Eritrea has reacted strongly to what it calls the preposterous claims made against the country and its people by Michael Rubin writing in a US Magazine earlier this week.The article titled “It’s Time to Get Serious About Eritrea,” was published by The National Interest on 10 January 2023.

In a statement to APA on Wednesday, Asmara said although relatively brief, the article ”is replete with falsehoods and numerous errors… extremely disrespectful and highly offensive to the people and government of Eritrea”.

It accused Rubin of grossly misrepresenting the actual situation on the ground in Eritrea and the Horn of Africa region as a whole. 

”He callously calls for the renewal of illicit sanctions and isolation – which not only violate international law but have also only led to extreme hardships. The author’s ugly smears even extend to libelous and crass disparaging of the Eritrean Embassy in the US, which he dubs as ‘a den of organized crime’ ” the statement added.

It condemned Rubin’s latest ”compendium of hate (as) consistent with his now worn-out pattern of conduct, and only serves to confirm his traditionally biased stance when commenting on Eritrean or regional issues”.

Eritrea said Rubin’s reputation is that of a ”truly formidable track-record of flawed commentary and poor analyses”. 

It quoted Mother Jones, a popular American magazine as describing Rubin as, “one of the neocons who led the US to war with Iraq through misinformation and bogus intelligence,” with his advocacy of extremely dangerous, militaristic, positions to justify illegal regime-change measures that contravene international norms and laws, lead to unnecessary destructive conflict, and cause widespread havoc and hardship.

Eritrea criticized The National Interest magazine for providing a platform for ”an extremist voice that continually disseminates fabrications and makes unfounded allegations with no regard for facts”.