Gbagbo had narrowly defeated a despised military officer in violence-marred elections in which less than 30 percent of the eligible voters cast ballots. His openly anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric and promises to purge Ivory Coast of foreigners were largely lost in the chaos of the moment.

The rebels who control the northern half of the country are not the solution. They are an unsavory mix of disgruntled Ivorian officers, remnants of Charles Taylor's thuggish security forces and other guns-for-hire from around the region. Criminal networks trafficking in weapons and diamonds span the border area of Ivory Coast, Liberia and Guinea, creating what one senior Pentagon official called a "fluid mass of anarchy." But the rebels gained a foothold because of Gbagbo's single-minded determination to split his country along ethnic and religious lines while entrenching himself in power.

-The country was earlier divided by the would-be 1999 contest between Muslim challenger Alassane Ouatarra and President Henri Konan Bedie, which never took place, apparently because Ouatarra was supposedly actually a citizen of Burkina Faso.
-The real descent started when followers of General Robert Guei staged a 1999 coup to overthrow President Bedie, then rigged the 2000 election to make Guei win, only to be ousted by popular outrage, leaving Gbagbo, the real winner, as President. Gbagbo's party went on to win big in parliamentary elections.
-There was the January, 2001 coup attempt, that was unhelpful.
-Further complicating matters was General Guei's refusal to participate in Gbagbo's October, 2001 "National Reconciliation Forum".
-September of 2002 saw another lovely coup attempt, staged by 800 soldiers (many of whom supported Guei), which they apparently launched when they found out they were going to be laid off. That didn't aid in healing the nation's wounds, either, especially as several hundred people, including Guei and most of his family, were killed in the fighting.
-Then, there was the August, 2003 assassination plot.
-When that failed, they pulled out of the joint government, stormed the state TV station, killed 17 people, and rejoined the government.