Machete-waving mobs loot and attack French targets after Ivory Coast clashes

AP ^ | 11/7/4 | PARFAIT KOUASSI

[SmithL]

BIDJAN, Ivory Coast -- Machete-waving mobs looted and burned in Ivory Coast's largest cities Sunday, laying siege to a French military base and searching house to house for French families after a day of sudden clashes between forces of France and its former colony.

France's military sent helicopters to pluck trapped expatriates from buildings as other helicopters and armored vehicles moved out to confront the mobs, lobbing volleys of tear gas and percussion grenades that sent rioters fleeing.

French gunships took up positions at bridges in skyscraper-lined Abidjan on Sunday, a day after seizing control of the country's two airports and flying in 600 reinforcements.

Faced with the confrontation with France, the Ivory Coast government reluctantly moved to call off its offensive against rebels who control the northern part of the country. The government broke a more than year-old cease-fire last week by launching airstrikes against the rebels.

The government said Sunday it was willing to cease fire and that it would pull back its troops. French retaliation on Saturday for a surprise bombing of French peacekeepers destroyed Ivory Coast's tiny air force and left its airports under French control.

The government took a defiant tone toward France. Ivory Coast will ask the U.N. Security Council for action against France, presidential spokesman Desire Tagro told The Associated Press.

[DeepInEnemyTerritory]

Where is the coalition? The French are taking unilateral action against the innocent Africans! I demand a count of the dead innocent civillans.
Where is the UN resolution? Where is the congressional black caucas? This is an illegal war and Chirac should be brought before the ICC NOW!

WHO DO THEY THINK THEY ARE!!!

/sarcasm off/

[Henchman]

The following sort of sums up the feelings of many of the posters. The quips are great. Perhaps you might forward the list to your favorite Liberal.
1. The French did not confer with the US, no less John Kerry.
2. They invaded a "former" colony...soooo? What is this former stuff and they have no right to go there. Some call this unilateral action.
3. The slogan in the IVORY Coast is "No war for Chocolate."
4. The French did not seek 1, no less 17 UN resolutions.
5. Kofi Annan has not declared the war "illegal" although the UN was not consulted beforehand. The security council had a meeting and shook their fingers at France. Chirac blamed the invaded country. (Guess those oil bribes were coming in via Chirac, sort of hush money)
6. The WMD in this case are machetes! And the French found them. The only chemical weapon was the gas released by the French. It was a cheesy smell.
7. The missiles being launched against the French are good for 100 yards. The missile is called "The Arrow" by the French.
8. The "overwhelming military power" may not have included France's single air craft carrier which lost it's propeller. I think DeGalle called this Force de Frappe. Now it is called Force de Crap.
9. The coalition consists of France, and Kofi Annan.
10. The EU wants to create an EU army for just such emergencies. The Germans gleefully are reactivating the Afrika Korps.

KERRY: put himself in for three more purple hearts, and stated he has a (left over)PLAN! His slogan is "NO WAR FOR SOAP" The Ivory Coast is a quagmire! We must organize protests with the other Socialist Powers, parenthetically stating, I know it isn't the US. Kerry offered to negotiate,negotiate and negotiate ad nausea. He promised to stop the murdering by the attacked Christians promising not to require macheté carry licenses for the opposing Muslims.

France said they do not know how they came to take unilateral action. They hadn't talked about it. Not wishing to take a chance, France has ordered several studies. First, they want a survey of how many white sheets were available. Second, an International Committee is studying how many soldiers it will take to defend Paris. The task is formidable, as Paris has never been defended before.

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Did the f'n Frogs seek and get UN permission for this outrage? What, are they going it alone, without a coalition? Maybe they will get their sorry butts shot off...

[indexpatient]

No love for the cheese eating surrender monkeys? :)

Send in the clowns (Kerry's) after all Terezzzza is no stranger to Africa. They would be great UN ambassadors and amazing they both speak french.

Les exercices de tir sur cible quelqu'un ?
(target practice anyone?)

[sam_paine]

WAHAW! LOL.

[SunkenCiv]

:'D The next liberation move could be Iran or Syria. Iran is ripe and ready, Syria would be more time consuming (like Iraq), but both are under the gun, due to recent interest by the UNSC and the EU.

[SunkenCiv]

Heh heh... yeah, we'd be welcomed there for about twenty minutes (that's the length of time it would take to clean out the infestation of French troops). Sudan is a bloodbath, and so if the US is to get involved in Africa, that would be the place. The longer the situtation goes on in the Ivory Coast, the worse the French look, and the easier it will be for the US to browbeat them for Security Council actions.

[philosofy123]

They hate us because we are "free"! give it a break. France should be commanded for attempting to keep the peace in such barbaric place. Do you rather if the US did that?

[watchin]

We'd all rather that the frogs do what they tell us to do.

1. Let the UN do talk about it some more.
2. Pass a global test.
3. Give some UN inspectors more time.
4. Give the UN time for 17 resolutions.
5. Don't act unilaterally.
6. Don't bahave like imperialists.
7. Don't use force; use diplomacy.

The Frogs are not to be "commanded" as you say, but ruthlessly and relentlessly ridiculed for being hypocrites ... and rather smelly ones at that.

[NavVet]

Wait just a minute, I don't remember the UN approving the unilateral use of force by France.

[dougherty]

hahaha

What comes around, goes around. Enjoy yourselves, Frenchies.

[CWOJackson]

I see the anti-Iraq American press is all over this story about the French...not.

[Stultis]

Machete-waving mobs

That's horrible. Please, please, somebody give them some M-16s!

[OhMike]

Hey, philosofy, your French must be as bad as your spelling. I never said anything about them "hating us because we're free." You can put your foot in your mouth if you'd like, just don't put words in mine.

Your sense of irony isn't any better, either. Even if we stipulate that you are right in everything you might say in defense of the French, that would just prove the point that everyone else is making here. That point is that the French are hypocrites, and that all their phony criticisms and pretexts for obstructionism have been proven to be nothing but a stinking pile of merde.

[cyborg]

amen

[Ciexyz]

Jacques, I think you're effin' up over there.

[mysto]

Machete-waving mobs

French soldiers can't even stop mobs carrying machetes... & Kerry wanted France to send troops into Iraq? PAH-LEEEEZ...

[GeronL]

There are thousands of UN peacekeepers over there not keeping the peace.

I take sides with the Ivorians, kick the France.

Go Home Frogs!!!

End French Imperialism

No Blood for Cocoa!

Stop Unilaterial Franch warmongering!

QUAGMIRE!!

French colonialism must end!

[BIOCHEMKY]

Looks like the French are aiding and abetting ("harboring") the terrorists (muslim jihadist rebels).

Hmmm. What are WE to do? What are WE to do?

1) Publically CONDEMN France for this action (vociferously and often).

2) SUPPORT the Ivory Coast in any UN Security Council decisions.

3) GENTLY remind France's military forces (I use this description lightly!) in/near Ivory Coast that aiding & abetting terrorists (no matter who they are) makes you a terrorist yourself.

4) Support UN Peacekeepers entering the Ivory Coast to ENSURE France's compliance with a cease-fire (as World opinion dictates) and to support the legitimate Ivory Coast government.

LOL France.

P.S. I hear John Francoise Kerry just happens to be available should you require a USELESS YELLOW-BELLIED WATERED-DOWN SPINELESS WISHY-WASHY and ABSOLUTELY UNINFORMED opinion on this subject!