Lanny Davis Running P.R. For Laurent Gbagbo, Sanctioned Ivory Coast "Strongman"

Over in the Ivory Coast, things are not going well. Last month, incumbent president-slash-strongman Laurent Gbagbo lost an election to Alassane Ouattara that was deemed fair and square by international observers. Since then, however, Gbagbo has refused to step down, and has instead stepped up the violent suppression of his political opponents. Gbagbo is currently in a standoff with U.N. peacekeeping forces, who have refused his order to decamp from the country because "more than 50 people have been killed in recent days in Ivory Coast" and there are "hundreds of reports of people being abducted from their homes at night by armed assailants in military uniforms." And now, he's earned sanctions from the United States State Department as well.

Naturally, Gbagbo has retained the services of homunculoid flack Lanny Davis. We go live now, to Justin Elliot in the Salon War Room, who notes that "even for Davis, taking on Ivory Coast leader and flagrant human rights violator Laurent Gbagbo as a client, as he did this week, seems to cross some kind of line":

Despite what the United Nations calls "massive violations" of human rights, Davis is out spinning harder than ever for Gbagbo. According to CNN, Davis asserted at a press conference Monday that Gbagbo has renounced violence:

"Mr. Gbagbo opposes violence and has authorized me to say he wants a mutual renunciation of violence and calls on Mr. Ouattara to join him on putting the arms down and let's sit down and talk," Davis said.

That does not square with the known facts. Davis has not returned a call seeking comment.

The latest out of Ivory Coast is that Gbagbo has cut off food and medical supplies to the UN peacekeepers that are guarding the hotel where Gbagbo's opponent -- and the rightful victor of the election -- is holed up.

This isn't the first time Davis has taken on a troubling client. Back in July of 2009, Davis worked on behalf of the Business Council of Latin America (CEAL), lobbying U.S. lawmakers to support the removal-by-coup of the democratically elected president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya. But wow, Laurent Gbagbo! Who knew it was so comfortable to sleep atop a mattress made out of fungible convictions?

Hilariously, Davis believes himself to be adequate to the task of serving as a spokesman for "civility."

RELATED:
High-profile Dem lawyer flacking for African strongman [Salon War Room]
Evil Lanny Davis Has Some Dandy New Thing To Make You 'Civil' [Wonkette]

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Comments

[Ebah Ngole]

04:09 AM on 12/29/2010

Lately, a friend of mine put forward something interesting. Not one african president, as a person, has congratulated Mr Ouattara. They always go under the cover of a regional group. You know why? Because none of them are model of democracy. Particularly
Blaise Compaore, 30 years as president , just last month got elected with 80%(russian style. Where is the international community?). Mr Wade, 84, scrambling his party just to put his son next in line, not for the next election(yes he will candidate at 86 in 2012), but for the following. And they are the ones pushing for ECOWAS (with the help of the US)to come to instaure democracy. Come on, we need to stop this mascarade of democracy. Even though many Gbagbo's actions are not to defend, the man doesn't deserve this. The people don't deserve it.

[Untameable]

07:58 AM on 12/29/2010

Yet, these African leaders know that if the regional group spoke with one voice, then the loser needs to stand down. They have done it to Charles Taylor of Liberia.
And the reason no leader, personally, congratulated Mr Outtara is because they want to be seen as impartial peace negotiators - which comes with great prestige-, and if they took a side early they would not be able to.

[MalleusMaleficarum]

09:31 AM on 12/28/2010

Last night, Amy Goodman featured an interview of Dr. Horace Campbell, a Professor at Syracuse University who accused Lanny Davis of manipulating the last election in the Ivory Coast to permit the loser, Lawrence Gbagbo, to remain in power. Lanny Davis is going to give Bill Clinton an even blacker reputation than he already has acquired for himself. In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel's opponents are calling him one of Bill Clinton's "Hedge Fund Racketeers" -- and the Clinton Library is taking hits as a, "tax free slush fund for hedge fund money disguised as a presidential library."

[FirstDraftHistorian]

05:27 AM on 12/28/2010

Your post is jibberish. Why is there no vote recount? One example: former Ghanaian president Jerry Rawling spoints out one region cast 159,788 votes where only 48,400 were registered. Surely that deserves an investigation? The Haitians won a recount. Bush was declared winner by the Supreme Court in 2000 without the threat of military intervention. Maybe Gbagbo did win. That is why there must be a recount. The violence is on all sides. Gbagbo says Ouatara's people killed 14 policemen in the march on the Radio and TV. And why do you pass under silence the armed rebels occupying the North of the country after their failed coup against the democratically elected President Gbagbo in 2002? Is it because those rebels back Ouatara? When it comes to the Ivory Coast, the double standards in the press are only equalled by the hypocrisy of the US, France and the UN.

