Amerikai Magyar Értesítő, 1985 (21. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1985-02-01 / 2. szám
18.oldal Amerikai Magyar Értesítő 1985- február Israel aiding Ethiopia WASHINGTON I t’S NO SECRET that Ethiopia’s deadly famine has heen made worse, not better, by the actions of its Marxist leader. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam. Instead of mounting an all-out effort to help the starving millions, he has devoted the government’s energies to putting down rebellious tribesmen in the northern areas where the famine has been most severe. What is a well-kept secret, t hough, is that Mengistu has heen getting military aid from Israel almost since the day he seized power 10 years ago. What makes this surprising is that, according to a secret CIA report seen by my reporters, Israel was second only to the United States as a 9ource of military and technical aid to Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the man Mengistu ousted in 1974. The United States didn't make the ideological leap, but Israel did. Unlike Mengistu, who got his military training in the United States, several of his associates ' Were trained at an Ethiopian military academy staffed by Israelis. Ever since he and his buddies seized power, they have been “in discreet contact with Israel," the CIA report states, adding “The Israelis, for their part, welcome any opportunity to improve their position in Africa.” Incredibly, though Israeli military advisers were kicked out of Ethiopia in 1973 when diplomatic relations were broken, they were secretly invited back by Mengistu in December 1975. The CIA report explains that Mengistu and his cohorts “decided that the Israelis could help the army cope with the many insurrections throughout the country,” and that this service outweighed any political fallout from Ethiopia’s Arab neighbors. In addition to training, the Israelis offer MengiStu’s army weapons it needs to fight the rebels in the northern provinces. They have sold him at least $20 million worth of Soviet-made munitions and spare parts captured two years ago from the Palestinians in Lebanon —and at bargain-basement prices. The Soviets, of course, remain Mengistu's major military patron. This alliance began in 1977 whenothe Kremlin decided to ditch Somalia, Ethiopia’s neighbor to the east, which had been harboring anti-Mengistu rebels. A rotten job, but somebody has to do it I ’M ALWAYS PLEASED hut surprised that anyone will take thejob of being president of the United States. I know you get a big house to live in for free, a salary of $200,000, a helicopter, an airplane, your own doctor and a big staff but I still don’t want thejob. Don’t even ask me because I won’t take it. It's a mystery to me why anyone would want to be president. Anyone who would has to be some kind of nut who loves misery and criticism. As president, any decision you make affects millions of people. You put thousands of people out of work every time you say, ‘Gut that." How do you sleep nights or in a Cabinet meeting knowing someone couldn’t feed his family tonight because some policy of yours cost him a job? A president can’t go down to the basement of the White House on a Saturday morning and putter amund. He can't decide to climb up on the roof and straighten the television antenna ot take a load of trash to the dump. Considering he’s probably the most powerful man in the world, he’s almost powerless to do anything he wants to do. If lie does do something he wants to do, some newspaper or TV reporter will see him and claim he’s wasting the taxpayers’ money. It’s nice to have someone concerned about your welfare if it’s a friend but I certainly wouldn’t want a lot of guys running alongside my car every time I started down the street to make sure I didn't get shot. Furthermore, I’d want to drive my own car. 1 don’t like to be driven anywhere by anyone. You can bet there have been nights when the president wanted nothing more than to go to a good movie. Presidents of the United States can see any movie they want right in the White House but that isn’t what “going to the movies” means. “Going to the movies” is getting dressed to go out, driving to the theater, finding a parking place, buying the .tickets, buying the popcorn and then groping down the aisle to find a seat. A president can’t go to the movies. Can you imagine the complaints he’d get if he took Nancy to one of those dirty, R-ratod movies? There are a thousand things I can do the president can’t. I can go to any restaurant I want to cat dinner or I can stay home and eat leftovers. He can’t do either of those things. 1 can wander down a street and window shop, eat an ice cream cone or lie down and take a nap and not do anything at all if I feel like it. Why would I want to be president? For all the power he has to change the world, the president can’t decide to turn over and go to sleep in the morning He can’t even make a plan for a week from Saturday. His calendar is full for the next four years — not just the days, but the hours I hope you have a happy and successful four years in office, Mr. President, but frankly, you can have it. After tve upcoming, •=t-£CTlON,TWEM IbEVU-TAUc To US'
