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| East/Subsaharan Africa |
| Ivorian rebels warn France |
| 2002-12-23 |
| The three rebel movements in Ivory Coast say they will consider any fresh attack by French troops as "an act of war". The rebels postponed forming an alliance, saying they first needed to commit to respecting human rights and disciplining their troops. This will happen, er, never They were meeting to consider their response after Saturday's clash between French soldiers and rebels of the Ivorian People's Movement for the Far West (MPIGO) advancing on government troops in the strategic western town of Duekoue. The French Foreign Legion destroyed three lorries and killed a number of rebels at a checkpoint - the first time in this conflict they have used force to stop an offensive. France has sent more than 1,000 troops to its former colony and will have 2,500 there within a week. The rebels, who met in the town of Bouake, the stronghold of the main rebel group, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast ( MPCI ), said that another French attack on their positions would be send as a "declaration of war". Rule#1: Don't declare war, and then be suprised when the other guy takes you up on it. The MPCI has described the French troops in the country as "forces of occupation". But the French army says it is neutral in the conflict. The legionnaires deny any responsibility for the clash in Duekoue, and say the rebels fired first and they acted in self-defence. Rule#2: Don't shoot at the Legion Paratroopers, they don't like it and will take offense. The head of the French armed forces, General Henri Bentegeat, said on Sunday that Paris was ready to keep a big force for years in the former colony, in an effort to end the war. How unilateral of him. Does the U.N. know about this? |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #6 People get confused by the French Foreign legion. The first instinct is they'll be pushovers. Their French, they'll surrender. Only when the bodies pile up do they start to understand that they are actually Foreign and not typical cheeze-eating surrender monkeys. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2002-12-24 09:51:53 |
| #5 Four Traits of People whom its best to avoid fighting (whenever possible): 1) all-volunteer units 2) made up entirely of people with nothing to lose 3) who get their greatest sense of honor by dying and losing. 4) whos highest holiday is a celebration of a battle that they lost ( Camerone April 30th). |
| Posted by: Frank Martin 2002-12-23 23:15:21 |
| #4 French Foreign Legion soldiers crouch behind logs and sandbags, training their anti-tank missiles, rocket launchers and heavy machine guns west — into rebel territory. Nearby is Ivory Coast's Sassandra River: Rebels hoping to advance on the skyscraper-lined commercial capital, Abidjan, must first make it across this silvery, natural barrier. Ivory Coast's own forces retreated Thursday when rebels took Man, a main western city with 135,000-residents. And as the dusty convoys of weary government troops pulled out, the Foreign Legion moved in. Piling up bunkers, they set up a checkpoint 55 miles south of the fallen city. "Between what we have here, and the river, they will not pass," vows Col. Emmanuel Maurin, commander of the French in the west. "Viva le sacre Legion" |
| Posted by: Steve 2002-12-23 14:08:21 |
| #3 Boy, they sure don't wanna piss off Sgt. Maj. Raskolnikov... |
| Posted by: mojo 2002-12-23 13:38:20 |
| #2 I'll put twenty on the Legion... |
| Posted by: Fred 2002-12-23 13:03:46 |
| #1 It also provides an excuse for not providing top line troops anywhere else. "We are committed to peace keeping duites." |
| Posted by: Chuck 2002-12-23 12:38:42 |