ZURICH, Switzerland - What began as a routine training exercise almost ended in an embarrassing diplomatic incident after a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein.
According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over 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 there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion.
"We've spoken to the authorities in Liechtenstein and it's not a problem," Daniel Reist told The Associated Press.
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, doesn't have an army.
We've got our eye on you, you clock making invasion monkeys! One more slip like this and we might just get all Desert Storm on your cheese-eating asses.
The Swiss are clearly a threat to American security. They've started down that slippery slope. First, they accidentally stumble into Liechtenstien. Next thing you know, they'll be building weapons of mass destruction. We have to get in there now and bring democracy to the freedom-loving Swiss people who are languishing under, uh...whoever the hell is their current leader. Clock prices will rise, but we will investigate any clock retailers who engage in price gouging.
ReplyDeleteOh sure, the protesters will come out. "No blood for cheese," that sort of thing. But we all know these people are unpatriotic. They hate America and are helping the Swiss cause.
This story made my day when I read it.
ReplyDeleteGotta watch those Swiss...
OK they can build flawless wristwatches but they can't build a decent GPS? And so what if they had no ammunition for their assault rifles? I know from personal knowledge that those wicked little Swiss Army knives are real sharp!
ReplyDeleteA mistake made and both involved trying to downplay it yet, as usual, the media will make sure that this is well known and try to create an International incident out of it. Wake up folks, the media run this country, not the President!
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