The Amendment that Failed:
This is one of the Most Interesting Situations that I have ever come across.
First of All this Amendment was Sponsored by Congressman Ed Royce (R-CA).
He was the Chair of the African Subcommittee on the Foreign Relations Committee the Last Time the Republicans were in control
of Congress. He has a lot of respect when it comes to African Issues.
He sponsored this Amendment to consider Eritrea a Threat to the National
Security of the United States and to be placed on the Terrorism Watch List. There have been widespread Allegations by the
US and the UN that Eritrea has been supporting the Insurgents in Somalia.
Tensions remain rife along the Border between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the
Country has Occupied a small part of Djibouti as well. The Headquarters for the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA)
is in the Country.
I became aware of the Defeat of this Amendment as it was Publicized on several
Ethiopian Opposition Webpages. They were calling this a Defeat for Prime Minister Zenawi. They have been Reporting that the
Ethiopian Government Lobbied Hard for this Amendment.
Congressman Royce who is the Ranking Member on the Terrorism, Nonproliferation
and Trade Committee states on His Blog Foreign Intrigue that Opponents to his Amendment said that the Eritrean President
has sent a Letter to President Obama stating His Desire to Engage on these Issues.
The President of Eritrea has a Habit of Blaming all of his Country's Problems
on the United States.
Clearly Some Information did not make it to the surface.
