Billy Joel sang about Belgians in the Congo while Rwanda became the modern definition of evil in Africa. These are not the only examples of horrors visited upon innocent people in Africa. There are far more than the two I listed, including the multi-cultural trading in slaves that encompassed one African tribe selling captives of another tribe to yet another tribe, Europeans, New World powers, or even Arabs.
Well there is another pit of Hell happening right now in Africa. Beyond Egypt and Libya. The country is called the Ivory Coast. Last November, current leader Gbagbo lost an election to Ouattara. Since then Gbagbo has refused to relinquish power while Ouattara has been holed up in a hotel protected by the UN. Recently Ouattara has launched a military offensive to wrest control of the country. UN and French forces have been assisting Ouattara, though Ouattara has his own forces. It is these local forces that have committed atrocities according to Human Rights Watch. The group reports widespread killing and raping in communities taken by Ouattara's forces. Gbagbo's forces have also been accused of killing civilians. And there are complaints that French helicopters have attacked civilians.
Since Ouattara is the internationally recognized leader of the Ivory Coast, he needs to control his military forces. If he fails to do so, then the international community should leave to avoid being seen as tools for Ouattara. Because Ouattara will have proven he is as much a thug as Gbagbo and a war criminal.
2 comments:
The misinforma¬tion by the internatio¬nal media on what's happening in Ivory Coast is breathtaki¬ng. Any objective observer knows that Gbagbo is currently fighting for his country independen¬ce against the colonial forces of the evil French empire.
Absolutely. Even as France rots internally, it still thinks of itself as an empire.
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