by Thomas C. Mountain
Ethiopia is on another arms buying spree as millions of Ethiopians starve due to the worst drought in 60 years. According to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia is purchasing 200 battle tanks from Ukraine for over $100 million. Was it a coincidence that the day before Meles’ announcement, the British foreign aid office announced a $60 million “emergency food aid donation” to Ethiopia?
Why, you might be excused for asking, does Ethiopia need 200 tanks? There isn’t any realistic chance of any of Ethiopia’s neighbors invading Ethiopia, considering Ethiopia already has the largest and best equipped army in Africa.
One of the primary reasons Ethiopia needs 200 tanks is to conduct its counterinsurgency campaigns against the ethnically based armed uprisings slowly engulfing much of the country. From the Ogaden in the southeast, to Tigray in the north, to Gambella in the west, and now it is reported, even spreading to much of Oromia in the southwest, the Ethiopian regime needs to be able to crush its own people and the latest installment of armor is long overdue. It is already 11 years since Ethiopia invaded Eritrea and in the process lost its best armored divisions, including at least 2 in one day-long disaster called the Battle of Tsorona. Read More
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