Silly Thinking

I'm not exactly sure where I stand in regards to the US commitment of warships to Liberia.

Here is some interesting information about the conflict and the country.



A thumbnail sketch of the situation in Liberia from the Village Voice.

Here's an argument against US involvement in the conflict from the Socialist Worker:
So while Bush has called for the ouster of Taylor--who has provisionally accepted an offer of exile in Nigeria--Washington’s solution is to replace one warlord with another. If the U.S. does move to intervene militarily, it’s because Liberia sits near substantial oil reserves in the Gulf of Guinea. U.S. oil companies--including Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco--are expected to invest more than $10 billion in African oil this year.

At the same time, Washington is moving to boost its military bases in "the Arab countries of northern Africa and in sub-Saharan Africa, through new basing agreements and training exercises intended to combat a growing terrorist threat in the region," the New York Times reported. Add to this Washington’s pursuit of free-market policies across Africa, and George W. Bush’s real goals in Africa become all too clear.

So does the need to oppose them.

Here's Greg Palast's argument for US involvement in the conflict:

It is easy to imagine humanitarian intervention taking an ugly turn, with America again using Liberia as puppet, this time in a tussle over control of African resources. But the greatest difference between other nations where our troops have landed and Liberia is that in Liberia we are welcome.

And we are obligated. We rushed in to fund the killings, now we must go in to end it. Until then, the Liberians will pile the corpses at our doorstep to remind us of the blood on our hands.

And here's the UN's position on Liberia:


The Humanitarian Coordinator calls on all parties to the conflict to stop the fighting and observe the ceasefire, to respect international humanitarian law, and to ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian workers.  He also calls on the international community to provide additional funding, in order to strengthen the response to the humanitarian crisis.  The Humanitarian Coordinator welcomes the call made by the United Nations Secretary-General for an urgent deployment of an international force in Liberia to restore calm and security, so that badly needed emergency relief assistance can be provided to the population.

At the end of reading all of this, I feel that US assistance in an international peace keeping mission to secure the delivery of aid and enforce a ceasefire would be beneficial.

However, it is important that the US not act unilaterally in any way, and the US refrains from bombing Liberia or using the crisis as an excuse to dominate the region.

I figure the best bet is to follow the story closely and watch for US abuse while supporting the international commitment of peace keeping forces.