Djibouti and Eritrea come closer to all out war

[dead0man]

I wasn't sure if I should put this in the France thread since Djibouti is so close with them, but I figured a new one would be easier (and wouldn't clutter up the main French thread).

BBC Link

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I wasn't really up on the recent goings on between the two nations, not exactly CNN headlines worthy since (probably) 95% of Americans wouldn't have clue where either nation is or why they are having a problem or whose side we should/would be on if asked.  So I read up on it via wiki and Google, it seems Eritrea is full of lying, aggressive asshats.  Is that an incorrect assumption?  Is there a good reason not to support Djibouti?  (pronounced ja-booty?)  Eritrea (pronounced ) has border issues with everybody around it.

[dead0man]

I should add that according to "Reporters Without Borders" they are less free than N.Korea.  I wasn't sure that was possible.

[minionofmidas]

Eritrea's weird. Just plain weird.
And it's what happens when you treat people that don't deserve it like crap and they win anyways - they begin to deserve their past treatment.

[Bono]

Both sides suck, there is no reason to support anyone but the poor civilians caught in the middle of it.

[Хahar 🤔]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

[GMantis]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

[minionofmidas]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

I don't think the Eritreans (well the leadership - although that mind framework was widespread among the population back when the government had wide popular support) care one jot.

[GMantis]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

I don't think the Eritreans (well the leadership - although that mind framework was widespread among the population back when the government had wide popular support) care one jot.

Care about their poor relations with the US or care about the fact that they'll blunder into a war they will probably lose?

[minionofmidas]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

I don't think the Eritreans (well the leadership - although that mind framework was widespread among the population back when the government had wide popular support) care one jot.

Care about their poor relations with the US or care about the fact that they'll blunder into a war they will probably lose?

Care about the evil bastard they're up against's connections. They've won against bigger odds before.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Eritrea's weird. Just plain weird.
And it's what happens when you treat people that don't deserve it like crap and they win anyways - they begin to deserve their past treatment.

You know how children that are abused are more likely to grow up to abuse their own children? That's basically what happened with Eritrea.

Here's one amusing thing about it: The ruling party is called the "People's Front for Democracy and Justice"

[GMantis]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

I don't think the Eritreans (well the leadership - although that mind framework was widespread among the population back when the government had wide popular support) care one jot.

Care about their poor relations with the US or care about the fact that they'll blunder into a war they will probably lose?

Care about the evil bastard they're up against's connections. They've won against bigger odds before.

They did hold out for a long time against Ethiopia, but they were defeated in the end.
As for Djibouti, they're worse than Eritrea in most respects. Eritrea has at least been unaffected by ethnic conflicts, which can't be said about Djibouti. Though what's so bad about their leader?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Djibouti is your standard very corrupt, mildly repressive African banana republic, Eritrea is a totalitarian hellhole. No comparison in who is worse.

[minionofmidas]

So Djibouti is quasi-allied with Ethiopia now?

They have close economic relations and a common enemy for quite a while, so yes.
Apparently Eritrea is an extremely militarized country, with conscription for both men and women and the second largest amount of active troops per capita in the world. They've also had military conflicts with all of their neighbours and their president said that war build up character. But this time they've picked up the wrong country, as Djibouti has both US and french troops on its territory, and the US has already poor relations with Eritrea.

I don't think the Eritreans (well the leadership - although that mind framework was widespread among the population back when the government had wide popular support) care one jot.

Care about their poor relations with the US or care about the fact that they'll blunder into a war they will probably lose?

Care about the evil bastard they're up against's connections. They've won against bigger odds before.

They did hold out for a long time against Ethiopia, but they were defeated in the end.

Uh... they won their independence, bringing down Africa's second biggest army (and I mean really down... they basically took over Ethiopia for a few months.) In 1991.
Eritrea has at least been unaffected by ethnic conflicts.
[/quote]A pretty amazing factoid, but yes it's broadly (not entirely) true.

[GMantis]

Let's not forget that there was anti-government insurection in Ethiopia at the same time, which played an even more significant role.

[minionofmidas]

Let's not forget that there was anti-government insurection in Ethiopia at the same time, which played an even more significant role.

...of course. But was directly related to the long, losing civil war in Eritrea.

[AkSaber]

Jeez Louise. Eritrea is one of the poorest countries on the planet. And yet they find the time and money to militarize themselves and attack their neighbors. Somebody please tell me these people aren't getting a dime of U.S. "aid" money.