Or Cote D'Ivoire for the Francophiles here.

They had a Presidential election in December. Opposition leader Alassane Ouattara won;or at least he claims victory .The UN certified the results.Is the UN really an objective and impartial broker ? Who knows ?

President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to give up power and is encamped in the Presidential palace. The military and police forces remain loyal to him.

Alassane Ouattara has set up operation on the other side of capitol city Abidjan .His security force consists of 'Blue Helmet 'UN 'peacekeepers' and French troops .


Gbagbo has unleashed his goons to impose their will through intimidation. The UN(meaninless sanctions on it's export cocoa) ,the EU ,the "international community " ,the African Union ,are helpless,hopeless, or will not intervene. The US will not .
Not sure if this will be a replay of Libya .Most likely just another chapter in their long civil struggle . It is creating yet another refugee crisis as over 200,000 have fled the city and over 450,000 nationwide .

A no-fly zone was imposed... not on government forces but by government forces against UN flights.
Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Vows to Block U.N. Flights - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704823004576192752935366830.html)
Just like in Libya the strongman leader will win.

Just like in Libya the strongman leader will win.Hello tom:

You sound positively liberal... I'm an underdog kind of guy myself. But, what would you have us do?

I notice you don't post about Saudi Arabia sending troops into Bahrain. The underdogs THERE are getting crushed too. The world, as we know it, is falling apart and we can't stop it.

excon

I've adapted to realpolitik . I thought you had too based on your opinions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

I did not recommend any US action . I like chocolate but can learn to live without it .

I did not mention Saudi Arabia because that was predictable after the President decided his golf game was paramount over supporting popular uprising . I have to wonder however what was his beef against Mubarack ?

I support the Saudi move however because in my new realpolitik I'd rather support friends . But even more ;I know the uprising in Bahrain has the hand of Tehran all over it... just like the recent one in Aberbaijan.
AFP: Police thwart Azerbaijan 'people's protest' (http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gb5otdMKeX-ltMhZUV-leRxrKYgA?docId=CNG.ef1aa70d92c38fbb8101a4a1775e8a b0.9c1)

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63070

Just to update.
Today Gbagbo is in a bunker at his house begging for terms of surrender. When I posted this the forces of democratically elected Alassane Ouattara were out gunned ,and held an outpost .

What changed ?


United Nations and French forces opened fire with attack helicopters on Gbagbo's arms stockpiles and bases on Monday after four months of political deadlock in the former French colony in West Africa.
The offensive that began Monday included air attacks on the presidential residence and three strategic military garrisons, marking an unprecedented escalation in the international community's efforts to oust Gbagbo, as pro-Ouattara fighters pushed their way to the heart of the city to reach Gbagbo's home.
Fighters surround Ivory Coast strongman in bunker - Yahoo! News (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_af/af_ivory_coast)

The UN opened fire? Really?

Yes it appears what you have to do is shoot at them

The interesting thing is that this isn't civilian protection . The Ouattara faction has been implicated in a horrible massacre.

This is the UN deciding a winner .

Did the UN decide a winner or did the Gbagbo's just run out of ammunition. In any case the international community had already decided Ouattara was the winner and Gbagbo was not. In Africa massacre is the usual way of deciding an outcome decisivley. Let's forget this BS about protecting civilians and realise that is just as much an excuse as collateral damage, what you were referring to your own forces would call collateral damage after all there was Mi Lai and various other places.