Quote Originally Posted by science as magic
@Expat: how would you distinguish this from say the uk's intervention in the falkland islands?

i realize that one is a response to an "aggressive" move by another country but from another point of view both france and the united kingdom were just taking measures to ensure their sovereignty
Which sovereignity? Are you saying that those West African countries are still colonies of France? If so, you are mistaken.

The differences are:

1) The Falklands Islands were and are still a British possession, officially. Cote d'Ivoire etc have been independent for over 50 years. So the Argentinian aggression - yes, aggression - was against Britain herself. It's the same situation as if the Phillipines would invade Guam.
2) All the inhabitants of the Falklands Islands are British and carry British passports. The population in those West African countries isn't French (except the few French expatriates etc).
3) There are no "quotes" in "aggressive. It was a military aggression by the Argentinian military dictatorship in order to gain domestic support as they thought the UK would do nothing.

So, again -- which "sovereignity" are you saying that France has over Cote d'Ivoire that can be compared to that of the UK over the Falkland Islands, the US's over Guam, or even France's over the French Guinea?

The answer is: none.