18 May 2000
Text: U.S. Africa Subcommittee Chair Faults Ethiopia, Eritrea in War
(Royce says both sides see advantage to fighting) (570) It is a "sad reality," but the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea "see domestic advantage in making war" with each other, says Congressman Ed Royce (Republican of California), the chairman of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa. In a statement he read before a full International Relations Committee hearing on the crisis in the Horn of Africa, Royce said, "Until we get beyond arguing over old maps and treaties, tens of thousands of young men and women will continue to die. ... This war has all-too-real logic." Royce said the international community "must speak out against this sad chapter in Africa's history, including imposing an arms embargo, and I commend the Clinton administration for pushing that at the U.N." Following is the text of Royce's statement, as prepared for delivery: (begin text) Today we are looking at a macabre scenario in which both nations are spending tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of millions of man-hours on war -- the largest war in the world at the moment -- all the while, millions starve. I'm not going to pull any punches: this is gruesome and a gross devaluing of human life by both sides. The international community must speak out against this sad chapter in Africa's history, including imposing an arms embargo, and I commend the Clinton administration for pushing that at the U.N. Often this war is described as "senseless." The leaders of these two countries were friends, so it goes, they fought side by side against the Mengistu regime. People ask: "How could these two countries, which showed so much promise, take up arms against one another and lead tens of thousands of their young men and women to their deaths?" Well this is not senseless. This war has deep fundamentals. The countries are at odds over economic and political issues. This war has cultural roots. The territorial dispute, well, in my estimation it is a convenient ruse for both nations wishing to deflect attention from the deeper issues of this war. And one of the deepest issues driving this carnage is that both governments see domestic advantage in making war. That is the sad reality, and until we get beyond arguing over old maps and treaties, tens of thousands of young men and women will continue to die, and the world will hear about the perverse celebrations from both capitals over how many "enemy" lives they have snuffed out. No, this war has an all-too-real logic. Finally, let me share a New York Times report from Wednesday [May 17], a report from the trenches -- "Ethiopian soldiers said they had found something in the trenches emphatically not dead, a 1-month old boy. Many women are in the Eritrean army and the baby may have indicated just how the war has become a part of normal life in Ethiopia and Eritrea over two years. 'I got the feeling that he lived there,' said an Ethiopian soldier as he watched the baby being carried from the trench." This war is about more than a disputed border. Until both nations are able to demonstrate courageous political leadership, I see little cause for hope here. The dying will continue. (end text) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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