[huelouhua]

02:31 PM on 12/25/2010

i leave about 1 km from the hotel where ouattara is "holed up" and about 100 metres from a UN battalion. from my windows, i can see the UN cars, trucks, etc. going to the hotel at all times of day and night without being impeded by Gbagbo's soldiers. what do they carry there then? arms? ammunitions? issues of playboy? lies lies lies. and helicopters fly overhead to that place as well. also there is access by the lagoon. so pluzz, stop the violins. ouatarra is there with his new prime minister, a warlord who has led a rebellion that has divided the country for the last 8 years. and think: ivorians are flying the areas controlled by the rebels to liberia and guinea, the neighborng countries and not from the areas controlled by gbagbo. what does that tell you? please think again.

[FirstDraftHistorian]

06:00 AM on 12/28/2010

thanks for setting their record straight. So many unfounded rumors circulating by the Ouattara people and the US Embassy like lIberian militia and Angolan troops nobody can seem to find.

[huelouhua]

02:04 PM on 12/25/2010

funny how people think they know when they do not. remember the media buildup right before the us invasion of irak? did any find AMDs? what did the UN say at the time? look for facts. then use superlatives. it's usually smarter.

[Notch]

07:25 AM on 12/23/2010

Ouattara, being a former IMF employee and Sarcozy's buddy (Sarkozy was present at his wedding in Paris in official capacity, as the mayor), is the exponent of Western (and particularly French) interests in the region. That's the main reason for such a unanimous response by the international community. It is pure lunacy on the side of Mr Soro (Ouattara's prime minister wannabe) to call for the use of force in resolving the crisis. People who love their country do not talk like that. Gbagbo is not a saint by any standards, but the crisis can only be resolved through an agreement signed by both sides. Also, it is extremely important for all the Ivorians to overcome their regional pettines and pride and not to allow foreign interests to dictate what's going on in their country.

[Json]

01:15 PM on 12/22/2010

Lanny is the perfect choice for this, since he seems to have no core values.
Just read this from him
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lanny-davis/the-cheney-dare-indict-hi_b_205101.html

He was against indicting Cheney for torture...until Cheney starting being a jerk about it in public. So in other words, when the only reason to look into torture was that it was the right thing to do, he was against against. But when he realized that it could be used to score PR points, he was for it.

Here was my comment at the time...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Json/the-cheney-dare-indict-hi_b_205101_24526015.html

[Ebah Ngole]

03:59 AM on 12/22/2010

I don't know anything about Mr Davis but I know Ivory Coast. I'm disgusted of always the west taking side when it comes to human rights violations. Mr Ouattara supporters can kill, burn down houses, chase people from their homes, it's fine (they are the good guys). Today, the UN is giving ammunitions to the pro-ouattara rebels that have killed thousands of innocent people over the last 8 years. Mr Soro, the chief of the rebels, is even calling for Mr Gbagbo to be brought to international justice. How hilarious is that.

[shel3364]

04:34 PM on 12/21/2010

Davis just can't back a winner, can he?

Anything for a buck.

[Mik McAllister]

03:54 PM on 12/21/2010

Neo-cons have always operated on the basis that democracy is bad for business.

[Eric513]

03:35 PM on 12/21/2010

This is so unbelievably repulsive. I hope this man can sleep at night with the blood on his hands. I wonder if he has a clue what is going on over there. He is representing a man that has murdered tens of thousands of innocent people in the past and is at it again.

[alternate id]

03:33 PM on 12/21/2010

Lanny Davis is making Karl look like a boy scout.

[lovetolast]

03:16 PM on 12/21/2010

Lanny is continuing his downward spiral in grand fashion.

[mendelcrosses]

02:53 PM on 12/21/2010

The children and close family members of Gbagbo backers can also be deported from the United States, for example if they are studying or interning there, he said
##############
How can you call yourself a responsible government when you make statements like these.

Its equivalent to saying W Bush's entire family - including his daughters - are war criminals.

[mendelcrosses]

02:47 PM on 12/21/2010

The United States approved travel sanctions on Laurent Gbagbo and 30 of his allies Tuesday as pressure mounted on the incumbent leader to step down following last month's presidential election that the international community says he lost.

#########
the international community also agreed that Bush lost the 2000 election.