Rebel Aid

The pictures of starving children with swollen bellies and pathetic eyes are only the beginning of the story. The real problem in Ethiopia is not with the rains, but in the reign of terror its current rulers, with a little help from Moscow, have imposed on their unhappy people. To stave off hunger, the Ethiopians need not butter, but guns; not charity, but freedom—and, if necessary, a revolution to establish it.

The situation is ripe. The personnel, in the form of thousands of refugees with military training, is available. At least two existing political groups, the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Alliance and the Ethiopian Democratic Union, could provide the organizational foundation for an armed resistance. Both are based in Sudan, are run partly by Western-trained military professionals, and are committed to democratic and pluralistic principles. Thanks to the Ethiopian Communist regime’s political mistakes, and to a rough topography ideally suited to guerrilla war, an armed resistance would stand an excellent chance. So far, however, the Reagan Administration has refused to extend the Reagan Doctrine—which calls for American aid to promising anti-Communist resistance movements —to Ethiopia. Yet the strategic significance of Ethiopia makes support for such a resistance movement important, not only for Ethiopia, but for America as well.

Featured Tags

The pictures of starving children with swollen bellies and pathetic eyes are only the beginning of the story. The real problem in Ethiopia is not with the rains, but in the reign of terror its current rulers, with a little help from Moscow, have imposed on their unhappy people. To stave off hunger, the Ethiopians need not butter, but guns; not charity, but freedom—and, if necessary, a revolution to establish it.

The situation is ripe. The personnel, in the form of thousands of refugees with military training, is available. At least two existing political groups, the Ethiopian People’s Democratic Alliance and the Ethiopian Democratic Union, could provide the organizational foundation for an armed resistance. Both are based in Sudan, are run partly by Western-trained military professionals, and are committed to democratic and pluralistic principles. Thanks to the Ethiopian Communist regime’s political mistakes, and to a rough topography ideally suited to guerrilla war, an armed resistance would stand an excellent chance. So far, however, the Reagan Administration has refused to extend the Reagan Doctrine—which calls for American aid to promising anti-Communist resistance movements —to Ethiopia. Yet the strategic significance of Ethiopia makes support for such a resistance movement important, not only for Ethiopia, but for America as well.