In reply to Morgan Woods:
Having spent considerable time in Ethiopia whilst adopting our son it was certainly clear that it has its problems, but to be honest they appeared less severe than many other developing world countries I have visited. If you search hard enough I'm sure it is possible to find pretty damning sounding statements about regimes in many countries. Although I heard of some discontent and corruption I was struck that this was at least partially balanced by education programs and a desire to reform and integrate with the world beyond the African continent, they possess a growing export economy and having a stable political climate is key to expanding this.
There are many countries on the African continent with more oppressive regimes and less stability, I would endorse Ethiopia as a cultural and climbing destination and feel that more contact with Western tourists (and the financial benefit they bring) will largely be a positive thing for the Ethiopian people. I would not feel comfortable making the same statement about Israel (although that is such a complex situation and the rights and wrongs of visiting are hard to unravel - I would not hastily condemn someone who chose to do so).
Post edited at 10:49