FRENCH SOLDIERS OPEN FIRE ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS ON THE IVORY COAST (WARNING VERY GRAPHIC VIDEO)

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[BigRedState]

FRENCH SOLIDERS OPEN FIRE ON INNOCENT CIVILAINS ON THE IVORY COAST (WARNING VERY GRAPHIC VIDEO)

[Fred Nerks]

"Look at post 222 - "

Yes, that's the same as what I saw on the News in Australia. Immediately reminded me of similar scenes from Liberia. They were asking for US help also. The populations seem to be quite similar; divided between mooselimbs, Christians and indigenous belief systems, just as in the Sudan btw. I believe what we are seeing on the African continent is what the arabs have always done throughout their history: wiping out the indigenous. (And now they are accomplishing it with UN help.)

[cake_crumb]

I saw a related thread and the video earlier. Thanks for posting. The mass media is HIDING the truth of French barbarity. Even the UN passed a strongly worded condemnation...useless in itself of course, but if the US had been involved we'd have had hell to pay, even if proven innocent.

Link to earlier thread, which naturally had to come from AUSTRALIA : Ivory Coast accuses France of shooting civilians

[cake_crumb]

NOTE: France wrote a UN resolution to embargo arms to the Ivory Coast, which was passed. The resolution contains wording that any Ivorian official deemed by any UN member as interfering with peace efforts have his assets and bank accounts frozen.

[Fred Nerks]

"The resolution contains wording that any Ivorian official deemed by any UN member as interfering with peace efforts have his assets and bank accounts frozen."

Putting an end to any hope that the Christian south may ever have had of defending itself against the predominantly mooselimb north, I suspect...

[longfellow]

It looks like zapruder meets the blair witch project.

[TexKat]

France Defends Use of Force in Ivory Coast

France has defended itself against accusations by Ivory Coast authorities – and some Western evacuees – that it used excessive force to protect foreigners against violent mobs during five days of upheaval in its former West African colony.

Ivorian government forces, meanwhile, pulled back from rebel positions, easing fears of a resumption of all-out civil war, as France and other countries continued to fly out thousands of foreigners.

The head of France’s armed forces, Gen. Henri Bentegeat, acknowledged for the first time yesterday that his soldiers in Ivory Coast opened fire to hold back what he called a ”pack of looters, rapists and uncontrollable or manipulated people” attacking foreigners in the commercial capital, Abidjan.

But he told Europe-1 radio the soldiers did “the absolute minimum” in self-defence. He claimed “a very large number” of casualties were killed by gunmen in the crowds.

At least three European women were raped during the rioting, Catherine Rechenmann, a representative of the French community in Ivory Coast told France-Inter radio.

Ivory Coast’s national reconciliation minister, Dano Djedje, reacted angrily to Bentegeat’s comments.

“France has used extreme violence against unarmed demonstrators ... and they should take responsibility for it,” he said.

Ivory Coast presidential spokesman Desire Tagro claimed yesterday that 62 loyalists had died in the turmoil unleashed on November 6 by an Ivory Coast airstrike on French peacekeepers in the rebel-held north. Nine peacekeepers and an American aid worker died in the airstrike.

France responded by wiping out the country’s newly built-up air force, sparking an uprising by loyalist youths in the south who took to the streets of Abidjan and other cities armed with machetes, iron bars and clubs.

France and other nations began flying out foreigners Wednesday.

By midday yesterday, 2,192 of the 14,000 French citizens here had left the country along with scores from Spain, Germany, the United States and other countries, French officials said.

The MoD said that two Royal Air Force planes carried about 200 people to safety in nearby Ghana.

President Laurent Gbagbo’s office issued a statement yesterday urging foreigners to stay, and saying it was taking steps to assure their safety.

Gbagbo planned to address a memorial service for loyalist victims at an Abidjan stadium today, but the event was postponed so Muslims can celebrate the end of their month long fast.

Ivory Coast’s military launched an inquiry yesterday into the airstrike that sparked the violence, saying it hoped to ”establish the truth” of who was to blame. Ivorian officials have alternately denied responsibility for the airstrike, and said it was a mistake.

Bentegeat said he was “certain” the attack was deliberate. Planes had been circling for two days, he said. ”There was no error possible.”

French TV: Israelis assisting Ivory Coast Army

Israeli arms-dealers have assisted the army of the Ivory Coast with operating unmanned drones which helped soldiers attack a French military base in that country, a French television broadcaster reported Wednesday morning.

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[Johnnyboy2000]

I thought this would be settled by now. You cannot argue with people who refuse to look at something rationally.

[wardaddy]

actually it's not exactly about race although it is more or less defined that way.

the second and third world made up primarily of blacks, amerindians, and caucazoid-mongoloid-austrailiod hybrids are going to consume the "first world" and there is little to do to stop it.

slow it down maybe but stop it no.



the US will resemble something like Brasil and Mexico combined.



These changes are inevitable.

The white man has had his day.

This prospect pleases many freepers including a few on this very thread.

The only thing that could perhaps stop this is cataclysm.

[M Kehoe]

Did anyone ping Chirac to this thread?

5.56mm

[alwaysconservative]

What bothers me about this video (and I am not saying it is not true that Ivoire citizens were massacred by the French) is that the camera shows a peaceful crowd, then when the "shooting" starts, all we have is blurred images SUGGESTING that a massacre is occuring. BUT then the response of some after the supposed atrocity is bizarre: people ambling with backpacks, grinning and very casual. Some people are running away, but most are not, and some are just acting like it's a day in the park! We don't SEE French soldiers shooting at citizens, but it is implied by the tape. Does France admit to killing of Ivoire citizens of any number?

[Cold Heat]

You're joking...right?

