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| Africa: Subsaharan | |
| Ivorian Soldier Shoots Dead French Colleague | |
| 2004-06-28 | |
A French soldier in Ivory Coast was shot dead on Friday by a member of the West African nation’s Army during a joint patrol, a French military spokesman said. The spokesman said there was no known motive for the killing, though anti-French sentiment is high among many Ivorians who accuse the former colonial power of being too soft on rebel forces who control the north of the country.
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| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #18 Not to mention the special forces, who are impressive as hell. One of the nicest, most soft-spoken guys I know, with a graduate degree in computer science, happens to be a combat-experienced special ops guy with a Pathfinder badge and a bunch of medals on his chest (when he wears his Class A uniform, which isn't often). If the special ops guys are the ones way out in front without support, the Pathfinders are the ones that go out ahead of them. The one difference between US special forces and, say, the Brits is doctrine. Ours specialize in air drops into territory, the Brits more often come in by foot over the border. Each can come in the other way, of course, but because of the different doctrine US special ops guys emphasize lots of upper body strength whereas the Brits look for the wiry type. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-06-28 4:28:11 PM |
| #17 the professionnal soldiers were not very impressed by the innate quality of the Us army ("way too rich", "very sensitive to uncomfort", "out of shape", "cannot fight without bottled water", etc, etc...). After all, our own military commentators, in their infinite wisdom, say that european troops (ie britsh and french) are much more effective on an individual basis... Uh huh. And the US soldiers wouldn't last in Iraq's summer either. And our equipment wouldn't work. And Sadr would wipe the floor with us, after Saddam lured us into an unwinnable urban war in Baghdad. And ... and ... Um. Didn't work out that way, did it? US reservists, not even the active duty soldiers, patrolled and fought in body armor inside Humvees in 120 degree Farenheit weather, and then went back at night to stifling tents. Marines dug in around Fallujah while under fire and killed, on average, 10 or 12 to one of their own losses, often higher, without any air support at all. Time for some reality checks in the unionized armies of the EU, and even in those that aren't .... |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-06-28 4:23:38 PM |
| #16 Ummm, AFTER they arrived. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2004-06-28 3:50:23 PM |
| #15 IIRC they also got a UN Security Council vote to go..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-06-28 3:06:13 PM |
| #14 "I love my dead French colleague!" |
| Posted by: BH 2004-06-28 3:00:50 PM |
| #13 Rex is correct about the French Foreign Legion having been sent to the Ivory Coast by Chirac as of late 2002. The FFL is still there, and perhaps some French soldiers have been added as well...who knows. But article in the Scotsman does confirm rex's claim about the Legion though: http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=570&id=1394312002 |
| Posted by: jon-val-jon 2004-06-28 2:59:02 PM |
| #12 Beware : chauvinist rant. Jen, they are mostly marines, and some FFL. They're the one we usually (or at least, used to) send to our ex colonies to prop up or remove dictators. They're "african specialists" one can say, certainly not wussies. What's funny about cliche is that they are two-way streets : Us soldiers are seen by most europeans as big bully that simply cannot fight w/o air support and huge firepower supremacy... back in my compulsory military service in the marines, which was a joke btw, the professionnal soldiers were not very impressed by the innate quality of the Us army ("way too rich", "very sensitive to uncomfort", "out of shape", "cannot fight without bottled water", etc, etc...). After all, our own military commentators, in their infinite wisdom, say that european troops (ie britsh and french) are much more effective on an individual basis... Of course, this is false - altouhgh probably true at some subliminal level, like all cliche - as I can discern from my readings, but so is the "wuss french soldier". You must understand that french defense is *bankrupt*, undermanned, 30% of its shock troops (especially paratroopers) are drawn from muslims slums, it is demoralized, thrown out of balance by its professionnalization (another Chiraq grand scheme),... but it is NOT genetically incapable of fighting, as you imply. I wonder what JFM would say about this... probably something about the way french soldiers were lionized by their british counterparts during manoeuvers in the 60s (because of the large scale antiguerilla war of Algeria, which was, military, a complete successs). Anyway, it is a sad event; that's the 3rd soldier to be killed that way, IIRC, by "friendly" fire. |
| Posted by: Anonymous5089 2004-06-28 2:57:55 PM |
| #11 so i guess deploying your forces in a third world cesspool with no strategic impact also has it dangers.... |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-06-28 2:34:47 PM |
| #10 rex, I don't recall them being Foreign Legion, but just regular French wussy soldiers. And Jacques didn't ask the UN before he moved unilaterally. |
| Posted by: Jen 2004-06-28 12:08:26 PM |
| #9 As I recall, Chirac dispatched the French Foreign Legion to the Ivory Coast. The Legion is not comprised of ordinary soldiers-these guys are TOUGH. So I'm not sure that the dead guy's compadres are going to turn the other cheek on this one. |
| Posted by: rex 2004-06-28 11:55:34 AM |
| #8 HAHA, I thought the same thing LOTR. "So... he shot a dead frenchguy? WTF?!!" |
| Posted by: Anonymous4021 2004-06-28 11:32:02 AM |
| #7 No wonder they're hangin' out with the frogs. FANCI boys and NANCI boys... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-06-28 10:03:40 AM |
| #6 Hoo boy, they should really change that acronym. "Ooh, look! It's a FANCI boy! Wearing his FANCI pants!" |
| Posted by: BH 2004-06-28 10:01:48 AM |
| #5 "Ivorian Soldier Shoots Dead French Colleague" If he was already dead... nevermind. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-06-28 9:57:18 AM |
| #4 The French surrender documents are signed and on their way. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-06-28 9:08:45 AM |
| #3 The French government will most likely issue a stern note. The soldier's squadmates will most likely deal with it themselves, I believe these are FFL. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-06-28 8:29:50 AM |
| #2 They may be checking the balance sheet right now Mr Yee. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-06-28 4:45:38 AM |
| #1 Hmph. Personal distaste against the French government aside, it's still fragging, and I don't like it for that. The real question is if the French government will actually do anything about it? Yeah right. |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-06-28 2:24:43 AM |