I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THIS IS AN INFLATED STORY BY A NATIVE SPEAKER WHO SAW THE VIDEO. But this does bring up an important issue - how unpredictable is this entire set of negotiations? Are Egypt and Ethiopia willing to bring in a third party to help mediate negotiations? Should they? Where is Sudan in all of this?
I just got a phone call from the news room and checked online to see if the story is in fact true: that there is actual official talk about using force and hostility toward Ethiopia from politicians in Cairo. Now, from what I have been reading, the President is seeking advice from a wide swathe of politicians in Egypt - many of whom, I assume, have no real political power. I don't know if anyone is quite clear about the political state of Egypt since the revolution. But what I do know is this - the President used to be the Water Minister. He has got to know the situation he is facing can be solved with technical means - meaning if there is a dam and there is some paranoia about its uses, he can discuss with Ethiopia to understand exactly how the dam can also benefit Egypt - for example to store water further upstream away from the high evaporation rate of Lake Nasser. But in my opinion, there is no way that the Ethiopian dam would stop the Nile. That is ludicrous. It would indicate that Ethiopian leaders are out of their minds. Which they are not. Maybe they make mistakes in political choices, but you learn by doing - as the Laos PDR government told me. They are in part trying to find a way to rally the people of Ethiopia out of poverty and out of a desperate situation.
Make no mistake, the situation in Ethiopia is desperate, many people there are constantly on the brink of life and death. Go visit. Tell me that the government, seeking to engage in a large scale project to provide energy and make money is doing it for some selfish reason with a straight face. Tell me that Ethiopia would even dream of wanting to cripple other people in order to feed its own. This may just be my opinion, but using force to stop Ethiopia will lead to no good end. Practically every able bodied Ethiopian person has put their own money into that dam project.
I hope that Egypt is just posturing or that this is some inflated news reporting - not a huge leap of imagination given the reporting on this project to date.
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/world/article/Egypt-Politicians-advise-attacking-Ethiopia-4572514.php#ixzz2VBydWzYG
I just got a phone call from the news room and checked online to see if the story is in fact true: that there is actual official talk about using force and hostility toward Ethiopia from politicians in Cairo. Now, from what I have been reading, the President is seeking advice from a wide swathe of politicians in Egypt - many of whom, I assume, have no real political power. I don't know if anyone is quite clear about the political state of Egypt since the revolution. But what I do know is this - the President used to be the Water Minister. He has got to know the situation he is facing can be solved with technical means - meaning if there is a dam and there is some paranoia about its uses, he can discuss with Ethiopia to understand exactly how the dam can also benefit Egypt - for example to store water further upstream away from the high evaporation rate of Lake Nasser. But in my opinion, there is no way that the Ethiopian dam would stop the Nile. That is ludicrous. It would indicate that Ethiopian leaders are out of their minds. Which they are not. Maybe they make mistakes in political choices, but you learn by doing - as the Laos PDR government told me. They are in part trying to find a way to rally the people of Ethiopia out of poverty and out of a desperate situation.
Make no mistake, the situation in Ethiopia is desperate, many people there are constantly on the brink of life and death. Go visit. Tell me that the government, seeking to engage in a large scale project to provide energy and make money is doing it for some selfish reason with a straight face. Tell me that Ethiopia would even dream of wanting to cripple other people in order to feed its own. This may just be my opinion, but using force to stop Ethiopia will lead to no good end. Practically every able bodied Ethiopian person has put their own money into that dam project.
I hope that Egypt is just posturing or that this is some inflated news reporting - not a huge leap of imagination given the reporting on this project to date.
Egypt: Politicians advise attacking Ethiopia
Updated 2:58 pm, Monday, June 3, 2013
In this image released by the Egyptian Presidency, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, center, meets with politicians at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, June 3, 2013. Politicians meeting with Morsi have proposed hostile acts against Ethiopia to try and stop it from building a massive dam over the River Nile. Some of the politicians attending Monday’s meeting with President Mohammed Morsi were not it was carried live on television. Photo: Egyptian Presidency
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CAIRO (AP) — Politicians meeting with Egypt's president have proposed hostile acts against Ethiopia, including backing rebels and carrying out sabotage, to stop it from building a massive dam over the Nile River.
Some of the politicians attending Monday's meeting with President Mohammed Morsi appeared unaware it was being carried live on TV. Morsi did not directly react to the suggestions.
Morsi called the meeting to review the impact of Ethiopia's dam on Egypt's share of the Nile's water.
Younis Makhyoun, leader of an ultraconservative Islamist party, said Egypt should back rebels in Ethiopia or, as a last resort, destroy the dam. Liberal politician Ayman Nour proposed spreading rumors about Egypt obtaining advanced warplanes to scare the Ethiopians.
Egypt has in the past threatened to go to war to preserve its water share.
Read more: http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/world/article/Egypt-Politicians-advise-attacking-Ethiopia-4572514.php#ixzz2VBydWzYG
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