Eritrea is an Enemy

What, the U.S. is PUSHING these SANCTIONS rather than VETOING them?

"Accused of aiding militants, Eritrea stands defiant; American-backed resolution seeks UN sanctions" by Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post | December 15, 2009

Just a reminder, readers: the Washington Post is the CIA 's newspaper.

Again, straight from the horse's mou..., well, try the other end.

ASMARA, Eritrea - With the threat of US-backed sanctions looming over this isolated Red Sea nation, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki recently summed up his defiant attitude toward the United States, and indeed most things he deems foreign - a free press, certain religions, electoral democracy, political parties, global warming.

“Leave us alone,’’ said the commandingly tall former guerrilla leader who became Eritrea’s first and only president in 1993, after a 30-year struggle for independence from Ethiopia. “We don’t want to be pushed around.’’

Over the past year, the United States and other nations have accused Eritrea of sending money and weapons to Al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels in nearby Somalia, and a draft resolution calling for sanctions is now circulating at the UN Security Council.

Excuse me, but WHO is TRAINING THEM?

And have you begun to notice that "Al-CIA-Duh" runs through EVERY NATION AmeriKa either DOES NOT LIKE or which has STRATEGIC or RESOURCE VALUE?

In an interview, Isaias, 63, dismissed the charges as “fabricated,’’ blamed the United States for pursuing years of failed policies in the region and said of the threatened sanctions: “It will be a regrettable move if it’s meant to blackmail or intimidate Eritrea.’’

I wouldn't be a bit surprised on all scores.

But Eritrea’s alleged spoiler role in Somalia is only one facet of a country that many observers say should be drawing attention for another, glaring reason: While striving to be an egalitarian, self-reliant utopia, Eritrea has become one of the most unapologetically repressive countries on Earth.

Right up there with Israel, right?

In the name of national security and unity in this nation of 5.5 million people, the government controls all media, officially allows only four religions, and so tightly controls the economy that the only Coca-Cola factory here had to close because its owners could not import syrup.

According to Eritreans interviewed here, house searches, arbitrary arrests, and a repertoire of torture that includes stuffing prisoners in tires and rolling them around in the desert are part of a vast system of social control that extends from this petite art deco capital to the tiniest village.

You know, in the past I would be willing to believe that.

After watching lies which justify war I'm not so sure, and considering the most recent MSM to come rolling down the printing presses....

The country’s extensive prison system of shipping containers and pits in the desert is by some estimates holding tens of thousands of people without trial, including journalists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and citizens who tried to flee the country....

Related: Slow Saturday Special: AmeriKa's Mass Grave in Afghanistan

And given AmeriKa's horrendous and continuing record when it comes to torture, I feel I can not comment on others' conduct.

The centerpiece of the system is mandatory national service, which forces all 18 year olds into military training, then duty in the army or ministry for as little as $30 a month. It is a sacrifice many here said they would willingly make, were it not indefinite....

Observers say Eritrea’s leadership still clings to its rebel ideology, which enforced Marxist and egalitarian values in opposition to imperial Ethiopian rule. Largely abandoned by the world during their fight for independence, the rebels made do with weapons they captured, diaspora funding and a strict discipline that helped them pull off a stunning victory against a far better-armed enemy. “They won their struggle on their own,’’ said Tasier Ali, a Sudanese peace activist who lives in Asmara. “I think, in a way, time stopped for them there.’’

I notice Ethiopia's war crimes and invasion of Somalia are of no concern.

Oh, right, they are an ally doing what we bribed them, 'er, told them to do.

Since independence, Eritrea has had a bloody border war with Ethiopia that ended with a UN-sponsored border demarcation that Ethiopia, a US ally, has not recognized. More recently, Eritrea has been in a tense standoff with neighboring Djibouti, where the United States has a military base, over a sandy patch of disputed land at the mouth of the Red Sea.

Oh, THAT is why this ONE DAY WONDER made the PAPER!!!!

Isaias, often referred to here simply as “the man,’’ said that national security and economic planning have made national service a harsh necessity....

Will your leader soon tell you that, Amurkn?

“We are not at all bothered,’’ he said, referring to the swelling diaspora that sends home money totaling about a third of the economy. Though he qualifies as a dictator, Isaias prefers a humble style. In contrast to African leaders who speed about their capitals in long motorcades of Mercedes-Benzes, his consists of an old BMW and a Toyota.

What is with the MSM sympathy, huh?

Isaias said that Eritrea is in the midst of a “social transformation’’ aimed at self-reliance - which excludes most outside aid for the country - and dissolving tribal and religious differences in the mostly Muslim and Orthodox Christian country.

Whenever I see Mulsims and Christains mixing it up I wonder where is the cui bono *ew who started it all.

The process is also aimed at dissolving tribal and religious differences. Elections held too soon would invite divisive tribal politics, he said. Asked how long it would take until Eritreans are ready to vote, he said: “A long, long, long time.’’

And you know what? That is THEIR BUSINESS!!!

--more--"