War and Conflict Journal

The First Ivory Coast Civil War

(2002-2007)

http://www.historyguy.com/ivory_coast_civil_war_first.htm

French Soldiers on duty in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast (Cote d Ivorie) Civil War (Sept. 19, 2002-2007)Rebel soldiers (who later called themselves the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI) launched a coordinated, nation-wide attack on forces loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo. Loyalist forces held onto the capital city of Abidjan, but lost control of the northern cities ofBouake and Korhogo. Initial reports had former military dictator General Robert Guei as the leader of the coup.It was also reported that he perished in the fighting. Ivory Coast has seen ethnic and religious violence since 2000 between northern Muslims (such as Guei) and southern Christians (such as President Gbagbo). The government also claims that rebel reinforcement entered the country from a bordering nation, most likely Burkina Faso to the north.Tensions have increased between the two West African nations partly as a result of the status of millions of migrant Burkina Faso citizens living in Ivory Coast seeking jobs.A cease-fire began on Oct. 17, which held until the last week of November, as government forces launched a new offensive with recently acquired helicopters and what appeared to be a unit of English-speaking mercenaries.Also, a new rebel group appeared, seizing several towns along the western border with Liberia. This group, calling itself the Ivorian Popular Movement for the Greater West, clashed with French peacekeeping forces that were attempting to evacuate Europeans from the area. This Yacouba-based tribal group, which appears to include some Liberians, may be connected to one of the factions involved in the Liberian Civil War. A second western rebel group, called the Movement for Justice and Peace, appears loyal to the late General Guei.

From January 15 through January 26, 2003, the warring parties met at Linas-Marcoussis in France to to negotiate a an end to the war. The parties signed a compromise deal on January 26. President Gbagbo was to retain power and opponents were invited into a government of reconciliation and obtained control over the Ministries for Defense and of the Interior. Soldiers of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and 4,000 French soldiers took up positions separating the warring sides. The parties agreed to work together on modifying national identity, eligibility for citizenship, and land tenure laws which many observers see as among the root causes of the conflict. The civil war was declared over as of July 4, 2003 when the government and New Forces militaries signed an “End of the War” declaration, recognized President Gbagbo’s authority, and vowed to work for the implementation of the LMA and a program of Demobilization, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR).

Despite the written agreement, true reconciliation did not take place, and in November, 2004, President Gbagbo ordered airstrikes against the rebel-held north and hit the city of Bouaké.. These airstrikes also hit (supposedly by accident, though that is questionalble) French forces who were in the country to enforce the peace on November 6. In this attack, an Ivorian Sukhoi Su-25 bombed a French base in Bouaké, killing nine French soldiers and an American aid worker while injuring 31 others. French forces then responoded with an overland attack on Yamassoukro Airport, destroying two Su-25s and three attack helicopters on the ground, while two government military helicopters were shot down over Abidjan. One hour after the attack on the camp, the French Army established control of Abidjan Airport. France flew in reinforcements and sent three jets to Gabon on standby.

Pro-government demonstators , rallied by the pro-government media, rioted and plundered properties owned by French nationals. Several hundred Westerners, mainly French citizens, took refuge on the roofs of their buildings to escape the mob, and were then evacuated by French Army helicopters. France sent in f 600 troops as reinforcements from their base in Gabon and from France itself while foreign civilians were evacuated from Abidjan airport on French and Spanish military airplanes. An unknown number of rioters were killed after French troops opened fire on the mobs.

Ivory Coast Map

After the French-Ivorian clashes in 2004, the two opposing Ivorian sides settled into a stalemate, whicn proved conducive to negotiations, and on March 4, 2007, a peace agreement was signed between the government and the rebel New Forces in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. New Forces leader Guillaume Soro was then appointed Prime Minister and assumed that office in early April, 2007. On April 16, in the presence of Gbagbo and Soro, the U.N. buffer zone between the two sides began to be dismantled, and government and New Forces soldiers paraded together for the first time. Gbagbo declared that the war was over.Scattered violence broke out on occassion, including an assassination attempt on Soro, but the agreement held until a resumption of the civil war in 2011 after a disputed election.

Ivory Coast Civil War Sources and Links:

First Ivorian Civil War–Wikipedia Article

Background Note: Cote d’Ivoire–U.S. State Department

A ‘Civil War’ that is French and Neo-Colonial–International Viewpoint

French troops in Ivory Coast battle–BBC News, Dec. 21, 2002

The Libyan War

 http://www.historyguy.com/libyan_war_2011.htm

Libyan rebels hoisting the pre-Gadhafi Libyan flag

The Libyan War began as a protest movement against long-time Libyan leader Colonel Muamar Gadhafi and quickly escalated into a full-scale civil war. As the Libyan government forces increased their use of deadly force on the rebels, the United Nations imposed a “No-Fly Zone” over Libya in order to “protect Libyan civilians.” The Libyan No-Fly Zone’s enforcement was undertaken by a coalition of European nations and the United States. The Libyan No-Fly Zone was begun with airstrikes and ship-borne missile strikes at Libyan air-defence installations as well as Libyan ground forces.Names of the Conflict:

The Libyan War of 2011Libyan No-Fly Zone War

Libyan Uprising of 2011

Libyan Civil War

Operational Names of Nations Intervening in Libya:

Operation Odyssey Dawn (United States)Operation Ellamy (United Kingdom)

Opération Harmattan (France)

Operation Mobile (Canada)

DATES OF CONFLICT:

BEGAN: February 15, 2011–Protests against the Libyan government began

Foreign Intervention Began: March 19, 2011

ENDED: Ongoing

 Libyan War Sources and Links:

Libya Uprising 2011–Wikipedia article

The Libyan War of 2011-Stratfor

2011 military intervention in Libya–Wikipedia article

Is It a War? Libya Terminology Is Tangled–Wall Street Journal

Chadian rebels clash with gov’t forces in capital; head toward presidential palace–Associated Press, February 2, 2008

Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Chad today, clashing with government troops and moving on the presidential palace after a three-day advance through the oil-producing central African nation, officials and witnesses said.

Chad’s ambassador to Ethiopia said the capital had not fallen and that President Idriss Deby was "fine" in his palace.

"The situation is under control," ambassador Cherif Mahamat Zene told The Associated Press. "The head of state is fine in his palace … It’s true that there are some rebels who have entered the city, but to say the city has fallen is false."

A French military spokesman, Col. Thierry Burkhard, said that Chadian government forces were pushing rebels away from the presidential palace but that the outcome of the fighting today remained unclear. To read the rest of the story, click the link above.

The main rebel group in Chad, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), has declared war on France. France, along with Austria, Sweden, Ireland, and other European Union members, are putting together a 3,500 man peacekeeping force in response to the warfare in Chad and neighboring Sudan’s Darfur region. The rebels allege French involvement in the war on the side of the government.

The UFDD is a coalition of several small rebel armies who seek to overthrow the government of President Idriss Deby, who invaded Chad himself in 1990 to overthrow the then-President Hissene Habre. Chad’s proven method of regime-change is through the barrel of a gun, with multiple coups, rebellions, interventions, and invasions in its history as an independent nation.

Since France freed Chad from its bondage as a piece of its decaying colonial empire in 1960, French troops and air power have intervened several times in the nation’s unending series of civil wars and rebellions. The current rebels allege French aid to the government, it is most likely true, based on France’s past actions in Chad and other former colonies.

As to why France may be motivated to get involved in a war not its own, one only needs to look at the fact that in 2003, Chad became an exporter of oil.

Sources:

Chadians declare war on France–Telegraph.uk

France plays down Chad war claim–BBC