For those of you following the political problems (which could lead to a civil war) in the Ivory Coast, you know that former President Gbagbo is refusing to leave his post and accusing the UN, the West, and others of conspiracy against his regime.
His accusations remind me of Lord of the Ring's own steward's, Denethor II, statements to Gandalf: "With your left hand you would use me as a shield against Mordor, and with your right you would seek to supplant me." The UN and the US have been lobbying Gbagbo to accept lucrative retirement deals. If you are familiar with Lord of the Rings, you know that Gandalf appealed to Denethor's humanity and national (so to speak) pride. When that failed, he just clubbed him on the head. The club, in this case, is ECOWAS and the club's strike is military force to oust Gbagbo from the Presidency.
The UN and US would rather the current sitting President of ECOWAS not send troops into the Ivory coast and both have been scrambling for a peaceful resolution in the country. But, it should be noted that no peace negotiation envoys have been sent to any sitting ECOWAS country to stall a military strike. Is this one of the first representations of the teeth that so many have wanted the UN to have? What do you believe?
and just to clarify, Denethor's accusation that Gandalf is using a two-pronged approach can be compared to whether or not the UN and US are consciously using peace negotiations in one hand and threat of ECOWAS military strike in the other.
ReplyDelete