“The use of force, which entails serious risks of destabilization for the region, for Africa and the world, should only be a last resort.” That was French President Jacques Chirac in February 2003, discussing with a coalition of African leaders why he opposed a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Chirac would have been wise to listen to his own antiwar rhetoric last week before he authorized his military to unilaterally destroy the air force of the West African state of Ivory Coast. France was retaliating for the Ivorian government’s Nov. 6 attack on a peacekeeping post that left nine French soldiers dead, along with a U.S. aid worker.
The Emerald condemns President Laurent Gbagbo for the attacks and for violating his 18-month cease-fire with Ivorian rebels in the north. We support proposed U.N. sanctions against Gbagbo’s government — also endorsed by African leaders — which, among other things, would include an arms embargo.
But we also feel that the French government can no longer function as effective peacekeepers, due to their numerous financial, military and political interests in their former colony. Currently, 40 percent of the peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast is French (nearly 4,500 troops), according to the Inter Press Service in Johannesburg. They act independently of other peacekeepers and are perceived by many to be supporting the Muslim rebels against the Ivorian government.
The French government’s understandable, but ill-advised, military actions illustrate the failed role it is playing in the Ivorian peacekeeping effort. The government’s real and perceived conflicts of interest are only fanning the flames of an already difficult situation. In the interest of neutrality, the French should reduce their presence or leave Ivory Coast altogether, to make way for a more multilateral force, led by the United Nations or by the African Union.
President Chirac, if building an international coalition was the right course in the Middle East, then it is certainly the right course in Africa. Please stop the hypocrisy.

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