Document text
Editorial: Intervention in Liberia and Iraq compared The Hartford (Conn.) Courant What government leader has been indicted by an international tribunal on charges of crimes against humanity? What leader has ordered the invasion of neighboring states? If you guess Saddam Hussein of Iraq, you would be wrong. President Charles Taylor, Liberia's despot, is the man in question. He has been indicted by the tribunal for slaughtering civilians and uprooting half the population in neighboring Sierra Leone in a war to control that West African country's diamond mines. In the late 1990s, Mr. Taylor also sent an invasion force into neighboring Guinea and seized half of that country but was ultimately forced to withdraw. Yet President Bush has not been nearly as tough on Mr. Taylor as he was on Mr. Hussein. Why the selectivity? The answer is twofold: Iraq has vast oil reserves, and its location at the world's crossroads, the Middle East, makes that country strategically important to Washington. Unlike the war in Iraq, a military operation in Liberia may require only a few thousand troops. Unlike the resistance of Iraqis, Liberians have been pleading with Mr. Bush to come to their rescue. Unlike the deadlock over Iraq in the Security Council, the United Nations has repeatedly called on the United States to save the day. Secretary General Kofi Annan urged Mr. Bush on Monday to heed the cry for help from Liberians. No one should be so naJive as to believe that a U.S. operation in Liberia is risk-free, but the danger is inherently and considerably less than it is in Iraq - and the results are likely to be quicker and far more conducive to regional stability. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -