BIPARTISAN DUO OF EX-CONGRESSIONAL HEAVYWEIGHTS BLOCKING ACTION AGAINST ETHIOPIA
By Ken Silverstein

Harper’s Magazine, NY

D epartment Washington Babylon
July 25 2007

There have been a series of accounts out of Ethiopia recently that
describe a nasty situation there, including a Human Rights Watch report
earlier this month that said the Ethiopian military had "forcibly
displaced thousands of civilians in the country’s eastern Somali
. . . while escalating its campaign against a separatist insurgency
movement." Government troops were "destroying villages and property,
confiscating livestock, and forcing civilians to relocate," according
to Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. "Whatever
the military strategy behind them, these abuses violate the laws of
war." Eyewitness accounts offered to Human Rights Watch said Ethiopian
troops had been "burning homes and property, including the recent
harvest and other food stocks intended for the civilian population,
confiscating livestock and, in a few cases, firing upon and killing
fleeing civilians."

Despite that record, the Bush Administration views Ethiopia as an
important counterterrorism ally, especially given Ethiopia’s recent
involvement in Somalia, and annually provides the regime of Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

But some in Congress have grown weary of abuses committed by Zenawi’s
government. Earlier this month a House subcommittee passed a bill
that would limit American aid to Ethiopia and ban government officials
linked to human rights abuses from coming to the United States. In the
Senate, Patrick Leahy of Vermont is seeking passage of a measure that
would review some of the military assistance that is being provided.

But two congressmen-turned-lobbyists-former House Majority Leaders
Richard Armey, the Republican from Texas, and Missouri Democrat Richard
Gephardt-are working hard to block full congressional action against
the Zenawi regime. The duo work with the firm of DLA Piper, which
federal disclosure records show is being paid at least $50,000 per
month by the Ethiopian government for "strategic advice and counsel."

In 2006, the House International Relations Committee approved the
Ethiopia Freedom, Democracy, and Human Rights Advancement Act, which
criticized the government for its human rights record, called for it
to free jailed opposition leaders and restricted security assistance.

But the full House never voted on the bill. Two sources that follow
the issue-one a former Hill staffer and the other a lobbyist on
African affairs-tell me that Armey twisted the arm of then-House
Speaker Denny Hastert to ensure that it didn’t come up for a vote.

"Armey has a lot of influence over there," the former Hill staffer
said. "A lot of people in the GOP leadership owe their positions
to him."

Armey has no pull with the new Democratic leadership so now Gephardt
has apparently been called on to block full passage of this year’s
version of the bill. Gephardt, incidentally, also lobbies for the
government of Turkey (another Piper client to the tune of $100,000 per
month), as was recently detailed in a terrific New Republic piece in
which author Michael Crowley wrote about Gephardt’s efforts to stop
Congress from declaring as genocide the Turkish massacre of Armenians
during the early twentieth century:

A few years ago, [Gephardt] was a working-class populist who cast
himself as a tribune of the underdog-including the Armenians. Back
in 1998, Gephardt attended a memorial event hosted by the Armenian
National Committee of America at which, according to a spokeswoman
for the group, "he spoke about the importance of recognizing the
genocide." Two years later, Gephardt was one of three House Democrats
who co-signed a letter to then House Speaker Dennis Hastert urging
Hastert to schedule an immediate vote on a genocide resolution. "We
implore you," the letter read, arguing that Armenian-Americans "have
waited long enough for Congress to recognize the horrible genocide."

Today, few people are doing more than Gephardt to ensure that the
genocide bill goes nowhere. It’s one thing to flip-flop on, say,
tax cuts or asbestos reform. But, when it comes to genocide, you
would hope for high principle to carry the day.

Piper’s lobbyists have been working the "war on terrorism" angle hard,
arguing that even a hand-slap of Ethiopia for human rights abuses
will jeopardize its support in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.

(And we all know what a smashingly successful collaboration that’s
been.)

I called Armey and Gephardt but never heard back from them. Piper did,
however, send me a statement which said:

The U.S. first established diplomatic relations with Ethiopia more than
a century ago and Ethiopia remains a close ally today, particularly
in the global war against terrorism. It is crucial for the United
States to have friends and allies in the strategically important
Horn of Africa region who are committed to democracy, stability
and moderation. The firm is assisting Ethiopia in strengthening
bilateral relations with the U.S., including increasing humanitarian,
economic and development assistance, expanding trade and investment
opportunities, and enhancing relationships with financial, academic
and public policy institutions.

I had heard that former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of
Maine, Chairman of the Global Board of Piper and Co-Chair of its
Government Controversies Practice Group, was also working on the
account. The firm’s statement said that Mitchell "has never lobbied or
done legal work on behalf of Ethiopia in connection with DLA Piper’s
representation." However, Piper declined to say whether Mitchell had
played a role in winning the Ethiopia deal or whether he was offering
strategic advice or playing some other role in the contract.