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| Africa: Subsaharan |
| WaPo Ivory Coast commentary on why Gbagbo's a nut |
| 2004-11-22 |
| The decision last Monday by the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Ivory Coast -- with the possibility of further sanctions -- was necessary to slow the spiral toward chaos in what once was West Africa's oasis of stability and relative prosperity. The simmering conflict in Ivory Coast threatens the region, already buffeted by brutal war and crises. It is also a broader security concern because terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda and Hezbollah, have established sanctuaries in West Africa. More unrest will offer them new opportunities to become entrenched. To understand events in Ivory Coast, the world's largest cocoa producer, one must understand the destructive role played by the nation's president, Laurent Gbagbo, and his xenophobic inner circle. In late November 2000, the newly elected Gbagbo met privately with the ambassadors of France, the United States and Britain. With his country teetering on the edge of civil war, Gbagbo agreed to allow the main opposition party, excluded from the presidential contest and made up mostly of Muslims from the north, to participate in scheduled parliamentary elections. Gbagbo had narrowly defeated a despised military officer in violence-marred elections in which less than 30 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots. His openly anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric and promises to purge Ivory Coast of foreigners were largely lost in the chaos of the moment. Gbagbo promised to announce the agreement in a televised address to the nation. But a cabinet minister appeared instead to announce that the opposition was banned and also to challenge the right of its members to citizenship. It was the first step in Gbagbo's effort to undo four decades of policies that had successfully encouraged racial and religious harmony. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #8 No! I say! Oil is worth fighting for! and Chocolate is worth Nuclear strikes! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-22 5:31:23 PM |
| #7 NO BLOOD FOR CHOCOLATE!! |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-11-22 3:43:38 PM |
| #6 Article: But the rebels gained a foothold because of Gbagbo’s single-minded determination to split his country along ethnic and religious lines while entrenching himself in power. The Muslim rebels are illegal immigrants imported into Ivory Coast by the French. WaPo calls Gbagbo's efforts to turn back this invasion an attempt to "split the country along ethnic and religious lines". This is just gaspingly arrogant on WaPo's part. Maybe it is WaPo's opinion that they all look alike, but I doubt Ivory Coast's citizens feel that way. I can just imagine WaPo characterizing an effort to close our borders to Mexico an attempt to "split the country along ethnic and religious lines". |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2004-11-22 12:10:17 PM |
| #5 You probably won't get a real deal from the MSM if it implies that one part of the story here is that France is pursuing a neo-colonialist policy in west Africa. Which has been the case for nearly half a century. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-11-22 11:28:29 AM |
| #4 Previous accounts had the rebels described as a Moslem movement taking over the North and attacking the non-Moslem South. What happened to change the story? WaPo now seems to paint Gbagbo as a clone of Mugabe. What's the real deal? |
| Posted by: Kalle (kafir forever) 2004-11-22 11:24:55 AM |
| #3 At least WaPo called the Muslim insurgents -- some of them, anyway -- "unsavory". It's a start. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-11-22 10:32:56 AM |
| #2 Is it too late to buy cocoa futures? |
| Posted by: Anon1 2004-11-22 9:12:58 AM |
| #1 Stable prosperous predominantly christian country attracts large numbers of muslims immigrants and becomes unstable hellhole. Nah, too obvious! |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-11-22 2:00:30 AM |