Côte d'Ivoire

[Deleted]

Côte d'Ivoire (which decided in 1985 that its name should no longer be translated to other languages) has been in a larval civil war since 2002, but lots of problems started before then. The first president Félix Houphouët-Boigny was probably corrupt along with the best of them, but he at least avoided all ethnic conflict and always kept the cocoa and coffee flowing to the developed world, which is really all that the developed world cared about.

Lots of conflicts have occurred since his death -- a putsch, a division of the country in two, a United Nations buffer zone -- but right now things will either finally be calmed if the elected president Alassane Dramane Ouattara is finally recognized by all citizens, or the country is heading to a Rwandan style massacre.

Apparently the national television station is still under the control of the government and the recalcitrant president Laurent Gbagbo, and it is currently alternating between militant speeches and commercials for Desperate Housewives.

The world is a strange place.

[Deleted]

From a Middle Eastern newspaper today. I thought the two bandages were a nice discreet touch on either side of Libya.

[cheerypeabrain]

ouch...

Looks like a last stand is on the cards...Gbagbo only has about 1000 men left. It's so futile and tragic.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12997461

[Deleted]

I'm expecting a bloodbath at the end.

The newspaper was saying that this is the first time that France has been in 3 armed conflicts simultaneously since... who knows? Napoleon?

[onlymark]

Normally because they surrender before they get a chance to be involved in another one.

So some would say.
But not me.

[Deleted]

Gbagbo having finally been vanquished, it's probably time to take the machetes out...

[hwinpp]

Will they carve him up like they carved up that guy from Liberia? Has anybody seen that video?

[Deleted]

Well, the French are just trying to tiptoe away from the situation now because it is extremely important to make it appear that they did almost nothing except a few humanitarian tasks in this business. All of the glory must be heaped on Ouattara and his army, which will also make them feel more magnanimous and less bloodthirsty. The Gendarme of Africa will just lurk in its invisibility cloak.