Liberia: July 22, 2003

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Civilians in the capital again called on the U.S. to send peacekeepers. But as long as the civil war is still going on, what these people are really asking for is American intervention on the side of the government. But the current government is led by an indicted war criminal. Intervening on the side of the rebels raises the question of; which rebel faction? And the rebels are probably no better than the current government. Liberia has, despite its democratic veneer, undergone cycles of tyrannical government and rebellions for over a century. Tribal and class animosities continue to fuel these upheaval. None of the neighboring nations will send peacekeepers until the civil war is over, which may happen sooner rather than later. And when it does, there will be the usual round of bloody retribution, and the new government will stick it to the losing tribes and set the stage for the next rebellion.

Nevertheless, the US began moving several battalions of marines, and their amphibious ships, towards Liberia.

 

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