Thousands of Liberian citizens celebrated outside of the US Embassy in the capital Monrovia after hearing a local rumor that US President George Bush had agreed to send peacekeeping troops. A White House official said the US was "actively discussing" ways to uphold the ceasefire in Liberia, although there has been no commitment.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan was behind the appeal for manpower, saying that "we need a country with military capacity, that can deploy a robust force -- it doesn't have to be very large -- that can make a difference on the ground and team up with West African forces". But Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld is opposed to international proposals that the United States dispatch 2,000 troops to head 3,000 peacekeepers from an assortment of other African countries. American forces are already spread thin, dealing with higher priority problems.

Meanwhile, several dozen US Marines have been on standby at a Spanish military base for the last few days, in case they are needed as extra security at the US Embassy in Monrovia or to evacuate Americans. The USMC MEU (SOC)'s have deployed to Liberia so many times, the running joke is that it's part of their Special Operations Capability Exercise training package. - Adam Geibel