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WSJ: The Bloody Coast -- The French have aa Iraq epiphany in West Africa (Ivory Coast).
Wall Street Journal ^ | November 9, 2004 | Editorial

Posted on 11/09/2004 5:47:21 AM PST by OESY

...Simmering tensions broke into the open Saturday when nine French peacekeeping soldiers were killed in an Ivorian government air raid. The French were enforcing a nearly two-year-old ceasefire between northern Muslim rebels and the Christian-dominated government in Abidjan, on the southern coast.

President Laurent Gbagbo's spokesman called the bombing a "mistake," but it looked, and worked, like a tailor-made provocation. Paris had no choice but to retaliate so it attacked and destroyed the state's tiny air force. French troops "occupied," if we may use that word, the two biggest airports. As if on cue, Mr. Gbagbo's lieutenants incited anti-French sentiment to bring violent mobs into the streets. French schools and businesses were looted. Hundreds are dead. "Everybody get your Frenchman" was a popular chant.

...The French acted unilaterally at first, without a U.N. green light.... France could reasonably say that the intervention saved lives....

In short, it's a mess -- or as French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier likes to say of Iraq, "a fiasco." The French at least now have a U.N. force of 6,220 on board. Paris this week called for an arms embargo and other sanctions against the Ivorian government.

This is all a notable contrast to the French position on Iraq. Only last week, President Jacques Chirac snubbed Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, at the European Union summit.

In the Ivory Coast, though, France has no trouble asserting what it deems to be its unilateral interests, and Mr. Chirac didn't ask the U.N. Security Council for permission to take the airports this weekend. He more or less asserts that he is seeking to do the right thing, namely rebuild a stable and peaceful country. The U.S. is firmly backing France in the Ivory Coast. Too bad France doesn't return the favor.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: allawi; barnier; chirac; france; gbagbo; iraq; ivorycoast; kofi; securitycouncil; un; westafrica
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To: OESY

Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time.


21 posted on 11/09/2004 6:21:20 AM PST by blogblogginaway
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To: OESY

The WSJ doesn't get it. The French were not there enforcing the peace. They were there helping the Muslim invaders. They were preventing the government from taking back its country. They were acting unilaterally, and they have now deliberately attacked the government of a sovereign nation.

Did the government deliberately kill French troops? We don't know that. They were bombing a rebel stronghold, where French troops were stationed, among their Muslim friends. They had a perfect moral and legal right to do that.

Some of the rebels are rebels. Others are invaders from the north. Ultimately it's just one more instance of Muslims invading black African countries and killing and enslaving the inhabitants. And the French out of sheer greed are fighting on the wrong side.

It's time that the U.S. came to the rescue of black Christians in Africa, who have been savagely persecuted for centuries by Muslim invaders.


22 posted on 11/09/2004 6:22:00 AM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: OESY
The French will never see the Irony here, will they.

Is it time for New York, Chicago and LA to secede from France?
23 posted on 11/09/2004 6:22:02 AM PST by JustAnotherOkie
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To: Red Badger

this is the first time I read about the Muslim/Christian aspect of the conflict. From now on I will presuppose it, in Africa, and Southeast Asia, and oh, just about anywhere except central and South America. Give that 20 years.


24 posted on 11/09/2004 6:26:45 AM PST by heartwood
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To: OESY

So we 'support' them with words and do absolutely nothing else....bwahahahaha. A more subtle way to say 'up yours' Chirac.

25 posted on 11/09/2004 6:30:20 AM PST by ml1954
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To: RogueIsland
What's the money-angle on this adventure in the Ivory Coast? Which French company is making the big euros on this deal?
26 posted on 11/09/2004 6:36:11 AM PST by pointsal
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To: heartwood
....anywhere except central and South America. Give that 20 years

You're several years too late. There are Islamic factions already in South America. Some in contact with the Marxist (who woulda thunk it?) rebels in Columbia, Peru and other countries....

27 posted on 11/09/2004 6:44:33 AM PST by Red Badger (Give someone enough EU-ROPE and they will hang themselves......out of pure frustration......)
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To: Truth29

"Why is the US backing France?"

You mean, in Ivory Coast ? Jeez, I don't know. It might have something to do with civil war, deliberate targeting of women, tribal warfare, the use of children as soldiers and a little drug-trafficking, not to mention the "Christian" government appointing machete-armed mobsters to hunt down white people whenever President Gbagbo feels he's not sufficiently supported by the Western Nations...

Believe me, it's no wonder the US asked France to help evacuate your expats there last year from the warm embrace of "Christian" government-ruled Abidjan.

As for attacking the warplanes that targeted French soldiers from my own Marine Tank regiments (and one American guy too), I don't think the US would react otherwise if, say, some Iraqi commander killed US Marines and then said "Oh, oopsie, it was just a small navigational mistake here". Especially after the same government has authorized its troops to snipe at your soldiers.


