Denys wrote :

[Lots of stuff snipped, for brevity's sake]

> We suppose he was only doing his job, too. But that doesn't mean the rest
> of
> us have to indulge in the moral abdication that would equate deliberate
> televised beheadings of civilians with a Marine shooting a terrorist, who
> may or may not have been armed, amid the ferocity of battle.

Agreed, of course. That's why I carefully underscored, in a previous mail, that the Marine will be judged in due time and will either be cleared of any charges or appropriately sentenced. Seems I was read kind of out of context.

> I would also urge you to read the book "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden.

I've read it, and that book is precisely one of the reasons I certainly would not, I repeat not, equate the fate of a Marine with the fate of a whole US Administration policy.

Along the same line, Ray very correctly (IMHO) wrote the following : "Everyone begins to condemn soldiers for acts of war instead of condemning wars."

I would not condemn the soldier. I certainly condemn the war.

> Finally, Christian, I find it amazing that you condemn this incident while
> remaining silent on your country's military conduct in Cote d'Ivoire.

Denys, I'm taken slightly off-base about how to follow your thinking on this thread. I'm not completely certain I fully understand what you have in mind.

First and foremost, where the hell did you pick up I was condemning the Fallujah incident ? Didn't you read my diatribe about the difference between fact and perception ?

The root of the thread is about an incident that occurred in Iraq. I'm also available for comment about the current situation in Ivory Coast, but that would probably have to be a separate OT: thread. I fail to see any common point between the two situations.

Then again, the French presence in Ivory Coast is totally, and unequivocally, mandated by the United Nations. The French Armed Forces are operating under a UN mandate, to separate the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south parts of the country.

What's more, it's now well-known and well-documented that the French Armed Forces in Ivory Coast have been attacked by the Ivorian Air Force. The corresponding TV footage showing the two Ivorian Sukhoi (sp ?) fighters looking for an attack angle, and then deliberately bombing the French base in Bouaké has made its way to the prime-time TV news here in France, and I see no reason why it would not have been made available in the US as well. 

Bottom line : The French Armed Forces were only responding to a previous attack, and operating under a UN mandate. This is probably the reason why a few days later the UN Security Council unanimously voted to support the French Armed Forces and sanction the government of Ivory Coast.

Christian Lheureux

* To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, *
* etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *