Carpe Diem Ethiopia

It's easy to get lost in the numbers—no less than two million Iraqis died under Saddam Hussien’s watch. Images of Kurdish children lying prostrate, dead on the spot they breathed Saddam’s deadly mustard gas—the same biological weapon used by fascist Italy against Ethiopian villagers in 1935—show one of the most horrific acts of brutality known to mankind. The Butcher of Bagdad’s 1986-88 chemical and biological weapon attacks on thousands of innocent Iraqis in Halabja and al-Anfal are only a few examples of his systematic campaign to exterminate opposition to his brutal twenty-five year rule. In various postings, we have stated our support for the war on terror. We are convinced that the dictator’s quarter-century rule needed to come to an end. In the long run, his removal from power will allow Iraqis the opportunity to build a nation based on tolerance and respect for the rule of law. We are further convinced that despite the US-led coalition’s failure to secure t...

I was surprised to hear someone mention her name at the December 2005 wedding that brought me to the country that birthed me. It took me a full week to find her number and when I called her, she screamed. I think, in joy. I promised to visit her and her husband and their two children the following day. But she asked me to come as early as I could because she needed to attend an arba in her neighborhood (the 40-day anniversary of a person’s death remembered by a prayer and renewed mourning). “Addis Ababa is amazing, so beautiful,” she said, almost in a whisper. Seeing her for the first time in two decades had been surreal. As was the sight of her children, two girls who looked like carbon copies of herself. And nothing like the strange husband of hers who eyed me suspiciously. I kept thinking thank you Jesus the children don't look like you. Her words broke the silence that had set between us since we left her home. The neighborhood where we grew up ...

"We must resist the powers to keep our independence" Menelik II The bright stars set against the dark night above Mount Entoto must have been a spectacular sight to the aging monarch from Ankober. A devoutly religious man, he woke up early in the morning to recite the Psalms of David before tending to the affairs of his ancient yet infant empire. Having pulverized a recently united, desperate, and foolhardy European power, the brilliant warrior literally and figuratively stood on top of his nation. With his back turned to an ancient highland past and his navel to an equally historic lowland south that would soon fall under his empire, he observed his garrisons camped on the frosty hill that stood 10,000 feet above sea level. They were armed to the teeth with weapons seized from a humiliated Italy and also supplied by European powers with dubious intentions; prepared to respond to the steady beating of the Negarit , ready to act at the monarch’s bidding, and r...