Tigray is sliding back into war while Washington looks away. Seizing Mekelle's airport, grounded flights, drone strikes on residential areas and forced recruitment are the warning signs of a conflict that already killed some 600,000 people. Letting the Ethiopia sanctions emergency lapse now, as health centers and aid workers come under attack, rewards brinkmanship at the worst possible moment.
An armed coalition of former enemies grabbing airports is not a path to democracy in Ethiopia. Movements built on grievance and ethnic mobilization have toppled governments before and delivered nothing but new authoritarianism, and unresolved disputes like Welkait guarantee the next war. Steady engagement with Addis Ababa on regional security beats cheering on warlords who cannot explain the day after.
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