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Didn't France get booted out of Ivory Coast about 2-3 years ago prior to the Iraqi war? France negotiated a godawful treaty between the govt of Ivory Coast and the rebel faction trying to take control of the nation. The rebel faction under this treaty would get control of the military. The president of the Ivory Coast was pressured to accept this treaty until the people of the nation rose up in protest and France pulled out with their tails between their legs. Or am I thinking of another country?

No you have the right country. They tried to award the defense and interior ministries to the Muslims. The government was pressured to go along. The people stopped that, and the government gained ground in the subsequent fighting. So the French and western Africa peacekeepers stpped in to protect the Muslims, and imposed a cease fire. The government went along. Recently, it attacked the rebels in the north and blew up their HQ in an airstrike. The French were livid, and this is their response.

Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Limited
The Times (London)
September 23, 2002, Monday
SECTION: Overseas news; 12

HEADLINE: France flies in troops as foreigners flee Abidjan

BYLINE: Janine di Giovanni in Abidjan

BODY:
France sent troops to Ivory Coast yesterday to reinforce its 500-strong garrison as government forces tried to quell a rebellion in potentially the most serious emergency since the country gained independence from France in 1960.

"This is not to intervene in an internal conflict," Colonel Philippe Bonnel, the French Embassy military attache, said, "but to ensure the safety of French and other Western citizens".

However, the garrison moved out of Abidjan last night and was believed to be heading for Bouake, the country's second city, where 200 schoolchildren, including more than 100 Americans, have been trapped in a basement since the rebels captured it last Thursday.

The Washington Post
September 27, 2002 Friday
Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A18

HEADLINE: U.S. Woos Security Council on Iraq;
France, Russia, China Resist One Resolution Allowing Use of Force

BYLINE: Glenn Kessler and Colum Lynch, Washington Post Staff Writers

The Bush administration intensified its campaign yesterday to win support for a tough United Nations resolution against Iraq, circulating a draft to the permanent members of the Security Council and dispatching a senior official to Paris and Moscow.

Although British officials agreed to accept the U.S. draft resolution, the other members of the Security Council with veto powers -- France, Russia and China -- for now have opposed a resolution that would authorize military action if the Iraqi government failed to comply with U.N. demands for weapons inspections. Yesterday, the three nations appeared to coordinate their own efforts against the U.S. proposal.

No contradiction here-- just consistent French hegemonic foreign policy.