Ivory Coast - French troops evacuate American students from rebel-controlled town

AFP via Babelfish translation ^ | September 25, 2002

[HAL9000]

Foreign schoolboys of Bouaké evacuated, on the way towards Yamoussoukro

Wednesday September 25, 2002 - 17h36 GMT

COMMUNE OF BOUAKE (Côte.d'ivoire), 25 seven (AFP) - the children of the international school of Bouaké, blocked since nearly one week by engagements between soldiers mutineers and governmental, were evacuated by the French troops Wednesday afternoon in direction of Yamoussoukro, the capital of the Ivory Coast, noted a journalist of the AFP.

"We are in safety now, we are free and happy of living", declared with the AFP a girl of the Colorado, which belonged to the convoy of schoolboys and their professors framed by the French soldiers.

Some of these children, old from two to 18 years, held up large American flags and all seemed in good health.

These some 170 children, in majority American but representing on the whole 13 different nationalities, were trapped since September 19 in the buildings of the Christian international school of Bouaké, city always held by mutineers.

The convoy, formed of a score of vehicles of private individuals, bus and minibus and framed by French soldiers on board trucks of transport of troops, moved towards Yamoussoukro, to a hundred kilometers in the south of Bouaké. The evacuated children were to spend the night in the administrative capital of the Ivory Coast.

"the hardest moment was yesterday (Tuesday) when they drew the ones on the others starting from two hills" dominating the Christian school, declared Jim, an adult guide originating in the State of Georgia.

"Of course that it was hard, it is Africa. Africa is always hard ", estimated as for him a teenager of about fifteen years.

According to staff's of the French Armies (EMA) in Paris, this evacuation was carried out "at the request of the American authorities".

"the responsibility for the French soldiers is exerted until Yamoussoukro"km in the south of Bouaké) where these nationals, added the staff," will be dealt with by the mission baptist of Yamoussoukro ".

Before evacuatebeing evacuated, the international school of Bouaké had been protected in the morning by a French detachment.

The Côte.d'ivoire is since September 19 in prey with military disorders, which made several hundreds of deaths, of which the Minister of Interior Department Emile Boga Doudou and the Gueï General, owner of the military junta to the capacity from December 1999 to October 2000.

[P-Marlowe]

Did the French Troops stay behind so that they could surrender?

[Diddle E. Squat]

Dude, they did us a favor and saved American lives.

As a thank you perhaps we can refrain from bashing them for at least this thread?

[Mr. Silverback]

Great!

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Blessed is the name of the Lord. Thank You for rescuing these Americans.

[Saundra Duffy]

What the heck are these precious kids doing in harms way in the first place? Is this one of those boarding schools where missionaries dump their kids while they go out "to spread the Gospel"? I am sorry for being so cynical but when I was with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) I knew some folks who basically deserted their own kids and blamed it on God: "God is sending us out to do His bidding." And they dumped their kids in one of these boarding schools. Question: Does this sound like something God would be in favor of?

[Iowa Granny]

Praise God for the safety of these innocent children.

If you find a translation that is easier to read, please link it here.

[bat-boy]

bump

[dakine]

soldiers mutineers

Read "Muslims" .............. bump...

[Doctor Stochastic]

The French save the butts of some American children and this is the reply? No wonder the Europeans have such a low opinion of Americans.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

Did Daschle approve of this...it didnt go thru the UN you know!

[weikel]

I agree lets have a temporary moratorium on bashing the French.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

These kids are part of mission organizations, embassies, and other like agencies in just Ivory Coast for the most part. So, their parents are generally in the country and frequently are with the kids.

I do know MK's who spent their childhood at boarding schools and rarely saw their parents, but it's not that common anymore with better home school training and the internet allowing for web based education. It's still there, but it's improving, and I don't think that is the situation for most of the kids at this particular school.

[Uncle Jaque]

Does anyone have any photos of this operation?

Watching it on TV last night, they were showing French Troops manning a roadblock somewhere down there, and I swear I saw one of them toting an old FN-49 semi-automatic rifle - probably a Belgian .30 cal. - which is now considered a collectable "Curio and Relic" firearm here!
They were used in the Korean "conflict" by the Belgian contingient and a few others, but have been like the venerable M-1 Garand, tactically obsolete since the early '60's. Some south American countries used them for sniping for a while after, but I can't imagine that any organized military force would still have them in active service - even the French!

If anyone has a link to photos showing combattants with their small-arms over there in the Ivory Coast theater, I'd 'preciate 'em!

[labowski]

bump!

true, it is not being reported that the "rebels" are
"muslims", religion of peace and all that ya know.

[elfman2]

"The French save the butts of some American children and this is the reply? No wonder the Europeans have such a low opinion of Americans."

From my limited experience with living with a halve-dozen Europeans in college, they generally have a low opinion of everyone outside their country and ethnic group.

[Bikers4Bush]

I've got a $50 bill that says they didn't do it alone. Our special ops folks were involved.

[dfwgator]

I never thought I'd say this on FR, but "Vive la France."

[Salgak]

And chances are, those French troops were La Legion Etrangere'. . . .the French Foreign Legion. Top-notch troops, and none of the politically correct baggage.

Legend has it, over the door of every Legion orderly room is the motto: "You are in the Legion in order to die, and the Legion will send you where you can die. . . "

[PoorMuttly]

When they do something good...we report it, with praise...when bad, we kick their bottoms...as we should.

They'll just have to live with that. We're honest Americans, and we're loose.

Hear us roar. Or don't...at your peril. We speak our minds and hearts, not crafting fraudulent statements geared to polling data, or gamesmanship. They'd prefer willie....because he's a pimp.

[Maringa]

It's possible that this was the case. I went to a boarding school for 2 years and I relished it. I missed my parents but we were in constant communication. The reason I went to the school was that they had reached their limit as far as effectively teaching me (science and math wasn't their forte) and because I wanted to go to one (had many good friends going there). I don't believe it had any emotional impact on me, however I could see in certain situations where "dumping" kids might have been the case. At the school were I went, the "dumped" kids were better off than had they stayed with their parents (mostly ex-pat worker's kids). Most of these boarding schools don't have a bad reputation for puting out mal-adjusted kids.