BTW: I heard in the news that Belgium is to deploy a C-130 to Benin in case europeans have to be evacuated out of Ivory Coast.

I can name you 10 families that I bet SUUUURE are glad that the French waited. Now they’re waiting for the coffins to come home. Strange idea of military success there…

So if I take this way of thinking for real, it means that if f.e. our prime minister thinks that we will have trouble again in Congo, Ruanda or Burundi, and that belgians over there might be aggressed by locals, he can send the belgian air force to bomb anything he (dis)likes AND the paracommando-brigade to kill anyone who does not think like he does, to prevent Belgians from dying over there. Strange way of thinking (if it was for real, of course) 😀 .

When even FRY pilots are disproving these delusions, you have to ask what is wrong with some people. Is anti-Western or anti-NATO hatred that strong in some places in Eastern Europe? Or are people just that easily swayed by propaganda that they have to stick with it or admit they were wrong?

I totally agree…

Mwolf, do YOU have anything else? Any more proofs? More explanations about the multiple claims? I mean, I’m really interested in more info on the apparent shoot-downs of the Harrier and Tornado. Weird that no spotter in the world saw their disappearence from the inventory (and believe me: some spotters go really deep into their hobby).

That was my point too.

That is a colonialistic behaviour, that Ivorians lives are less valuable than Serbians

That’s it

I am not saying it is wrong, furthermore it could be the only way to bring peace in that area because they are not mature yet, but it is a colonialistic behaviour

Peace

You are all really funny. Every mandate is different. You cannot compare the UN-mandate with that from Unprofor, nor with Unosom, Unmik, Unmogip, … Unprofor was a peace keeping mission where – en bref – the UN-troops were not allowed to interfere in combat. Only try to seperate without using any force. Unosom was – on the other hand – a peace enforcement operation. This means that the use of force is allowed to seperate fighting factions. Now, I don’t know the mandate they have in Ivory Coast, but it is possible that it includes destroying military assets. Never compare two different UN-mandates.
As to who flies the airplanes: both (mercenaries and local crews). It was quiet common to have f.e. a Mi-24 with a mercenary as a pilot and a local as gunner or vice-versa. Same with the Su-25. Or other aircraft. That is all well monitored by the French over there. And I can tell you that during my stay in Abidjan (in Hotel Ivoire) I saw the mercenaries daily at breakfast, dinner or supper. Friendly guys, btw. Most came from eastern european countries.

Yes, now I remember… The belgian air force lost at least 4 upgraded F-16AM’s and 2 A-109 helicopters, all shot down. They all exploded in mid-air and were shredded to pieces not bigger than a postal stamp. Of course the pieces were thrown over a vaste area full of mountains and woods. They never admited it in fear of bad publicity about the poor state of our Air Force. Do you believe that?

Stay with the facts. Not make-believes from one site, or one “i’ve heard”-thing.