Allegations: French fired on unarmed civilians
A very disturbing and graphic piece of video footage (link leads to a 100Mb 10 minute MPEG file) from the Ivory Coast makes the allegation that French forces opened fire on an unthreatening crowd of civilians, injuring and killing numerous people.
Now, it is clear that this video doesn't really, without reliable eyewitness testimonies, prove any of the allegations. You see a crowd of people in a peaceful demonstration, then you hear gunfire and people, including the photographer, are running for their lives. At no point do we see French forces actually shooting at somebody. Afterwards, we see scenes of carnage as many civilians, predominantly young women, are injured, many of them from apparent gunshots. Only a bit later (there is a change in weather that indicates time passing) do we see Ivory Coastians engage in anti-French demonstrations with acts of vandalism. We don't see demonstrators armed in any way.
The footage is certainly consistent with the anti-French accusations from the Ivory Coast government, but to be fair this could also be a forgery.
The accusation of a "beheading" of a young girl may be based on some very disturbing images from the end of this video, so be warned.
Perhaps most disturbing is that the MSM has been all-too-eager to dismiss the allegations against the French, when there is actually a quite disturbing case here that begs for good answers. US soldiers certainly are not given the same benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that even the worst-case interpretation of recent Fallujah video footage describes a "crime" that cannot be compared to this.
Video links via InstaPundit.
10:42:50 PM 
|
