American troops heading for Liberia

WASHINGTON (July 25) - President Bush ordered U.S. troops into position off the coast of Liberia Friday to support the arrival of a West African peacekeeping force, as renewed violence in the capital brought despairing pleas for American help.

More than two dozen people were killed and many more were wounded by a mortar barrage near the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia. One shell hit the embassy grounds but injured no one.

In Washington, Bush stopped short of saying the Americans would participate directly in a peacekeeping mission in Liberia, where rebels are trying to oust President Charles Taylor, a former warlord.

Pentagon officials said the only major troop movement in the works was the dispatching of three Navy ships carrying hundreds of Marines to the waters off the Liberian coast.

It was not clear whether the Marines would go ashore.

The U.S. troops' role and mission would be limited, Bush said, but he did not define either. He said he expected the United Nations to relieve the troops ''in short order.''

Bush and senior aides have indicated for some time that the United States probably would get involved. Liberia has a historical relationship with the United States as a country founded by former slaves.

''We're deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse,'' Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. ''Aid can't get to the people. We're worried about the outbreak of disease.''

''And so our commitment is to enable ECOWAS to go in,'' he said, referring to peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States. ''And the Pentagon will make it clear over time what that means.''

Bush said anew that Liberian President Taylor must leave.

The only word from the Pentagon Friday was on the movement of the three ships, led by the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that is capable of carrying 1,900 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, plus 30 helicopters and six to eight AV-8B Harrier fighter planes.

The Iwo Jima was in the Mediterranean, and officials said it would take several days to reach Liberia's coast.

In the capital of Monrovia, mortar rounds hit the U.S. Embassy compound, homes and a school crowded with refugees, killing Liberian men, women and children.

''I want to tell George Bush to do something hurriedly, very fast and quickly,'' cried Emmanuel Sieh, 28, part of a frantic crowd that spilled into the streets in front of the embassy.

''People are dying every day,'' Sieh said.

The European Command, based in Germany and responsible for U.S. military activities in West Africa, said it was sending five people to Nigeria to assess the capabilities of troops in its peacekeeping contingent. The Nigerians are expected to lead the West African peacekeeping mission.

At a picture-taking session with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Abbas, Bush said the purpose of the mission was ''to relieve human suffering.''

He also said the cease-fire must be in place.

An earlier White House statement said, ''The president has directed the secretary of defense to position appropriate military capabilities off the coast of Liberia'' to help support the peacekeeping force.

''The immediate task of the ECOWAS force is to reinforce a cease-fire and begin to create conditions where humanitarian assistance can be provided to the Liberian people,'' it said.

International relief workers have been pressing the White House for action, saying that a delay in sending in peacekeepers made it impossible to help victims of the fighting.

Bush has been mulling the decision since June, when U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan and others began pleading with the United States to provide military assistance after the announcement of a new cease-fire accord.

Taylor has offered to step down and accept haven in Nigeria, but has given no time frame and has suggested he would not leave until an international peacekeeping force is in place.

Taylor is sought by a U.N.-backed court for alleged war crimes in neighboring Sierra Leone.

Earlier this week, West African foreign ministers meeting in Senegal promised to deploy two Nigerian battalions to Liberia within days - the vanguard of what is expected to be a 3,250-member international force.

AP-NY-07-25-03 1701EDT

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Only read if finished:

Points to consider about:
- What are the true motives of Bush and his decision on sending troops in Lyberia?

-What did Bush mean by " The troops U.S role is limited"?

-What is going to happen to Charles Taylor?

- Why all the millitary force( international, domestic military in Lyberia) arrive to "just keeping the peace"?

HMMMMMM... I smell another Iraq

I wonder if this country can do anything right and not get lambasted with evildoing over it just once...the people of Liberia (liberty??) are descendants of FREED American slaves. I think we owe them the right to be free again from Taylors Sadaam imitations.

Taylor is out, we are, or were waiting I believe to see if he would leave on his own under pressure. This is not happening and we are looking silly with the populace screaming for us to intervene and halt the chaos.
And Yes, I am sure there is a political ramifacation to this endeavor, but isn't all military action impactful of domestic politics?
I just do not believe in the idea that we would send troops for this just to further the Admin's political agenda alone. Besides, it is just us right now isn't??? Is the un-UN helping the poor African people in this country???

The civilians in Liberia deserve prosperity and peace from all the violence, via civil or abroad. In this case I know and believe that the people can pull it together and force Taylor out, but they are to intimidated by his ruthlessness, just like Saddam. The only thing is Y us?
Y do we need to clean up after what they did to them selves? I say let the people do as they wish, only then they will learn when Freedom is really needed. They don't need some 1 to define it by putting 'peace keepers' in their land, that is invading some 1 elses privacy. But if that's what the people in Liberia wants, then let the war begin!
Who has our back when our focus is drawn by the liberian problem? When our securities are again vulnerable to attacks from advarsaries? Are main concern as a nation should be NK and IRAN!

[Edited on 27-7-2003 by hellfireburns]

I feel that the U.S. should help and support restoring order back to Liberia, but I really am tired of our troops being spread out so thinly over the globe.

Question: Should the US go to Liberia?

