Liberia vs Iraq

[Bergalad]

I don't see anything in here about Liberia really, and that's a little strange. What do you think about our impending entrance into the Liberian conflict?

What I don't get is why it seems every Dem candidate is pushing hard for us to intervene in Liberia, but were so against (or have recently become against) the war in Iraq. Dean was completely against the Iraq action, but is the biggest supporter for using the military to enter Liberia.

There is no national security issue at stake with Liberia. There is certainly no threat of terrorism or WMD. There was at least some level of these with Iraq however, yet Iraq was wrong and Liberia is right for the Dems. I don't accept that one had UN backing and the other did not as a reason to use force. If that's the case, then we are allowing the UN to decide what countries are a threat to the United States.

What do you think about all this?

[DarkHippie]

excellent topic!

liberia is the way that the US should be using its forces. Both sides of a war are asking for a stronger power to come in as peacekeepers and settle the dispute. sure, they don't have wmd or anything like that, but america's image is very tarnished right now. we need to do something to improve foriegn relations, and I think that this is a good start. so in a sense it is about national security, in that we will be improving relations with those who can help us in the future.

further more, i can't help but feel that we have a historical responsibilty to Liberia. as you all probably know, Liberia was founded by free american slaves. In a sense, they are decended from americans.

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[furie]

we've always had a special relationship with Liberia. I am for the deployment of US troops inorder to keep the cease-fire.

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[Melrapuo]

i'd have to totally agree with DarkHippie.

Another strong reason why Liberia isn't gettin' that much opposition is because Iraq pissed off a lotta nations. Not just because we did sorta attack without UN approval or anything, but because the war in Iraq dealt with a lotta money from oil. A lotta European nations got pissed off because they had a lotta money invested in Iraq through oil and trade (France, Russia, Germany) and they would lose all of that to America.

Liberia seems to be a much more noble cause. But it seems like it took the fact that America had a tarnished image to polish up to make us help out.

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Ah...the greatness of Jay & Silent Bob

[Teenweek]

Let the UN and all the other backstabbing nations in it that could give 2 shits about us handle it.

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[Heavy]

Liberia? I knew I shouldve bought that globe the other day.

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[HBox]

The are lots of differences, the biggest being that Liberians want us to intervene. Also, we wouldn't be invading. And we wouldn't be responsible for rebuilding the nation.

That all being said, I don't want American troops dying there. I don't think we should go, and I fear that the idea that we went into Iraq to liberate may be used to either make us look bad or drag us into nasty conflicts.

Going into Liberia is a noble effort, but I don't think we should. We're spread out thin (militarily and monetarily) as it is.

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[Se7en]

I think we should go.

But only because we have such close ties with the country. Otherwise, I'd be very much against this.

Sorry to sound brutally cold-hearted, but Africa in general is a wash. Between the AIDS epidemic and the ethnic violence that claims hundreds of thousands (if not millions) each year, it's a place we want to keep at arm's length instead of getting down in the thick of things.

And we wouldn't be responsible for rebuilding the nation.

But I think we will. We should do everything in our power to put the burden on the U.N.

That all being said, I don't want American troops dying there.

Neither do I; no one wants this to be another Somalia. I support sending troops in, but only a limited number and for a limited time. And STICK TO IT. If we establish a 90 day timetable, we'd better be packing our bags on day 89.

I don't think we should go, and I fear that the idea that we went into Iraq to liberate may be used to either make us look bad or drag us into nasty conflicts.

This is our catch-22. The U.N. / world community will now expect us to participate in actions such as the Liberia situation in order to prove we're not an imperialistic power and to get back in their good graces.

I'm sure all of you know how I feel about THAT.

Going into Liberia is a noble effort, but I don't think we should. We're spread out thin (militarily and monetarily) as it is.

Not to sound all jingoistic, but based upon our military capability coupled with economic power, we could probably conquer the majority of the world. I see what you're saying about Liberia, but sending in a LIMITED number of troops there for a LIMITED amount of time won't tax us too much.


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[high fly]

Just what are these "close ties" and the "special relationship" I keep hearing about with Liberia?
Ok, so some American slaves started the country nearly 200 years ago.
What about since then?
Just what are America's vital interests there?
I say that mess over there isn't worth one American life.

" and they ask me why I drink"

[Bergalad]

From the Washington Times:
Mr. Taylor, trained by Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Libya in the 1980s, was indicted for war crimes last month for purportedly ordering murder, rape, abduction and the mutilations of thousands of people by hacking off their arms and legs. This week, he demanded a long-term commitment by the United States before he would depart.

"I'm looking at anywhere from between 3,000 to 5,000 United States troops, coupled with maybe 5,000 to 10,000 troops from the United Nations," Mr. Taylor told Fox News on Monday. "We're going to need 10 years of real, on-the-site working with Liberia to get this thing going, so we're going to need a lot of United States troops."

The Liberian president dismissed as "a joke" a commitment of anything less than 3,000 American troops and a long-term exercise in nation building.

"We are not looking for any short time, Band-Aid approach from the United States," he said. "You've got to come in here full blast. Not just 500 troops or 1,000."

Mr. Taylor said the U.S. effort needs to involve "ground troops, Army Corps of Engineers, financial experts, economists, the whole ball of wax."

[Heavy]

It's a trap!

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[HBox]

There's no question we could handle whatever the Liberian want from us, and that the UN will probably heavily involved in this, but this is not where I want us spending our resources. More so monetarily, I don't want this to further blow up the deficit.

There are better places we could spend those resources right now, like say umm......IRAQ!!! We have to do a better job rebuilding and protecting our troops. If we fuck up in Iraq, we have just ratched up the amount of hatred for us in the Middle East and the danger for us.

I said I didn't want our troops fixing other people's problems. That's my problem with the argument of liberation of Iraq, thats my problem with Liberia.

There's only one nation I think we should be dealing with right now, and that's North Korea. Everyday they either get closer to nukes, or get more and more. And the possibility that they are selling them becomes greater.

So, frankly, fuck Liberia

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[Heavy]

Liberia, wait your turn. We have to save the rest of the world first.

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