The Beast Now Installs Puppets At Will

It's the conquest of Africa.

Forces Capture Ivory Coast Strongman in Bunker

"Forces stormed the bunker where Ivory Coast's strongman Laurent Gbagbo hung on to power Monday, arresting the man whose refusal to hand over the presidency to the election winner left hundreds dead and threatened to re-ignite a civil war in the world's largest cocoa producer.

Gbagbo's dramatic arrest came after days of heavy fighting during which French and U.N. helicopters fired rockets at his presidential residence. Forces backing the internationally recognized winner Alassane Ouattara had begun a rapid offensive to oust Gbagbo late last month."

Why Gbagbo Refuses to Go

"ABIDJAN, Cote d’Ivoire - I’ve been in Cote d’Voire (Ivory Coast) since New Years Day meeting with government officials and talking to victims of recent election-related violence. I’ve also met the president, lunched with First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo and even attended an exclusive meeting with all seven members of the Constitutional Council.

The conclusion? President Gbagbo won’t step aside because he is the certified winner of the presidential election.

Ble Goude, government minister of Youth and Employment, likens the election dispute to the 2000 presidential vote in the United States. Remember the hanging chads and the never ending vote count in Florida? The U.S. Supreme Court, under the authority granted to it by the U.S. Constitution, intervened and declared George W. Bush the winner. Al Gore bowed out graciously and Bush was sworn in as president.

Here in Cote d’Voire, the election results were disputed by members of the Electoral Commission. Commissioners agreed on results for 14 areas, but five were disputed. The three-day deadline for announcing the results was missed.

By law, the disputed election was sent to the Constitutional Commission where the seven member panel –after examining evidence of vote fraud—ruled that 500,000 ballots were invalid. They declared Gbagbo the winner. He was sworn in—as directed by the country’s constitution—as president.

But unlike Gore, Ouatarra is hanging on after a fraudulent election. Could you imagine Al Gore holding his own swearing-in ceremony? That's what Ouatarra did without the approval of the Constitutional Council as required by Ivorian Law.

Ouatarra and his supporters claim Gbagbo was chosen president by his political friends on the Council, but when I met with them this week, they appeared to me to be honest men and women of integrity. Some have PhD's and are well versed in Ivorian constitutional law. They did not resemble political hacks. Instead, I felt I was in the presence of the best and brightest legal minds of Cote d'Ivoire."