Thousands of Liberians March to U.S. Embassy, Pleading for American Forces to Restore Calm

AP ^ | 7/3/03 | Jonathan Paye-Layleh

[rep-always]

IDIOTIC HYPOCRITE.

[Prodigal Son]

I don't think that constitutes a "colony."

What would you call a colony?

[Hank Rearden]

Why don't the mobs go trick-or-treat for troops at the Belgian embassy? It's their turn.

[Paulus Invictus]

Or the Germans or Russians. You remember them. They were totally opposed to the Iraq incursion. Now Kofi and the rest of those UN idiots want us to do for Liberia what we did for Iraq--stop the killing of innocent Iraqis.

Will the UN pay the tab for the cost of a Liberian peace-keeping move by our troops? Will US blacks remember Bush and vote for him if we help Liberia? Let's be serious! They are 95% RATS and will vote for any RAT but Bush, no matter what he does or fails to do.

[Howlin]

On Thursday, former President Carter also said the United States should intervene in Liberia.

Well, now I'm having second thoughts.

[McGavin999]

On Thursday, former President Carter also said the United States should intervene in Liberia.

Just SHUT UP you stupid, incompetent old man. Haven't you destroyed enough lives yet? Just stay out of this.

[hoosiermama]

Notice they aren't hollering for Chirac to come save them

Nor are they asking for the UN's help! I guess they recognize leadership!

[Smogger]

Is anyone on FR crazy enough to imagine that US interests are at stake in all this?

Hell Yeah! Places like Liberia are where Al Quaida breeds. Charles Taylor has actively support Al Quaida. It's Islam that sews chaos and ruin in these countries. If we don't go in there now we'll just have to win Al Quaida sets up shop there. If they haven't already.

[FourPeas]

That's putting it much too politely.

[Smogger]

Don't punish the Liberian's because the France, Germany, the UN, and Jimmy Carter are *ssholes. They are asking for our help directly.

[proud American in Canada]

"Don't punish the Liberian's because the France, Germany, the UN, and Jimmy Carter are *ssholes. They are asking for our help directly."


I agree...
they wouldn't be asking GW for help if they didn't trust him...

bump for further study on this issue!

[Smogger]

From Encarta:

Snip:

"The Americo-Liberian communities eked out a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims over interior territory were disputed not only by the indigenous Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or Malinke), Kru, and Gola peoples, but also by European states that did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. U.S. support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked the present boundaries. (Liberian control over the interior peoples, however, was not completely assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially eased the country’s financial difficulties. Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I (1914-1918). In 1926 the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the year before. Rubber production became the mainstay of the nation’s economy."

"In 1931 the League of Nations confirmed that Americo-Liberians were using native Africans for forced labor, tantamount to slavery. The ensuing scandal implicated the highest government officials; the president and vice president resigned. By 1936 the new government had succeeded in abolishing forced-labor practices and Liberia was again in good standing with the League. The indigenous population, however, was still treated as second-class citizens, without voting rights.

"U.S.-Liberian relations became closer after the United States entered World War II (1939-1945). In 1942 the republic agreed to allow U.S. troops to be based in the country despite the fact that Liberia did not declare war on the Axis powers until 1944.In 1945 Liberia became one of the original member states of the United Nations."

Terrible scandal.. They took slaves of the native people. But it looks like they have had our back at least twice.

[KantianBurke]

MEGA BUMP FOR #36 AND #37!!

[proud American in Canada]

Thank you for the ping. :)

[The Hon. Galahad Threepwood]

This is one of the reasons I oppose military action in Liberia. US troops should never be sent anywhere to "restore calm" or "create security."

[livius]

A colony is a place that is formally governed by the "mother country." Liberia had close ties with the US, but we did not control it even as much as we controlled, say, the Phillipines or Puerto Rico.

[Libertina]

LOL Everything that is needed to be known is posted on FR.

[JustPiper]

My 2008 candidate choice , Condi said no matter how many forces we would send in would not matter. I like her common sense.

[Prodigal Son]

I wouldn't say it has to be formal in order to be a colony. Back when Liberia was founded, everybody involved believed it was a colony. It was governed from the mother country. The only issue was that the US never officially claimed sovereignty over it. I wouldn't have called the Phillipines and Puerto Rico colonies myself. They were more territory won through war than anything else.

Liberia fits the definition of colony. It has always been referred to as such. In encyclopedias, in its history everywhere. It fits the bill. That it was a colony has never been a dispute- only the official status of who it was recognized by was the disagreement.

The US Congress even funded the colony in a sort of back door appropriation of finances. They scraped up $100,000 for this project. And as I have noted, Andrew Jackson used the navy to protect Liberia's shores while he was president (and while it was still a colony). Liberia has always been our bastard child- so to speak, that we gave birth to it is common knowledge.