French UN blue-helmet soldiers positioned in between the Ivory governement troups and the rebels had been under attack of the Ivory air force, 8 French soldiers dead.
Later, France destroyed about 5 Ivory millitary aircraft and French millitary took the Ivory airport. Later, thousands civilian governement loyalists followed the Ivory presidents request to try to retake the airport. Which lead to French helicopters firing at them.
Anyone who knows more about the background would be appreciated.
Update: 9 French and 1 American dead it seems, UN security council backing up France’s actions.
[quote]Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer, was the pride of France’s former colonial empire for prosperous decades after independence in 1960. A downturn in commodities prices and political change in the 1990s encouraged instability, and the country suffered its first-ever military coup in 1999.
Turmoil and regional, ethnic and political hatreds have reigned since. Civil war erupted in September 2002. A power-sharing deal brokered by the French ended major fighting in 2003, but otherwise failed to take hold.
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OMG, does this qualify as a quagmire?
[quote]“French go home!” loyalist mobs shouted, as thousands set fire to at least two French schools and tried to storm a French military base, seeking out French civilians as French and Ivory Coast forces briefly traded gunfire.
“Everybody get your Frenchman!” young men screamed to each other, swinging machetes.
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damn belligerent occupants!
Gee! That’s swell.
[quote]State TV also aired loyalist leaders calling for a march on the French military base and other targets Sunday.
“We are at war. France attacked us,” unidentified people said in one of many such broadcasts late Saturday.
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Where are the anti-war protests and demand for withdrawal of troops rallies? In London? Paris? Berlin? Haven’t heard anything yet.
Wait a minute, France did not occupy the country. There were only UN blue helmet soldiers between the Rebels and the governement troups to function as a buffer. After Ivory governement Air Force attacked French Blue helmet troups, France attacked their Airforce. But the Ivory Governement wants to have the French peace keeping force out of its way now…
Some of you may recall that France unilaterally invaded Ivory Coast in order to stop the civil war in one of its former colonies.
Within the past day or so, the government of Ivory Coast, tired of France’s interference which is merely allowing the rebels to gather their strength, attacked the French forces. France has retaliated by destroying Ivory Coast’s entire set of military aircraft.
Here’s the locals’ perspective:
[quote]Mob violence erupted in Ivory Coast’s national commercial capital, Abidjan, upon France’s retaliation, sending thousands of angry loyalists armed with machetes, axes and clubs out into the streets in fiery rampages in search of French targets.
“French go home!” loyalist mobs shouted, as thousands set fire to at least two French schools and tried to storm a French military base, seeking out French civilians as French and Ivory Coast forces briefly traded gunfire.
“Everybody get your Frenchman!” young men screamed to each other, swinging machetes.[/quote]
If it weren’t so tragic it would be frogging hilarious. Oh, who am I kidding!
[quote]“Let us cease fire,” National Assembly president Mamadou Koulibaly said on state TV, offering to return to a more than year-old calm broken by Ivory Coast’s resumption of attacks on Thursday.
Speaking to French radio Inter, however, Koulibaly accused French President Jacques Chirac of arming Ivory Coast’s rebels, and sabotaging Ivory Coast’s government.
“Ivory Coast has become an overseas territory in Jacques Chirac’s head,” said Koulibaly, Ivory Coast’s second-highest leader. [/quote]
Please, get your facts right. The French troops are there as part of a UN peacekeeping force. 4000 French troops out of a total of 10,000. Contrary to what’s been said the UN has stated that they support the French reaction. After all they were attacked first.
Also there was one American citizen killed in the attack as well. Somehow you seem to think that this is ‘funny’. Would you post a topic with the title ‘US forces get their asses kicked’ next time a car bomb explodes in Iraq? No, thought not.
the french took over the country when the rebels were advancing on the capital. the us sent troops to evacuate americans, but the french actually went in to intervene in the fighting. they forced a peace settlement which locked in some of the rebel gains. that’s why supporters of the government hate the french so much.
i really can’t say which side is the one worth supporting, but the french unilateral invasion and subsequent un rubber stamp is laughable. for all the internationalists who believe a un rubber stamp solves all, the ivory coast is an experiment worth watching.
Flipper, it is an UN mission. The French troups were simply a buffer between rebels and governement. UN security council including US backed this plan, France made the war parties negotiate instead of fighting.
