Liberia The Marines to the Rescue

By William R. Doerner

As Washington pondered its eventual response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. was suddenly forced to make a move in another long-festering global trouble spot. Last Saturday night George Bush ordered U.S. Marines into the civil war-torn African nation of Liberia. Their job: to evacuate any of the 370 Americans residing there who wanted to get out. On Sunday a force of 225 Leathernecks from four U.S. warships off the Liberian coast landed by helicopter in the capital of Monrovia and quickly began rounding up U.S. citizens, many of whom had gathered at the American embassy and communications centers in the city. The Marines, some of whom carried M-60 machine guns and light antitank weapons, encountered no immediate resistance and suffered no casualties. By evening, local time, at least 60 Americans had been flown to safety aboard the U.S. ships.

Bush made the decision to deploy the Marines on Saturday while monitoring the Middle East situation during a working weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David. The action, observed a White House official, "sends the same message that we sent when we went into Panama. When American lives and interests are at risk, this President will take military action." And while Bush's decision on Liberia was not linked to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, it came at an opportune moment for demonstrating U.S. resolve to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The rescue mission followed a threat on Saturday by Prince Johnson, the leader of one of two Liberian rebel groups, to arrest "all foreign nationals," beginning with American, British, Lebanese and Indian citizens. Johnson, whose troops occupy much of the capital and have besieged the mansion of President Samuel K. Doe, said he wanted the arrests "to create an international incident, so foreign troops can come in to intervene." The rebel leader may have thought that a foreign presence would help to topple Doe. At the White House Sunday morning, presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwater made it clear the U.S. was not taking sides. The Marines' landing, he said, "does not indicate or constitute any intention on the part of the U.S. government to intervene militarily in the Liberian conflict."

Two months ago, when rebel forces appeared heading for victory over Doe, the U.S. warships steamed toward Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves that traditionally has close ties to Washington. President Doe, a former army master sergeant who rose to power through a bloody coup in 1980, had become the object of growing popular resentment because of his regime's rampant corruption and arrogance. The conflict also centered on tribal antagonisms. What support Doe still claimed came from his Krahn tribe, while the rebels received support from the Gio and Mano peoples.

On July 29 the violence in Liberia escalated dramatically. In one of the worst massacres of the nine-month-old civil war, troops allegedly loyal to Doe opened fire on some 2,000 refugees holed up in Monrovia's St. Peter's Lutheran Church. Firing with automatic weapons at point-blank range, the forces killed as many as 600. Survivors claimed that most of the victims were members of the Gio and Mano tribes. But the rebels are hardly a single unified front. Johnson's leadership is opposed by Charles Taylor, another insurgent, whose troops control parts of Monrovia.

Doe's chances for survival appear dismal at best. He is not a member of the American-Liberian elite that ruled the country from its inception in 1847. But he was originally hailed by the U.S., despite the violence that brought him to power, as a boon to democracy. Doe enjoyed financial backing from the U.S., which maintains an important intelligence presence in Liberia, even after the leader turned out to be, in the words of a prominent Liberian exile, "a street hustler." Sadly, the official adds, "There's no evidence that the people coming in are better than those going out." Following last week's * rescue effort, the standing U.S. offer to evacuate Doe to a third country remained open.

With reporting by Michael Duffy and J.F.O. McAllister/Washington (Article does not appear in all issues)