Lanny Davis keeps acting for peace in Côte d'Ivoire !
It's usually important to check the source. I read on twitter and elsewhere on the Internet that Lanny Davis was paid by Gbagbo to defend him, which is absolutely wrong. I guess the ones that spread this information were trying to misinform the ones that don't speak English. Unfortunately for them I do and I'll give a French translation of the present analysis.
In fact, throught his first words in this interview, L. Davis specifies that he has been "paid by the Gbagbo government not to defend Mr. Gbagbo's presidential election". So Mr. Davis is not Gbagbo's attorney, unlike what we can read on some French websites.
Can you believe that ? According to Mr. Davis, the US government recognized that it didn't even read the Constitutional Court report. After all this, how not to question the international community's (the UN, the US, France, etc.) position in the Ivorian crisis ? For the ones that blame L. Davis for his support to Cote d'Ivoire, it's not because you criticize the international community that you necessarily support Mr. Gbagbo.
I strongly believe that Mr. Davis could have done a great job in this crisis. Unfortunately he resigned because Gbagbo refused to take Obama's phone call, damn! He defends his position pretty well in this interview on CNN and I share his "mediator" position in this issue so I let you listen to it directly.
"I don't know who's right and I'm not here to defend Mr. Gbagbo. I am here to say that we need to avoid bloodshed.", Lanny Davis
However, Lanny Davis has not totally resigned since he said to Gbagbo's ambassador to Washington: "I will continue to do all I can to help encourage the parties to resolve this matter peacefully, through dialogue and mediation and non-violence, but for the reasons expressed above, I will no longer be able to do so as a representative of your government.” (Source: NY Times)
Thanks Mr. Davis.
To read more about Lanny Davis.
--MD