In the NY Times (reg. req'd) yesterday, an article about the brutality of Ethiopian forces lays bare the lies about American priorities...not "liberty", not freedom from tyranny and brutality, not to beat Islamic radicalism...no, none of those mattered...only when one precious resource got threatened has the US suggested it might need to rethink their policy. (h/t MBH)

In village after village, people said they had been brutalized by government troops. They described a widespread and longstanding reign of terror, with Ethiopian soldiers gang-raping women, burning down huts and killing civilians at will.

It is the same military that the American government helps train and equip - and provides with prized intelligence. The two nations have been allies for years, but recently they have grown especially close, teaming up last winter to oust an Islamic movement that controlled much of Somalia and rid the region of a potential terrorist threat. [..]

"This is a country that is abusing its own people and has no respect for democracy," said Representative Donald M. Payne, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa and global health.[..]

Ethiopian officials have been pressuring the State Department to add the Ogaden National Liberation Front [villagers fighting against the military forces brutalizing them] to its list of designated foreign terrorist organizations. Until recently, American officials refused, saying the rebels had not threatened civilians or American interests."But after the oil field attack in April," said one American official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, "we are reassessing that."

As tipster MBH points out, in a 51 paragraph article with vivid descriptions of abuse and brutality, it is only as an aside in the 38th paragraph that the NY Times notes that the threatening of oil fields is what finally gets American notice, and not on the side of the brutalized.