“I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, ‘What, did I have something do with it?’ ” Trump asked the crowd.
“Yeah,” Trump said, answering his own question. “But that’s the way it is.”
Trump played no apparent role in the Eritrea peace deal, but Washington has played a convening role in another deal Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is seeking with Egypt that will regulate how quickly Ethiopia can fill a new dam it has built in the upper reaches of the Nile River that has major implications for the flow of water Egypt relies on economically.\ Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses with his Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 in Oslo. (Hakon Mosvold Larsen/Pool/EPA-EFE/REX)
The apparent conflation of the two led to widespread befuddlement on social media in Ethiopia and elsewhere, though by and large the comments were not taken seriously
The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia referred reporters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks in October congratulating Abiy for his prize.
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday tweeted “Trump is confused” about why Abiy was awarded the prize.
Trump is confused.
PM @AbiyAhmedAli was awarded the @NobelPrize for his efforts to bring peace to the Horn of Africa, not stalled negotiations about a new dam on the Nile.If they gave the Nobel for deals that didn’t happen, the Pres. would have a shelf full of them. #Ethiopia https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1215435613203202048 …
“I made a deal, I saved a country, and I just heard that the head of that country is now getting the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the country. I said, ‘what, did I have something do with it?'” — Trump whines about not having a Nobel Peace Prize
“He was talking about Egypt and Ethiopia,” a senior Ethiopian government official told the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the matter. “President Trump really believes he avoided a war as such … but that was not the case.”
Ministers from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, which controls a stretch of the Nile between its two sparring neighbors, will meet in Washington next week to discuss the ongoing impasse in talks concerning the dam.
Ethiopia’s peace deal with Eritrea led to a reopening of borders and diplomatic relations. Eritrea was part of Ethiopia until it seceded in 1993 and then fought a bloody war to retain its independence that began in 1998. The war resulted in at least 80,000 deaths. Eritrea still has mandatory conscription, which tens of thousands have sought to avoid by migrating to Europe and countries on the nearby Arabian peninsula.
Trump, for his part, has rarely commented on African affairs, and while he is often criticized for neglecting the continent, he remains popular in Kenya and Nigeria, according to a recent poll that similarly neglected to survey most of the continent’s 54 countries.
My Beloved Countrymen/Women:
Please allow me to say a few words regarding President Trump opinion about the recent Nobel Prize. I think he is getting a bad rap for what he said about it. Here is why.
The relationship between Eritrea and USA had been strained for this or that reason for more than a decade. At some point all diplomatic contacts seemed to have stopped altogether. It seemed to me that every Democrat administration was not taking lessons from the mistake committed by the Jimmy Carter administration in 1970’s by similar action towards the demonic Mengistu regime. Fast forward to 2009 the know-it-all Susan Rice and company were so blindly in love with the regime in Addis/Finfine favoring it over anyone else in the hood. Such one sided policy played part pushing the regime in Asmara more and more into the corner. We all remember being told by the know-all’s how the regime in Addis/Finfine was democratically elected. Susan admonished us all because we were not looking at the big picture! I don’t know which picture but we were all remiss. Remember that? But all that stopped ever thankfully beginning 2017.
I remember reading articles in 2017 about certain US officials restarting contacts or traveling to Asmara. I believe all cards were on the table for the already isolated regime there where rewards like removing it from the debilitating terrorist list. Then came the tsunami that swept away the despots from Addis/Finfine. I expect diplomats from the USA were paying very close attention to what is going on there and could have given useful advice there. The promise to be removed from the terrorist list was and still is a big deal to the country that was admittedly devastated by it. I think such incentive is hard to resist to H.E. Isaias and his regime. I think the part played by his administration in facilitating the peace accord between the two countries that have been on a war footing for more than 17 years may be the reason for President Trump’s comment. I may be wrong but that is the fact I know that I gathered from articles going back to 2017. Was his comment legit? I leave that to level headed and fair historians. And I don’t mean to offend anyone here. If you don’t like it that is your Allah given rights nobody should tinker with it.
Dear kuku:
It depends who we choose to listen to. The policy towards the use of nuclear reactors to generate electricity seems to vary from one administration to another in those countries that have been using the technology. In and around 2011 all those countries were getting earful from their constituents about the danger of the reactors. But now they are all rethinking about it. Almost every country that was planning to phase out nuclear power plants is rethinking about it because so much new knowledge and technology have come to the fore. Please remember that the old country is not urbanized yet. How many cities does it have with a million or more inhabitants? Only one. Right? But there will be more and more cities populated as such and the process is going to be at a blinding speed. So the demand is going to be so urgent with no room for respite. I do believe reactors are getting the bad rap. The record is out there. Let’s take a look at the Fukushima incidence. The nuclear plant was devastated by the monstrous tsunami resulting in the meltdown of all three reactors there. There were more than 15,000 casualties who were killed by the tsunami but not a single person died from the meltdown. There was one death allegedly from cancer years later and even that is not without differing opinions. You see, when the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami that resulted from it are mentioned what sticks in the minds of many is what happened to the Fukushima reactors. The deaths of more than 15,000 citizens who were violently killed only by the raging tsunami are not highlighted. All we hear about is the boogeyman nuclear reactor!!! But in the old country earthquakes are rare and can be avoided by choosing the locations for such sites. My family has lived at a small town not too far from such a reactor here in the USA since the 1970’s. I am still alive and kicking free from radiation related ailments and all my aches and pains are all related to decades spent in the huffing/puffing factory environments here and overseas. All members of my family are all in good health. But those who have lived close to coal fired power plants have not been so lucky. We hear health related problems from the coal ash and plumes of hazardous gases in the surrounding air mass. I don’t recall a single death in our entire county from the effects of having such a reactor nearby. I don’t think the safe disposal of the hazardous waste will be a hindering reason for the old country. The old country has so many mountainous locations which will remain inhabitable until the end of times that can be used to safely stow away the waste from the reactors. Meanwhile, I am not saying that other alternatives to generate electricity should be ignored. The efforts which I noticed to have started in the areas of thermal, solar and wind energy should go on at full blast. In fact those should be up front. But the process should begin now for nuclear reactors. The knowledge should be acquired at full speed ahead in consultation with the West. Blessings to you and your family!!!
There are so many crimes allegedly committed by this young man Obbo Jawar. There quite a few of them mentioned in this article alone. One of them is an extremely serious one which should not have been ignored either by the FBI or other law enforcement agencies. I am talking about the alleged call by Obbo Jawar to behead others and then build mosques. He had stirred his followers into a frenzy urging them to start beheading others(Christians I suppose) and then build mosques. Did he really say that? Please note that such call is unlawful in the USA and a serious crime. Does the author have an ocular proof for that? Recently I had also read an article that tells Obbo Jawar is being investigated by the IRS for tax evasion. I have not heard about that from other sources either. There are just too many questionable rumors and innuendos have been going around about many individuals on both sides for quite some time now. On one side there are so many of such unfounded allegations about my noble neighbors of Amharas being spewed around by bigots on this and other websites? There are also many unfounded and biased allegations on many Oromo individuals by their foes. It is not right and it not that funny, ok!!! In the middle of all such flying allegations, there is a sinister scheme that is about to come to a reality for bigots. There are having fits more than ever, they are making preparation more than ever to found their own republic by yanking away a territory to call it their own fiefdom. You mark my word for it. Come May or June in 2020 we will hear the proclamation of a new republic wedged between hostile regions and that will not be good news for my kin and kit in Oromia. I am just warning you and urging to prepare yourself. These bigots have always been so reckless and they are more so now. Then I will close my eyes and ears to live out the rest of my life in its sunset now!!!!