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Biddho.com Eritrea - Rising To The Challenges!    

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Sep 07th
Home arrow News arrow OEA - Statement on Assistant Secretary of State Frazer's double threats
OEA - Statement on Assistant Secretary of State Frazer's double threats Print E-mail
Written by Organization of Eritrean-Americans (OEA)   
Thursday, 13 September 2007
On Friday, August 17, 2007, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer threatened to put Eritrea on a list of state sponsors of terrorism. She indicated the U.S. was considering adding this young African nation to the list based on Eritrea's alleged support of Somali insurgents as reported by the so-called UN Somali Monitoring Group.

To consider Eritrea, Osama bin Laden's first target of his terrorist activity for such a label is nothing short of blasphemy. Throwing such preposterous charges around without any legitimate bases and with this degree of carelessness damages, in fact makes a mockery of the war on terrorism. This so-called UN Somali Monitoring Group has very dubious credibility. It was indeed this same group that originally framed the invasion of Somalia as a proxy war between Eritrea and Ethiopia by manipulating facts and fabricating data that claimed the presence of more than 2,000 Eritrean soldiers in Somalia. Of course none were found and to date, not even a single journalist or institution has asked this group to account for its baseless charges.

At the time of her ill-fated press conference, Dr. Frazer added insult to injury when she referred to Eritrean-Americans as “Eritreans living in our country,” putting into question the “American” in “Eritrean American.” One of the main reasons we set up the Organization of Eritrean Americans (OEA) in 1998 was to help strengthen the relationship between our adopted country (the U.S.) and our homeland (Eritrea). So, we were also shocked to hear the Assistant Secretary of State question the second half of our hyphenated identity, and talked about “us” and “you” and reminded us of the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during World War II—one of the dark chapters in U.S. history.

Here is what the Assistant Secretary said, by way of explaining why she was holding the press conference: "But I thought it was especially important to say clearly the purpose of our action, especially for the more than -- or, approximately 200,000 Eritreans who are living in the United States, so that they could understand that this is not a signal, in any way, that the United States has problems with Eritreans living in our country. And, in fact, they can continue to get services from their embassy here in Washington, D.C. But it was important for us to acknowledge that Eritrea is restricting our diplomats, and to treat them reciprocally."

Go and tell this to Eritrean Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces fighting against terrorism in Iraq and other places.

We regret to see U.S.-Eritrean relations deteriorate, and deteriorate to this level. We have very serious concerns about the pattern of behavior and level of personalized hostility by the Secretary of State for Africa, Dr. Jendayi Frazer towards Eritrea. It is very difficult to understand how such patronizing and vile campaign will serve the interests of the US. Eritrea abhors terrorism and it is a strong potential ally and loyal partner for the US. But the US must adopt a fair policy of win-win for all parties in the Horn of Africa if it is to reap the benefits of such a potential partner. There is no fundamental dislike of western values in Eritrea. Eritrea has loudly condemned the US supported invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia. Many well respected patriotic American politicians and journalists have recognized the folly of Ms. Frazer's approach. Eritrea's refusal to accept Ms. Frazer's adventurism should not be a reason to allow for the deterioration of US-Eritrea relations to the point of extremism that attaches a label of “sponsor of terrorism”.

In conclusion, we would like to pledge to work hard to reverse this unfortunate trend in U.S.-Eritrean relations and make sure that no one threatens our American identity and ask all Eritrean Americans to contribute to this process in any way they can, including by contacting their representatives in Congress.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 15 September 2007 )
 
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