Ambassador Godec repeatedly says in the hearing that the solution is for all parties to honour the ceasefire - which was at that time 1 day old, but there is no evidence any effort was applied to achieving that objective over the following weeks.
Some objectives mentioned in the hearing were acheived, e.g. an open UNSC meeting on the conflict. But why did it take till July 30th for @StateDeptSpox to call for a ceasefire with no preconditions.
@StateDeptSpox And why was the position changed days later to a demand for Amhara to withdraw from Welkaite? And why is that still the position?
On the face of it @StateDept's African Bureau led by the parachuted in and very spooky looking @AsstSecStateAF Godec has actively sabotaged peace.
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The framing of what the USG has done today as "imposing sanctions" is not really what it is. I far better framing to interpret this is as a "framework to achieve and end to the war in North Ethiopia".
As a great imperial power the USG, struggles to say this in as many words. But it is clear when you read between the lines that the U.S. is finally willing to engage with the Ethiopian Govt. in a sincere manner. That said there is still a lot of water to travel under the bridge,
The framing of this initiative is carrot and stick. The stick is of course the bit that Ethiopia should not accept.
But the carrot is significant. The President of the United States is offering to restore Ethiopia's to its rightful place as friend and ally of the US.
This letter is fantastic. And a great way to respond to the @JoeBiden peace Initiative. Very very Abiy in its construction, strong, and heartfelt. The final paragraph is crucial.
The U.S. initiative - I just spent a couple of hours getting into the weeds on it - is on one level disrespectful, and on another (more important level) clearly a practical response to try to end this war and crisis.
The final paragraph of @AbiyAhmedAli's letter reads:
"It is essential to point out here that Ethiopia will not succumb to consequences of pressure engineered by disgruntled individuals for whom consolidating power is more important than the well-being of millions.
So this #TPLFStrategyLeak appears to be a significant event. An 86 page document leaked, allegedly written/presented to TPLF leadership a couple of weeks before the Northern Command attack.
The document appears to have been leaked online. A full version is not yet available.
The second #TPLFStrategyLeak tweet, tweeted earlier contains a summary and description of the full document. And I now have a full translation of that.
The document is in Amharic, which raises questions about its authenticity. However, it's not quite that simple, as it also raises questions about any attempt to fake it. I would also note that faking an 86 page doc. would itself be extraordinary.
The Ethiopian-Tigray Crisis-War has reached what looks like a turning point. The rumours, which are everywhere, that @POTUS@JoeBiden is about to sanction Ethiopia and Eritrea are clearly being telegraphed for a reason.
@POTUS@JoeBiden E.G. this is one of the most recent ones. And this one is weirdly specific. "18 Hours". sounds like there will be a press conference or something.
Apparently the announcement of the sanctions has been approved. On the day that @KarenBassTweets was due to depart for Ethiopia on CODEL (Congressional Delegation) visit. However this seems to have been postponed, now till 27th-29th September. Which is odd.
Translation into English of Somalia President Farmaajo’s statement suspending Somalia PM Roble @MohamedHRoble (aka Rooble)’s powers. [ Translation by @Mohamud_M_A ]