Thought: Does the US have an obligation there? Yes
Thought: Was Liberia doomed to failure from the beginning? Yes

Answer: The US should go to that forsaken country

I think we should go there. Though this seems like something the UN should do (as do most US actions). Its really too bad they are so incompetent. I'm begging to hate being the worlds police. No one appreciates us at all. They ask for our help then kick us in the shin.

Originally posted by Langolier
I think we should go there. Though this seems like something the UN should do (as do most US actions). Its really too bad they are so incompetent. I'm begging to hate being the worlds police. No one appreciates us at all. They ask for our help then kick us in the shin.

"Shin" ain't exactly the body part I'd use in this analogy.

We'll go because if we don't, we're mean and don't care.

We're mean and we don't care because we went to Iraq.

Where does the difference lie?
-B.

Well, I CAN see a difference in Iraq, only because it DOES have oil. Though I havent seen any of it yet, and I dont know why we would need it. We have plenty.
As for Liberia, and Kosuvo, and Somalia; I dont know what selfish things we gain from going in there. I ask again though, why are WE going in? Why not some other member of the UN?

U see, the more countries we bully, the more 'we' have to gain,ei; oil, support from the people,ect. So we as a nation 'supporting' our admin, they can do what ever they hell they want! So upon doing so, that is y we're the most hated country in the world.

President Taylor will resign tommorow (Thursday)


Charles Taylor will leave Liberia for Nigeria tommorow.
YAY!!!

Peace, maybe
Tassadar

I doubt the fact that taylor will leave, he sounds like Saddam, always decieving us. Or maybe he left with knowning how much we kick his a$$.

the united states should stay out of africa. i have no problem sending food and money and medical aid, but when it comes to civil wars and fighting, it should be europes problem. its all their faul that africa is this way. they should do the bleeding in africa.

Originally posted by KrazyIvan
the united states should stay out of africa. i have no problem sending food and money and medical aid, but when it comes to civil wars and fighting, it should be europes problem. its all their faul that africa is this way. they should do the bleeding in africa.

the thing is liberia was a state created by the now freed slaves of america. That is y What evr happens to Liberia is our respondsibility

So I guess the same logic would apply for England and Europe still being resposible for the USA....I mean....we did originate from England and Europe.....and were controlled/owned/governed by the English?

I also guess if we really get down to "origins" of nations, resposibility for a whole lot of things would rest with whom?

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be an 'involvement' in Liberia...but the responsibility of whom or who should rest with the UN and ultimately with the nation(s) being asked to help.

regards
seekerof

I'm afraid America has a responsability to the 3rd world, because it is the world's sole super power, Europe has a responsability too.
Liberia is a mess, no US soldiers will be killed in combat (i hope), but west Africa as a region is at risk, and the US actually do have interests in that region (Nigeria for example), but the US will improve on the seven US marines in the capital once Taylor leaves, we will see if he wants to play more games, or leaves peacefully.

Originally posted by Seekerof
So I guess the same logic would apply for England and Europe still being resposible for the USA....I mean....we did originate from England and Europe.....and were controlled/owned/governed by the English?

Although the comparison doesnt hold, since the USA isnt in Africa, and hasnt yet got humanitarian problems on an african scale, you get the idea.


I'm not saying that there shouldn't be an 'involvement' in Liberia...but the responsibility of whom or who should rest with the UN and ultimately with the nation(s) being asked to help.


That is how it works in principle. But there is an agreement over Africa that the former colonial power is responsible and can ask for help if necessary. Liberia was designed by the US, it's capital Monrovia ridiculously named after President Monroe, and the whole political system designed to show africa what great good capitalism and the american constitution does. At first, Africans werent allowed to vote in Liberia, only americans. Don't you think the US has a responsibility before all others in the Liberian civil war that is claiming tens of thousands of victims each year since it started 14 years ago ? Isnt that a country where people live in real misery originating in America's ridiculous mismanagement of a colony ?



[Edited on 7-8-2003 by Mokuhadzushi]

Betcha they wish they had oil fields.

Originally posted by Peace
I'm afraid America has a responsability to the 3rd world, because it is the world's sole super power, Europe has a responsability too.
Liberia is a mess, no US soldiers will be killed in combat (i hope), but west Africa as a region is at risk, and the US actually do have interests in that region (Nigeria for example), but the US will improve on the seven US marines in the capital once Taylor leaves, we will see if he wants to play more games, or leaves peacefully.

no US soldiers killed in combat? trust me some of our boys are not gonna come back from liberia. with any luck the civilains wont be calling the shots like they did in Somalia. once we deply troops the civilains should let the decision making be done by the professionals.!

Originally posted by KrazyIvan
trust me some of our boys are not gonna come back from liberia.

Yet again you write without studying the subject.
Liberia will be nothing like Somalia. The situation is totally different and the outcome will be totally different.

The US forces are being deployed in a totally different way. Most of the UN forces will be West African and led by the Nigerians. The US will mainly be supplying logistics and advice.
As for your comment about Europe picking up the country? Why should we clean up this particular mess when it was originally created by freed US citizens?

Even so. Look next door to Sierra Leone and you will see the result of European intervention. Hopefully the UN forces will learn from that example.

The main question is not wether Europe or the US or even the UN should get involved. It's why the West African nations sat on their butts whilst all of this was going on.

And by the way - (for you conspiracy theorists) who needs oil? Liberia is diamond country!!!