U.S. is leading donor to war-torn Liberia; Media shrugs
UNITED NATIONS Ñ The United States and the world community made a major monetary commitment towards rebuilding the civil war ravished West African country of Liberia. During a UN pledging conference, Secretary General Kofi Annan posed the challenge; ÒSeize this opportunity to end a long-running nightmare that has disgraced humankind.Ó Though the aim was to raise $480 million for reconstruction, an impressive $520 million was actually pledged, with the United States being the lead donor towards rebuilding this war-weary land.
Though the chattering classes have long at least superficially supported African aid, the fact that the Bush Administration once again has led the list in African assistance posed a politically awkward conundrum. ItÕs just so much easier for the left to scornfully say that the Administration ÒdoesnÕt careÓ about Africa than to look at the actual record.
So when Secretary of State Colin Powell announced the American commitment ø $200 million pledged for economic aid and an additional $245 million to pay UN peacekeepers, by far the largest donation, the media for the most part took a ho-hum attitude. Given that the Bush Administration was again coming to the fore with major African aid Ñ as it already has with health assistance to battle the scourge of AIDS in Africa Ñ it seems that critics will simply resort to the silent treatment.
Powell advised that ÒLiberiaÕs successful reconstruction would send a powerful message to other long troubled parts of Africa and that the international community will stand behind those who seize the opportunity for peace and who set the course for democracy and sustainable development.Ó
Liberia was founded by freed American slaves as an independent Republic in West Africa back in 1847. Indeed for the longest time, Liberia was a moderately prosperous pro-American enclave on the West African coast. But after a string of military coups in the 1980Õs, originally led by the infamous Sgt. Doe, the county slipped into chaos and civil war. The past years witnessed a tropical hell. People, the likes of the now ousted Charles Taylor, ruled a land where the cult of carnage reigned spreading the cancer of regional instability.
According to Andrew Natsios, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), ÒAs a result of 14 years of war Liberia, once classified as a middle-income country in the 1970Õs is now considered a failed state. The entire three million people of Liberia have been affected by this protracted conflict. As many as 250,000 people lost their lives in the civil war.Ó
Last summer Washington was under strong pressure to send the U.S. Marines to Liberia to intervene in the conflict.
The U.N.Õs Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) supports an action plan aimed at a comprehensive Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation, and Reintegration with special attention to the needs of child combatants. The civil war has been a vicious breeding ground of adolescent combatants operating in gangs and paramilitary militias.
While the disgraced former President Charles Taylor fled into exile last August and UN peacekeepers entered the country to begin to sort out the political factions, at best the blue helmets have been able to Òstop the clockÓ on the violence. Rebuilding a workable political and economic environment is what now lies ahead.
Happily there exists a general political and donor consensus on helping Liberia rebuild. Despite whatÕs often described in the corridors of the UN as Òdonor fatigueÓ there appeared a new desire to help tiny Liberia as part of a larger West African solution.
After all Liberia borders Sierra Leone, another failed state, which also is in rebuilding mode under another major UN peacekeeping mission.
As USAIDÕs Andrew Natsios stressed, ÒLiberia is the key to the future stability of West Africa. Liberia already is a country rich in natural and human resources ÑI f we all do our part, we will provide a new and critical resource Ñ hope.Ó
But since the international community is restoring that elusive hope Ñ itÕs also the unique obligation of the Liberians themselves to create a momentum for reconciliation and reconstruction. That is their responsibility and they must embrace it.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.  |
