Mobilizing the Office Workers of Ethiopia

Via the NYT

NAIROBI, Kenya — The Ethiopian government, one of America’s top allies in Africa, is forcing untrained civilians — including doctors, teachers, office clerks and employees of development programs financed by the World Bank and United Nations — to fight rebels in the desolate Ogaden region, according to Western officials, refugees and Ethiopian administrators who recently defected to avoid being conscripted...The rebels said the civilians were easy targets: “They don’t know the bush,” said Daous, a commander for the Ogaden National Liberation Front.