(U.S. Committee for Refugees Africa
policy analyst Joel Frushone recently returned from a mission to West Africa
and offers analysis and recommendations regarding renewed U.S. military
intervention in war-torn Liberia.)
The departure of U.S. Marines from positions
on the ground in Liberia could do more harm to the war-torn country than
if they had never arrived at all.
The mere mention several months ago of U.S. military intervention to help bring an end to 14 years of civil war in Liberia offered a glimmer of hope to the country's estimated 3 million citizens numbed by seemingly unending bloodshed. The actual sight of a handful of U.S. soldiers landing on Liberian soil in early August brought tears of joy to tens of thousands of displaced civilians under siege in Monrovia, the capital.
The Pentagon's decision in late August to withdraw 150 Marines from Liberia-the bulk of the U.S. military deployment on the ground there-jeopardizes an already fragile month-old peace agreement and put Liberia's war-fatigued population back in a dangerous limbo.
The symbolism and timing of the pull back could not have been worse.
A bloody two-month battle between Liberian government soldiers and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebels for the control of Monrovia ended with the arrival of West African peacekeeping troops and the departure of President Charles Taylor in early August. As U.S. President George Bush promised, days after Taylor left Liberia a force of Marines arrived to the ravaged West African nation, disembarking from Navy ships anchored off the coast carrying some 2,000 U.S. soldiers.
Almost immediately after the U.S. and West African soldiers established a small but visible presence in Liberia-a country slightly larger than Ohio-LURD leaders relinquished control of the Monrovia port, pulled back from key bridges leading into the city, and agreed to allow international humanitarian agencies access to desperate and starving citizens displaced in rebel-held territories. Within three weeks of the arrival of U.S. soldiers, all warring parties in Liberia had signed a cease-fire agreement, security in Monrovia started to stabilize, an interim president was nominated, and prospects for true peace for the rest of the country began to emerge.
Coincidence or not, thousands of civilians throughout the country were again on the run the day after the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Reports of clashes in the few areas of the country that remain under government control-LURD and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), Liberia's other main insurgent group, maintain a solid grip on 80 percent of the country-forced thousands of terrified residents from their homes. Liberian Defense Minister Daniel Chea dismissed the reports of skirmishes as "just rumors spread by soldiers to allow for looting." Liberians know from experience not to leave their lives to chance. The sound of repeated gunfire in the distance or whispers between huts of the advance of drugged militias are enough to prompt thousands to flee, as they recently did in central Liberia's Bong and Nimba Counties. Subsequent fighting in the LURD-controlled west, the MODEL-controlled east, and areas outside of Monrovia have also uprooted thousands of civilians.
Sending U.S. troops to Liberia was the right thing to do. Keeping them off shore and in view of Liberians struggling to survive on a diet of leaves and insects while violence continues to push thousands of others from their homes is at the very least ineffectual and a poor use of U.S. resources.
Rather than retreat, the United States should resume its military presence in Liberia with a more assertive mandate. A redefined U.S. mission in Liberia should include fortifying the West African force. That force has since grown into the Economic Community of West Africa States Mission in Liberia (ECOMIL), but remains too small, ill equipped, and incapable of venturing far from Monrovia. The U.S. military should provide logistical support, operational guidance, and other appropriate assistance to ECOMIL until a larger UN peacekeeping force arrives.
It is imperative that the United States also aggressively disarm LURD, MODEL, government militias, Liberia's child soldiers, and other armed belligerents. Some 80 percent of combatants in Liberia are under the age of 18.
The United States should also spearhead a joint U.S. - ECOMIL deployment throughout Liberia to secure the country's interior and open humanitarian corridors so that UN and international relief agencies can safely reach Liberia's displaced and other suffering populations. While Monrovia remains the current focal point, humanitarian needs outside the capital are undoubtedly greater, but largely unknown.
President Bush made the right decision when he committed U.S. troops to Liberia. He has shown his willingness to assist the African nation in a time of great need and should take the next step. Redeploying U.S. troops in earnest throughout Liberia has the potential to quickly stabilize the country and create the necessary security environment so that hundreds of thousands of Liberian refugees and internally displaced persons can return home.
For further information, please contact Joel Frushone, (202) 347-3507, E-Mail: jfrushone@irsa-uscr.org