28 posted on 11/09/2004 7:01:15 AM PST by Atlantic Friend
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To: Red Badger

There's al Qaeda in Panama too.


29 posted on 11/09/2004 7:09:02 AM PST by expat_panama
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To: Atlantic Friend
There are no saints in the Ivory coast battle. Both sides are awful, but I doubt the French Muslim alliance will bring any good and will further unleash terror in the region IMHO. I also love the comparison between the French action in the Ivory coast and their actions against the US in Iraq including the snubbing of Allawi by Chirac, not to mention their proposal to include the Iraqi terrorists in any upcoming "peace" conference.
30 posted on 11/09/2004 7:09:11 AM PST by Truth29
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To: expat_panama

Panamal Qaeda???


31 posted on 11/09/2004 7:10:47 AM PST by Red Badger (Give someone enough EU-ROPE and they will hang themselves......out of pure frustration......)
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To: pointsal

No (French) blood for cocoa and coffee!


32 posted on 11/09/2004 7:11:18 AM PST by hlmencken3 (Think good and it will be good!)
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To: Truth29
The French always seem to take the side of the islamofascists. They are for the pallies and against the Israelis. They are for the muslim rebels in the Cote d'Ivorie and against the Christian government. They (were) are for Saddam and against Bush. Is there a pattern here?

I understand the significance of economics and payoffs in some of these cases but why are they supporting the muslims in their former African colony?

33 posted on 11/09/2004 7:16:15 AM PST by Former Proud Canadian (.)
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To: OESY

Woo hoo! Rub their noses in it a bit. The sting of the truth is a good thing.


34 posted on 11/09/2004 7:18:58 AM PST by TChris (You keep using that word. I don't think it means what you think it means.)
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To: Atlantic Friend

So I thought as well - I knew that the story was much worse than presented here (both in the article and on FR).


35 posted on 11/09/2004 8:34:04 AM PST by technochick99 (Sanctimonious prig..., selfish hedonist)
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To: pointsal
What's the money-angle on this adventure in the Ivory Coast? Which French company is making the big euros on this deal?

The U.S. is the world’s top consumer of cocoa beans and processed cocoa products: It imported 627,000 tons of cocoa from cocoa-growing countries in 2000.

American’s spend $13 billion a year on chocolate.

This $13 billion US chocolate industry is heavily dominated by just two firms - Hershey's and M&M Mars - they control two-thirds of the market.

The major players in the cocoa processing market are Archer Daniels Midland Cocoa,Cargill Cocoa,Blommer Chocolate,Guittard Chocolate,and Barry Callebaut.

36 posted on 11/09/2004 9:22:56 AM PST by ijcr (Age and treachery will always overcome youth and ability.)
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To: OESY

I thought it was the heavy Muslim influence in France out to desintegrate the Christian faction in the Ivory Coast

Yeah, Chirac thinks that's "the right thing to do!"


37 posted on 11/09/2004 9:45:55 AM PST by Paperdoll (on the cutting edge - our fight has just begun)
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To: Noachian
The UN security council passed *unanimously* resolution 1464 sending UN peacekeepers and French soldiers in Ivory Coast to enforce a ceasefire signed by both parties. President Gbagbo violated those agreements by bombing rebel positions. Moreover, under UN mandate, French troops are fully entitled to protect themselves and threatened civilians (including of course non-French). Does that answer the question ?

Quote from bbc article
"The troops were authorized to take any necessary steps to ensure their own security and freedom of movement and "the protection of civilians threatened with imminent violence"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2727365.stm
38 posted on 11/12/2004 6:51:46 PM PST by sympathyforthedevil
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To: OESY

A prayer for the missionary families, one of which is from my town, that are trying to evacuate at this time . . .


39 posted on 11/12/2004 6:59:04 PM PST by mamaduck (I'm a lurker . . .not a fighter!)
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To: cricket

The Ferench are just getting a warm up to what the Muslims will do on the streets of Paris in a few years.

France is dead. They will be an Islamic Republic and may drag down the rest of Europe.

The Dutch are seeing the tragic & fatal mistake Western Europe has made.

I spoke to Germans 20 years ago when they mentioned how American bases were being converted into asylum centers. I warned them about asylum cernters and third world immigrants.

We also need to protect our borders.

www.numbersusa.com
You can fax Congress for free with canned letters to STOP illegal immigrations. Numbersusa.com is very effective and is becoming feared & respected in Congress and the White House.


40 posted on 11/12/2004 7:03:16 PM PST by FrankRepublican (Arlen Specter = Ted Kennedy Dem Bush = Open Borders w/ Mexico)
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