Article

2003-08-11 Africa: West

Liberian Vice-President Moses Blah, who is due to take power on Monday when President Charles Taylor promises to step down, stepped into the political arena from the same place: a Libyan guerrilla training camp.

It figures, doesn't it?

The pair returned from Libya in 1989 as part of a 200-strong group dubbed the Special Forces Commandos, the military vanguard of Taylorâs National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), and started a civil war. During the first three years of Taylorâs reign, Blah returned to Libya as Liberian ambassador, before coming home in 2000 to become a low-key vice president, driving his own car around Monrovia with a single bodyguard. Now the 56-year-old former animal-feed plant operator and father of 14 is due to be sworn in as president on Monday, when Taylor has said he will at last bow to international pressure and step down. He will take theoretical charge of an embattled government that holds only around a fifth of Liberian territory, and only part of its own capital, which has been trapped in a rebel choke-hold for two months. It is also not clear how long his government will last. Thrust into the centre of this political and military storm, Blah remains an enigma to most outside observers. His curriculum vitae has all the hallmarks of a dyed-in-the-wool Taylor clone.

Here's hoping he won't be there long...

Posted by Fred Pruitt 2003-08-11 00:04|| || Front Page|| [11134 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Same war crimes apply to him as Taylor? New indictment?

Posted by Frank G 2003-8-11 8:20:28 AM|| 2003-8-11 8:20:28 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 It is not as simplistic a situation as the western media is striving to portray the root of the liberian crisis. They present the case as if Liberia, bathing in genuine peace and stability under Samuel Doe, was thrown into turmoil by Quadaffi who wished to settle scores by targeting western(American) geopolitical interests in Liberia. Taylor is hired to do the job, and therefore becomes a Quadaffi clone. By extension, Taylor clones himself -all supporters for change become "small Taylors" and therefore are tentacles of the ENEMY of the west. What a 'realistic' assessment!
The world does deserve better. The Liberian rebellion of the late 1980s was homegrown, had nationalist aspirations, and pursued genuine peace, stability and democracy. True. Any willing supporter would have been embraced. Also true. Quadaffi played no more a role than that he had in the past -helping liberate other nationalist upprisings, take for example the independence struggles in southern Africa.
I am afraid the media opts for a Karzai or a Chalabi for Liberia, a situation which will fuel rather than quell the mess in Liberia today. The west will do well for Liberia by taking away the guns and making every Tom, Dick or Harry who thinks he is capable to rule the country respect the right of the people to choose.

Posted by Ernest C. 2003-8-11 11:03:39 AM|| 2003-8-11 11:03:39 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 UN Trusteeship Council should be revived and Liberia should become a territory controlled by others until they can run themselves without blood everywhere. Same is probably true for the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leon as well.

Perhaps all three could be lumped into one territory and Europe could take responsibility since they have so much more experience in (a) imperialism (b) Africa. and they want some respect on the world stage. Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of the tribal connections that have hampered African nations so much since one tribe is less likely to be able to dominate the others.

Posted by Yank 2003-8-11 11:18:23 AM|| 2003-8-11 11:18:23 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 >Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of
>the tribal connections that have hampered African
>nations so much since one tribe is less likely to
>be able to dominate the others.

That didn't help Liberia much--no tribe was
large enough to dominate by mere numbers.

Posted by James 2003-8-11 11:49:47 AM|| 2003-8-11 11:49:47 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 Yank,every time the U.N.gets involved they make a terrable situation into a horrable situation.

Posted by raptor 2003-8-11 12:42:02 PM|| 2003-8-11 12:42:02 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Raptor, I agree the UN is generally a waste of time but the Trusteeship Council was fairly successful because the UN didn't do much except bless another nations actions. It's got the benefits of Imperialism without the negatives.

James, Liberia had tribal issues in that the libero-Americans acted as if they were a tribe and until Samuel Doe's regime they dominated the other tribes.Something needs to be done to get Africans to think of themselves as citizens of a nation first, tribe second. Since the borders are artificial anyway perhaps expanding them is better than breaking them up. Just a thought outside the box.

Posted by Yank 2003-8-11 1:01:27 PM|| 2003-8-11 1:01:27 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 The US has no business there. Let the barbarians fight it out between themselves.

Posted by SPQR 2755 2003-8-11 2:01:16 PM|| 2003-8-11 2:01:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Yank, I'd go the other way -- make the borders smaller so that each major tribe is a canton. Then federate them (or confederate them) and in that way force them to play nice with each other. Best way to tear down tribalism peacefully is to remove the fear that another tribe is going to seize everything my tribe has at the first opportunity, and vice versa. Federations would begin to teach them to work together. Have a UN trusteeship to bless the federations and ensure that groups of tribes don't gang up on others.

Posted by Steve White 2003-8-11 2:45:08 PM|| 2003-8-11 2:45:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 ...we could just stay the hell out of it.

Posted by SPQR 2755 2003-8-11 4:07:59 PM|| 2003-8-11 4:07:59 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Perhaps a larger sized nation could break some of the tribal connections that have hampered African nations so much...
That doesn't seem to be working too well in the Congo, which not only has three or four political divisions twice the size of Liberia, but more than 90 different tribes. The same old killing, raping, torturing, looting, and pillaging seems to go on there, just as it does in pint-size Rwanda and middle-size Mozambique. Zimbabwe is a separate problem but much of the roots are the same - the lust for power, and lots and lots of guns.

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