L'Abidjanaise, Part 9

This will be my last post of this series, but it will definitely not be my last post on this topic. For previous posts, please see the sidebar.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies solicited input on Facebook regarding an upcoming interview on the subject of the situation in Côte d'Ivoire. I immediately responded with some questions that I felt had merit:

These questions did not get addressed; instead, the interview was more of the same perspective offered by the MSM:

So, the situation moves toward the conclusion that the international community had in mind ever since the inception of the operation to put "their" man in the presidential palace of Côte d'Ivoire. Some of the lastest news can be found in an article entitled Ivory Coast generals call for cease-fire, negotiate Gbagbo's surrender, dated April 5, 2011. My comment there:

Is Ouattara even eligible for the presidency under Ivoirian law? My information shows that in a government position some years back, Ouattara himself approved the law that made him ineligible.

Also, given that Ouattara's forces never disarmed, as the cease-fire agreement required them to do some years back, I would be interested to know where they are getting their arms and munitions. Is any of this coming in through Burkina Faso? Are there any ties between Ouattara's forces and the Boko Haram militants in Nigeria? Or between Ouattara's forces and other rebel/guerrilla/terrorist groups elsewhere in that part of Africa?

There were many allegations made by international observers of the stuffing of ballot boxes and of violence against pro-Gbagbo voters in areas subject to the control of Ouattara's forces during the election last year. Has this been credibly investigated? What were the results of the investigation, if one was conducted?

If there is a dispute regarding the election, under Ivoirian law, who is supposed to resolve the dispute? My understanding is that this is the function of the Constitutional Council. What did the Constitutional Council finally say about the election results?

This whole thing has had a peculiar smell to it, right from the beginning.

The mainstream media isn't going to answer any of these questions, any more than they were going to address the Sibel Edmonds case as it was breaking.

And, I think I'm starting to understand why.

The February, 2009, INCSR: Country Reports - Costa Rica through Haiti had this to say about Côte d'Ivoire:

Corruption: There is no direct evidence of government corruption related to illicit drugs. Cote d'Ivoire does not, as a matter of policy, encourage or facilitate illicit production or distribution of narcotic or psychotropic drugs or other controlled substances, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions. While no senior official is known to engage in, encourage, or facilitate narcotics production or trafficking, or the laundering of proceeds from illegal drug transactions, reports of widespread public corruption from the lowest policeman up to the ministerial level are common.

Lots of corruption, but at the highest levels, no senior Ivoirian officials were known to be involved in trafficking narcotics.

I'm betting that's about to change.

Farther down:

Drug Flow/Transit: Abidjan's Houphouet-Boigny International Airport is used as the primary transit point in the country for the flow of narcotics. Also, Cote d'Ivoire's major seaports in Abidjan and San Pedro reportedly serve as transit points for narcotics. Further compounding the problem is the government's limited ability to interdict drugs at sea due to the poor condition of its boats. Drugs and other goods cross borders by boat and vehicle, unnoticed or abetted by border officials. It is difficult to gauge the amount of drugs transiting the country, since the government of Cote d'Ivoire's ability to collect and analyze data is limited.

When the dust settles, and if we dig down to a certain level, I think we will soon find that, through Côte d'Ivoire, heroin and military-grade arms will flow west, and cocaine will flow east, all at an increasing rate.

Meanwhile, Ivoirians are "standing there on freedom's shore..."