Friday, March 2, 2007

Switzerland Invades Liechtenstein

I saw this notice streaming across the TV tonight while watching Bill O'Reilly.

"Swiss Troops Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein. "

What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a compay of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.

According to Swiss daily BLICK, the 170 infantry soldiers from the neutral country wandered more than a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story, but said that it was unlikely that there would be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invation. Officials in Liechtenstein also played down the incident.

Interior Ministry spokesman Markus Amman said nobody in Liechtenstein had even noticed the soldiers, who were carrying assault rifles, but no ammunition. "It's not like they stormed over here with attack helicopters or something," he said.

Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC does not have an army.

Looks like Switzerland is not so neutral any more.

I guess they will have to add a compass to the legendary Swiss Army Knife.

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