The rebels even accused the French of sticking to close with the governement. But recently the Ivory gov. had helicopters attack villages in the rebel controlled area and France put pressure on the gov. to stop - diplomatic pressure only.
Since the Ivory gov. Airfore attacked French soldiers, the French took action against the governement by destroying the Airplanes.
But now France is in the middle between two war parties both hating the foreigners and a population starting anti-french assaults.
Oil is of interest here too. But okay, people accuse US of searching Oil in Iraq, people accuse France of doing this here. Don’t ask me.
Probably getting out there would be the best option for France. How can you stabilize a country where everyone wants to start slaughtering.
Nevertheless, God seems to have a funny kind of humor. France critized the US for Iraq, and now they find themselves in this. Although it is a different thing so far (UN mission).
More importantly, the Ivory Coast is one of the world’s leading suppliers of CHOCOLATE.
Those evil frog bastards are trying to corner the world market. Mr. President, we cannot allow a chocolate gap! I say we nuke the French from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
It’s a tricky situation. The French have been increasingly been targeted by the President’s supporters, who resents the French, who used to be the main colonial power there, which has led to a situation wherein Pres. Gbagbo (I can’t even say it), who has said the attacks that killed 10 people, 9 of whom were French peacekeepers, was not planned, which is simply a lie according to the French, who summarily took out several attack helicopters, which was not a nice thing to do.
Given the mob mentality, which could become like that in Kenya, the French really shouldn’t further inflame matters. It seems that both sides are really to blame given the anti-French rhetoric on the air there, but France, working on behalf of the UN, might want to dip out for a few years since they would give the UN a bad reputation. If they stay the people will probably come to resent the UN, possibly becoming a rogue state and an open invitation for Bush to put on his spurs again and ride in on his donkey.
Flipper, it is an UN mission. The French troups were simply a buffer between rebels and governement. UN security council including US backed this plan, France made the war parties negotiate instead of fighting.
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france’s intervention was not authorized by the security council. if the us invasion of iraq was illegal because it was not ok’ed by the un, then shouldn’t france’s military intervention in the ivory coast also count as illegal?
like i said, i don’t oppose the french mission there. i just want to point out that people who condemn the us invasion of iraq as illegal should try to apply those standards to every other country.
More importantly, the Ivory Coast is one of the world’s leading suppliers of CHOCOLATE.
Those evil frog bastards are trying to corner the world market. Mr. President, we cannot allow a chocolate gap! I say we nuke the French from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.[/quote]
1/ What is better to be a ‘frog bastard’ or a fucking fat ass shit eater brainless yank? :loco:
2/ stupid cunt, ivory coasts is one of the world’s leading suppliers of COCOA. If a shit eater like you can’t even make the difference between cocoa and chocolate… [/quote]
Absolutely anything is better than being French.
Of course I know the difference. As a chocophile, although by no means an expert, I am well aware of the entire cycle of creation of the world’s most perfect food, from plant in the ground to bar at the 7-11. I just didn’t think the average frog-kissing UN-hugger on IP would comprehend.
Tell me, do you think the French invaded because of the relatively recent oil discoveries, or because of the problem with witch’s broom fungus which as I understand it is primarily in Brazil? A couple of years ago there were concerns that this would lead to a worldwide shortage of chocolate. I personally think the French are positioning themselves to own the market, which could lead to a nuclear exchange if too many PMSing American women don’t get (or simply can’t afford) their chocolate fixes.
I know that I would be willing to hit the beach at Normandy, just as my uncle did before me, if it were the only way to ensure supplies of Ethel-M’s.
[quote]if the us invasion of Iraq was illegal because it was not ok’ed by the UN, then shouldn’t France’s military intervention in the ivory coast also count as illegal?
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I think that your attempt to draw a correlation between these two unfortunate instances is done so in vain.
The Americans threw the shit into the fan.
The French are trying to stop the fan to avoid further splattering le merde.
i’m not saying the un disapproved of the french action. only saying there was no explicit un resolution permitting the action at the time the french sent their troops in.
baaaaah, cocao prices are rising by 10% (spiegel.de). Chriac, secure the cacoa ministery, forget about everything else. Production must be re-established!
Where are all the frenzied newspaper reports covering the excessive French force against armed gangs (er legitimate aspirants to represent political groups)? Shall we intervene to call for France to “negotiate” with these groups as they are calling for us to “negotiate” in Iraq? What’s the difference? Hmmm? Anyone?
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