The French "African Cell" and a Eurocentric UN?
Last week the Wall Street Journal($) ran an interesting article by David Gauthier-Villars on French involvement in Africa via its secretive African Cell. French paratroopers ambushed rebels, but the French people and press weren't told about it until weeks after the fact. Here's the relevant excerpt: On the evening of March 4, 10 French paratroopers reached Birao, Central African Republic, and dropped near an airstrip captured by rebel militia. The paratroopers ambushed the rebels, killing several and reclaiming the airport for the government. In France, neither the public nor parliament was informed of the attack for three weeks. Coordinating the mission was the "Cellule Africaine," a three-person office nestled behind the Elysée, France's presidential palace. This wasn't the first time the office has been involved in the Central African Republic's internal affairs: In 1979, France toppled the former colony's self-proclaimed emperor and reinstalle...