LIBERIA

MICHAEL DOBBS, Washington Post Staff Writer, July 7, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: My understanding is the situation in Liberia is utter chaos. It has been written that people, including children, are shooting with little purpose other than immediate survival. The soldiers you are shooting with during the day may be the people you are shooting at during the night. Thus, it may be hard to negotiate a ceasefire amongst the various sides in the fighting when the sides are hard to distinguish. If President Bush sends troops into Liberia, will he have a plan to end the violence, and will he send in enough troops to keep the peace?
DOBBS: There is a U.S. military team in Liberia right now looking at the issues you raise. Most Liberians say that U.S. troops will be welcomed in Liberia with open arms, and will not face the kind of guerrilla war they faced in Somalia, and are beginning to encounter in Iraq. But who really knows? Some experts believe that it will be foolish to count on a warm welcome.

NANCEE OKU BRIGHT, filmmaker, July 8, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: How does Liberia encourage investment? It seems the international community is good at providing countries with large scale projects yet seldom provides projects at the human-level where careers and enterprises are created. That type of investment too often is left to the private sector, which is probably frightened off by the fighting and the instability. If you could advise the American government on how it should invest in Liberia, what would you recommend?
BRIGHT: Education and healthcare are not normally seen as investments but they are very important for the future. Large-scale agricultural projects will help Liberia achieve food sufficiency and could also help small-scale farmers to export their produce.

WIL HAYGOOD, Washington post Staff Writer, July 11, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: You discuss a proposal to have an interdisciplinary committee assist in bringing stability to Liberia. Would you please tell us more about how that would work? What authority would it have? Would the various tribal factions agree to this? Or, is there a need for American troops and leadership to impose some will over the people of Liberia until peace is achieved? Finally, what types of economic assistance could America bring to help revive Liberia?
HAYGOOD: I think Liberia would be quite open to a team from America composed of former politicians, business executives, scholars, who would go in there and study the situation. Something will be needed beyond a military presence. Understand, this is a country that was involved in a civil war that killed more than 150,000 people. And even when Taylor became President, little if anything got done in the interior of the country. He continued to think like a warlord, with a warlord-sized security detail around him. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund might be encouraged to work the country again, but only in the face of improvements inside the country, starting with security. People do not feel safe in side Liberia. It needs a kind of Marshall Plan.

EMIRA WOODS, Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus, July 14, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: We hear that an American presence may bring stability to Liberia. There are many factions and the country is in chaos. What is the actual process that should be followed that will bring stability and peace?
WOODS: The processes that will bring stability and peace in Liberia are as follows:
1) Peace enforcement-the US should join a multilateral peace stabilization force with minimal US troop presence, coupled with financial and logistical support to African peacekeepers.
2) Stem the flow of weapons, illicit diamonds, and illicit timber in the region.
3) Kick start the economy through demobilization of combatants-shifting them to productive, constructive economic activities and cancellation of Liberia’s debt.
4) Build new political culture that will mend the social/political fabric of the country.
5) Reconstruct an active civil society and an engaged/independent Liberian media.

KRISTA RIDDLEY, Amnesty International Advocacy Director for Africa, August 11, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: From your observations and knowledge, how are the various communities within Liberia responding to Taylor’s departure and what are their expectations for the future? Are these expectations in conflict, and what are the chances these conflicts may lead to future violence?
RIDDLEY: The vast majority of Liberia want peace. They are hoping that his departure will bring an end to the fighting and usher in a new era where they can participate in the future of their country, and live without fear. Should the situation be stabilized and a peace agreement reached, an interim government will have to prioritize the disagreement, demobilization, and reintegration of fighters from this war. If this doesn’t happen successfully then the violence is likely to continue. The international community will need to provide substantial resources for this effort. During that process human rights issues will have to be prioritized, and perpetrators of the most heinous crimes will need to be brought to justice for Liberia to heal, reconcile and move on. Impunity cannot be allowed to continue, as it is one of the reasons for the current state of affairs,

JENNIFER G. COOKE, Center for Strategic and International Studies Africa Program Deputy Director, August 12, 2003
CZIKOWSKY: Liberia is composed of many divergent communities, many of whom have been fighting each other for some time. With President Taylor in exile, will all communities be able to settle their differences peacefully? What could the international community do to ensure such a peace? What could the United States do to improve the lives of the people of Liberia?
COOKE: This is a big question! Currently negotiations are underway in neighboring Ghana to construct an interim government that would rule Liberia until a generally credible election can be held. If all goes according to plan, the coalition government will include representation from the two main rebel movements, from Charles Taylor supporters, and civilian political figures who over the last decades have not taken up arms and have either lived in exile or kept a very low profile within Liberia. But its going to take a tremendous investment by the international community to make this work, helping to provide basic security, humanitarian assistance, technical expertise, and basic services like health, education, and sanitation.

DOUGLAS FARAH, Former Washington Post West Africa Bureau Chief, April 24, 2006
CZIKOWSKY: Is it true that the fighting in Liberia was so confused that people would even be fighting on both sides at different battles?
FARAH: People fought for whoever could pay them, generally. People fought on many different sides of the conflicts, often turning on their previous allies.

P.W. SINGER, The Brookings Institution Senior Fellow, June 12, 2006
CZIKOWSKY: Does your book (“Children at War”) include examining child soldiers in Liberia? It is my understanding there were many young soldiers in Liberia and that often it became very confusing as to who was fighting who as soldiers would often change sides. This has to be a most tragic way to grow up,
SINGER: Yes, it covers the tragedy that went on in Liberia.
Liberia has seen two waves of war over the last decade, much of it driven by this child soldier phenomenon. First, Charles Taylor seized power at the head of a mainly youth rebel army in the early 1990s. He recruited kids both through abduction and trickery, for example telling kids he would give them computers and Mercedes Benz cars if they fought for him, basically taking advantage of their gullibility. Soon, he won the war. By the end of the decade, Taylor faced new foes in the LURD and MODEL, rebel groups who also used child soldiers to eventually topple him in 2003. The UN estimates that some 20,000 children served as combatants in Liberia’s war, up to 70% of the various factions’ fighting forces.
The war is now over, but the danger is what happens with many of these ex child soldiers if they don’t get proper aid and assistance. Children return form these conflicts scarred by the violence they have either seen or been a part of, and have to wrestle with the demons of the past. They often find their homes or villages broken and are faced by family and neighbors that often do not know them, or treat them with suspicion, meaning they must not only recover for themselves, but must to regain the trust of those who should love them. They must rebuild the skills they need to survive, while at the same time battle the various temptations that threaten to pull them back into a world of violence. Their stories can be ones of turning tragedy into triumph, such as Liberian kids who returned to school and now support their families. Or, they can be of tragedy building upon tragedy; In Africa, one can find bands of former child soldiers that now travel across the continent in search of more wars to fight in. Liberian kids ended up fighting as far away at as in Congo.