As a concerned citizen of this great nation, The United States of America, I want to share with you the damage the current administration is doing to the long-term interests of the nation. I appeal to all Americans to look carefully at the current actions of the administration, which I describe below, that are clearly harmful to America’s future interests.
Our country was a symbol of fairness and justice and a role model of Democracy in the world.
This great nation, led by the great leaders of the time, such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and the youngest presidentof his time, John F. Kennedy, andthe most popular of all time, Ronald Reagan, had shown great and remarkable leadership in the world. Their contributions to global peace and respect for human rights were big examples. At home, the civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King Jr. achieved historic goals in the 1960s during the administrations of John F.Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.
People around the world liked and trusted our country for its democratic balance of power and young people around the world tried to imitate Americans. My fellow Americans, this was then.
Today, with a weak administration at home and blunders abroad, such as the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, for example, international respect for America and its leadership has been shaken.It seems to be going down the drain. Why? The leadership has become self-centered and is not looking after the nation’s interests. This worrisome situation should be corrected by those responsible sooner than later.
To point out another irresponsible action of the current administration, let me refer you to our history back in 1901. That year, Ethiopia and America established contact for the first time. The relationship started with an exchange of correspondence. Soon after the friendly contact, the first US representative, Robert P. Skinner, was sent to Ethiopia to lay down the foundation for a strong and lasting friendship.
Remember, this was the time when there was no airline or even an airplane anywhere in the world. As you may remember from your history class, the two American brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, successfully tested the first flying vehicle on December 17, 1903.
This is just to remind you of the long and uninterrupted history of friendship between Ethiopia and America. It is very difficult to understand why the current administration wants to destroy this long-lasting friendship. What it is really doing is push our friends to our competitors around the globe who are eagerly watching the administration to drop the ball and then pick it up for their own advantage.
Many of us still remember what happened during the 1970s. First Ethiopia was ignored, weakened and finally abandoned by the Carter Administration. The country was turned from a trusted friendship to almost an enemy camp and was taken over by a communist junta.
The friendship was re-estsablished again in the 1990s. It is unfortunate that the current administration seems to be pushing Ethiopia away again into the hands of our competitors.
I think we should try to normalize the situation and bring back peace before it is too late. I know there are powers ready to jump into this situation and exploit it. We can win Ethiopia by peace and love, not by force. We still can strengthen our friendship with Ethiopia to our mutual benefit.
My fellow Americans we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s. Today, all our competitors are advancing in technology and in science in general. They will not hesitate to weaken and destroy America’s friendship with countries around the world. It will be to their strategic and economic advantage to do so.
It is important to restrengthen the long and important friendships our country had with countries such as Ethiopia and others. Such friendships have proven to be valuable over many years. I think it is a mistake to just throwaway very valuable friendships with counsel from some inexperienced advisors in the white house.
Let’s not forget, for example, the great Korean War and the Congo peace keeping effort decades ago. Ethiopia stood with America when other countries were not able to or didn’t want to participate. Ethiopia stood with America during the Korean War when no other countries either from the Middle East or Africa did so. Now, we see the Biden administration abandoning a friendship that stood the test of time.
My fellow Americans, let us stand up and advise our administration to come back to its senses and reconsider their actions before it is too late. There may be some house members mistakenly trying to take sides. I think they should know the subject and check the history of the two countries.
Thanks for understanding.
Editor’s Note: Assefa Adefris is an Ethiopian American novelist residing in the USA. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of The Reporter.
Contributed by Assefa Adefris