageID=0
The Presidents Bar has 9 flat screen HD televisions located throughout the bar. Audio will be piped in throughout the bar with the Presidents Sports Bar premium sound system. Everyone will be able to view and hear the results of the primaries from every corner of the restaurant.
This event is hosted by Ethiopians for Obama and Omegas for Obama. Voluntary contributions of $20.00 for the Barack Obama presidential campaign are welcome. We look forward to seeing you, and as always: YES WE CAN!!
Source: feingold.senate.gov
Congressional Record Statement of Senator Russ Feingold
March 3, 2008
Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the political situation in Ethiopia. The US-Ethiopian partnership is an incredibly important one – perhaps one of the more significant on the continent given not only our longstanding history but also the increasingly strategic nature of our cooperation in recent years. Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa – perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and likely safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian regime that exacerbates conflicts throughout the region, Sudan a genocidal regime, and now Kenya descending into crisis. By contrast, Ethiopia seems relatively stable with its growing economy and robust poverty reduction programs.
Indeed, one look at the deteriorating situation on the Horn of Africa and it is clear just how essential our relationship with Ethiopia really is. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration’s approach to strengthening and building bilateral ties with Ethiopia has been short-sighted and narrow. As in other parts of the world, the Administration’s counter-terrorism agenda dominates the relationship, while poor governance and human rights concerns get a pass.
Mr. President, genuine democratic progress in Ethiopia is essential if we are to have a healthy and positive bilateral relationship. We can not allow a myopic focus on one element of security to obscure our understanding of what is really occurring in Ethiopia. Rather than place our support in one man, we must invest in Ethiopia’s institutions and its people to create a stable, sustainable political system. As we are seeing right now in Kenya, political repression breeds deep-seated resentment, which can have destructive and far-reaching consequences. The United States and the international community can not support one policy objective at the expense of all others. To do so not only hurts the credibility of America and the viability of our democratic message, but it severely jeopardizes our national security.
Mr. President, I am seriously concerned about the direction Ethiopia is headed – because according to many credible accounts, the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening over the past few years may be coming to a head. For years, faced with calls for political or economic reforms, the Ethiopian government has displayed a troubling tendency to react with alarmingly oppressive and disproportionate tactics.
For example, Mr. President, in 2003, we received reports of massacres of civilians in the Gambella region of Ethiopia, which touched off a wave of violence and destruction that has yet to truly loosen its grip on the region. At that time, hundreds of lives were lost, tens of thousands were displaced, and many homes, schools, and businesses throughout the area were destroyed. Credible observers agree that Ethiopian security forces were heavily involved in some of the most serious abuses and more than 5 years later no one has been held accountable and there have been no reparations.
The national elections held in May 2005 were a severe step back for Ethiopia’s democratic progress. In advance of the elections, the Ethiopian Government expelled representatives of the three democracy-promotion organizations supported by USAID to assist the Ethiopian election commission, facilitate dialogue among political parties and election authorities, train pollwatchers, and assist civil society in the creation of a code of conduct. This expulsion was the first time in 20 years that a government has rejected such assistance, and the organizations have still not returned to Ethiopia because they do not feel an environment exists where they can truly undertake their objectives.
Despite massive controversy surrounding the polls, it is notable that opposition parties still won an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats. Their pursuit of transparency and democracy was again thwarted, however, when they tried to register their concerns about the election process. In one incident, peaceful demonstrations by opposition members and their supporters in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa were met with disproportionate and lethal force that killed more than 30 people and injured over 100. In another incident, the Ethiopian government arrested thousands of peacefully protesting citizens who took to the streets in support of the opposition.
The systemic nature of this crackdown was revealed in credible reports coming from the Oromia and Amhara regions that federal police were unacceptably threatening, beating and detaining opposition supporters. Indeed, international human rights groups documented that regional authorities were exaggerating their concerns about armed insurgency and “terrorism” to try to justify the torture, imprisonment and sustained harassment of critics and even ordinary citizens.
This tendency to portray political dissent as extremist uprisings has been repeated more recently with regards to what is being characterized by some as a brutal counterinsurgency operation led by Ethiopia’s military in the Ogaden, a long-neglected region that borders Somalia. Certainly I recognize the serious security concerns in this region, made worse by the porous borders of the failed state just a stone’s throw away.
But it is precisely because Ethiopia is our partner in the fight against al Qaeda, its affiliates and allies, Mr. President, that I am so concerned about what I understand to be a massive military crackdown that does not differentiate between rebel groups and civilians. While I am sure there are few clean hands when it comes to fighting in the Ogaden region, the reports I have received about the Ethiopian government’s illicit military tactics and human rights violations are of great concern.
I have been hearing similar reports of egregious human rights abuses being committed in Somalia, about which I am gravely concerned. When I visited Ethiopia just over a year, I urged the Prime Minister not to send his troops into Somalia because I thought it might make instability there worse, not better. Tragically, more than a year later, it seems my worst fears have been realized as tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, humanitarian access is at an all time low, and there are numerous reports of increasing brutality towards civilians caught in the crossfire. In the interest of its own domestic security, Ethiopia is contributing to increased regional instability.
Mr. President, what troubles me most is that the reports of Ethiopia’s military coming out of the Ogaden and Mogadishu join a long list of increasingly repressive actions taken by the Ethiopian government. The Bush Administration must not turn a blind eye to the aggressive – and recurring – tactics being utilized by one of our key allies to stifle dissent.
I certainly welcome the role the Bush Administration has played in helping to secure the release of many — although not all — of the individuals thrown in jail in the aftermath of the 2005 elections. I welcome the Embassy’s engagement with opposition members and their efforts to encourage Ethiopian officials to create more political space for alternative views, independent media, and civil society. These are all important steps Mr. President, but they do not go far enough.
The Administration’s efforts at backroom diplomacy, Mr. President, are not working. I understand and respect the value of quiet diplomacy, but sometimes we reach the point where such a strategy is rendered ineffective – when private rhetorical commitments are repeatedly broken by unacceptable public actions. For example, recent reports that the Ethiopian government is jamming our Voice of America radio broadcasts should be condemned in no uncertain terms, not shrugged off.
The Bush administration must live up to its own rhetoric in promoting democracy and human rights by making it clear that we do not – and will not — tolerant the Ethiopian government’s abuses and illegal behavior. It must demonstrate that there are consequences for the repressive and often brutal tactics employed by the Ethiopian government, which are moving Ethiopia farther away from – not closer to – the goal of becoming a legitimate democracy and are increasingly a source of regional instability.
Mr. President, I’m afraid that the failure of this Administration to acknowledge the internal crisis in Ethiopia is emblematic of its narrow-minded agenda, which will have repercussions for years to come if not addressed immediately. Worse yet, without a balanced US policy that addresses both short- and long-term challenges to stability in Ethiopia, we run the risk of contributing to the groundswell of proxy wars rippling across the Horn – whether in Somalia, eastern Sudan, or even the Ogaden region. And those wars, in turn, by contributing to greater insecurity on the Horn and providing opportunities for forces that oppose U.S. interests, pose a direct threat to our own national security as well.
I yield the floor.
