Rioters overrun airport as French flee Abidjan

SAPA-AP via News24 (SA) ^ | January 31, 2003 | Austin Merrill

[Clive]

-

[harpseal]

A great tragedy the french could not decide who to durrender to so they just ran.

[JennysCool]

"Idiots!" rioters yelled at the ducking, crouching French.

Who knew the Ivory Coasters were so perceptive?

[narby]

Headline: "French Surrender to Rock Throwing Crowd"

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

[DB]

What happened to all that "old Europe French wisdom" they've been telling us about lately???

Shouldn't they be going through the UN to resolve this??? What's this "rush to action"???

After all, any unilateral action in another country would be "illegitimate" without the UN...

[thinktwice]

a peace deal signed on January 24 in Paris

A "Peace in our times" solution, ala 1939's Neville Chamberlain signing a deal with Hitler.

[Redcloak]

Already here.

[Ichneumon]

The airport invasion follows days of mass protests by hard-core government loyalists - angry over a peace deal signed on January 24 in Paris that they say yields too much to Ivory Coast's rebels, who have seized more than half the country in a 4-month-old civil war.

Hmm, they're angry that the French surrendered too much in a "peace deal". Who'da thunk it? (Qui l'aurait pensé?)

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Abidjan - A 5 000-strong stone-throwing mob invaded Ivory Coast's main airport on Friday, storming planes on the tarmac and taunting, slapping and spitting at terrorised French families in flight from their onetime prize West African colony...

...French forces deployed on the runway and airport perimeter in cannon-mounted armoured vehicles and in helicopters, at one point squaring off - rifles locked, loaded and aimed - against Ivory Coast forces [armed with stones, please note]....

...Stolen suitcases...

Yes, I can see why the French capitulated. Perhaps we should ask for French no-how with Iraq? [No-how, indeed.] Who knows? So long as the Republican Guard doesn't throw rocks, perhaps the French might be good at repairing flat tires.

[My2Cents]

"Never come back!" young men...

...and take your money with you.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Shouldn't they be going through the UN to resolve this??? What's this "rush to action"???"

Good question. Hans Blix could be sent with a special Weapons of French Destruction team, otherwise known as 'rock collecters'.

[johnb838]

What do you mean? That's what it's all about. They let the French negotiate for them, the French surrendered, and now the locals are PISSED!

Should be a Cheese-eating surrender monkey alert on this, IMO.

[RetiredArmy]

Yet, once again, the French fly their national flag:

The White Flag of Surrender

[Clive]

Sometimes the best thing to do about someone else's civil war is to let the belligerants continue to fight it out, extract your own nationals, don't take sides and be ready to offer peacekeeping services for when the parties are ready.

Then wait until the belligerants sufficiently bloody each other that they are both willing to come to a deal. Let them decide the terms of the deal and send your peacekeepers in only after the deal is signed and an armistice has begun and only for the purpose of keeping the hotheads apart while the grownups consolidate the peace.

In the long run the butcher's bill will be less than it would be in an externally forced formal peace treaty between unwilling parties resulting in an informal continuing low grade long-running state of insurrection.

[Clive]

Also, nobody likes an officious intemeddler.

[dennisw]

Crazy people walking around with blood in their eyes
And all she wants to do is dance,dance,dance
Wild-eyed pistol wavers who ain't afraid to die
And all she wants to do is
All she wants to do is dance

Well, we barley made the airport
For the last plane out
As we taxied down the runway
I could hear the people shout they said:
"Don't come back here again Frenchie"
But if I do I'll bring back more money
Cause all she wants to do is dance
And make romance

 

[El Gato]

French flee

So what else is new? Notice that for all the tough talk of "squaring off" and the display of military equipment, the French didn't use any of it when there nationals came under attack from a mob. Would American, Brit or Russian forces have been so forbearing? I think not. There political position is shot in the region anyway, so why not at least protect your people on the way out?

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

"Cause all she wants to do is dance...And make romance..."

Then they give her a female circumcision, tell her to wear a burka, and beat her to a pulp for dancing. Makes sense....

[Rocky]

And the French want us to take their advice on diplomatic situations?