Yeah, but just adding it to the list of failures, like Rwanda, just does not seem to be enough anymore.

[Moonman62]

Expanded property rights and other foundations of capitalism in third world countries would invalidate their need to come here.

[wardaddy]

massacres or simple murder in the 3rd world do not elicit quite the same response as here...folks are used to it.....even though the IC used to be idyllic relatively speaking.

I saw a Brit security man in Freetown Sierra Leone shoot a local cop in the head in a busy intersection and no one hardly blinked. His body lay there for hours and he was a Copper. This was late 80s about the time Sierra Leone was imploding from civil unrest.

I've seen necklaced bodies in Port Au Prince and Gonaives Haiti and the bodies were left to rot for days as school kids in tartan uniform skipped past the stench.

Things are just different there....although they bleed and die red same as us. That young woman gasping and dying with the sucking chest wound on this vid is quite poignant. I never got used to it...even after nearly 17 years spent all over civil strife torn primitive areas...especially with kids.

The old cliche life is cheap is not without merit.

I think the Frogs got itchy finger here....they sure didn't retreat like they felt they were under threat....all out in the open and whatnot.

[TexKat]

Ivory Coast protesters demonstrate in front of the presidential residence in Abidjan, November 9, 2004. At least five people were killed in a fourth day of mob violence in Ivory Coast on Tuesday and protesters accused French troops of opening fire on them. Demonstrators said French troops had shot at them from a hotel in an upmarket district of the country's main city Abidjan, while the French military declined immediate comment. Reuters/Luc Gnago

Ivory Coast protesters carry the body of a demonstrator shot in front of a hotel in Abidjan, November 9, 2004. At least five people were killed in a fourth day of mob violence in Ivory Coast on Tuesday and protesters accused French troops of opening fire on them. Demonstrators said French troops had shot at them from a hotel in an upmarket district of the country's main city Abidjan, while the French military declined immediate comment. Reuters/Luc Gnago

A man looks at a UN vehicle burning in the car park of the hotel Ivoire in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, following an anti-French demonstration.(AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

Pro-government demonstrators with national flags protest in front of the French-commandeered Hotel Ivoire in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2004. South African President Thabo Mbeki flew to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to launch an African effort to rein in chaos amid four days of sudden mob and government confrontations with French troops that have wounded hundreds and left at least 20 dead. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

Pro-government demonstrators protest around a French armoured vehicle in front of the commandeered Hotel Ivoire in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan on Tuesday Nov.9, 2004. South African President Thabo Mbeki flew to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to launch an African effort to rein in chaos amid four days of sudden mob and government confrontations with French troops that have wounded hundreds and left at least 20 dead. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

An Ivorian government soldier with a rocket-launcher stands guard outside Abidjan's luxury Hotel Ivoire where the Ivory Coast Armed Forces (FANCI) and French and UN military forces were meeting.(AFP/Issouf Sanogo)

[wardaddy]

yes...in a perfect world but I'm not hopeful...plus the sheer numbers.

like Nigeria for example.

ironically it sure shows the power of unrestrained procreation doesn't it?....even in light of harsh living conditions and war and famine and disease.

the hardy who want to multiply inevitably rule the day in time...history is replete with examples.

the first world only has themselves to blame.

[Colosis]

I live in Ireland and I've heard nothing on the european 'news' channels - zero, zilch, nada. This thread is the first I have heard about it.

[Cold Heat]

7.62 hit in the head looks exactly like that.

It is kinda like a watermelon. The pressure wave liquefies the brain and explodes the skull.

I cannot believe people are trying to debunk this when it is backed up by AP, CBS and others.

If there is some exaggeration, it would be quite normal. Figures I have seen are 8-30 dead and 200-300 wounded.

The French said they are investigating and there seems to not be any reports of the protesters having fired at them.

Certainly the videos represent a side in this conflict, but the Frenchies suffered no injuries that were reported in this instance, and they fled the scene, including their medical units.

Let's pretend we did not even see the films, and just go by the news reports and imagine what could have happened to injure that many people in a single shooting incident.

The last news reports indicate a full scale investigation is getting underway and the French are being asked to get out.

[happygrl]

I agree; it is an excellent summary.

Fred, I think your original instincts were the correct ones.

Your "conversion" was premature. The French are admitting culpability.

Don't let the truth of this incident be swayed by the Bloody Flag Waving of White Women Being Raped.

It doesn't sway me, and I am one.

The truth is that the French are behaving badly in Cote'de Ivoire, and this video exposes it.

That the source is a website supportive of the government proves nothing in terms of its validity. FR is a website with a particular political stance. Would original video posted here be dismissed out-of-hand simply because of our perspective on the issues ?

It shouldn't be; rather it should be treated as this video has been: dissected in single frames at critical points, and other sources researched to verify and validate what it purports to be showing.

That's what has happened here. I think the evidence is persuasive that some unit of French soldiers was out-of-control and perpetrated a massacre on unarmed civilian Ivorians, and that this video captures the incident and the aftermath.

[TexKat]

Expanded property rights and other foundations of capitalism in third world countries would invalidate their need to come here.

In New York 11/10/04. Coming to a neighborhood near you. LOL

Protesters demonstrate outside the United Nations (news - web sites), Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004, in New York. The protesters, who came from various areas, want the international community's support in asking for the withdrawal of French troops in the Cote d'Ivoire and the removal of France from the peace process. Violence erupted Saturday when Ivory Coast warplanes killed nine French peacekeepers and an American aid worker in an air strike on the rebel-held north in three days of government air attacks that violated a more than year-old cease-fire in the country's civil war. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

[Fred Nerks]

Yes, you are quite correct, my 'conversion' was certainly premature. JasonC summary cleared that up for me.