Glorifying Terrorism In Post-9/11 ECOWAS

By  

Kňmbň Mason Braide, Ph.D.

mailto:kombomasonbraide@msn.com

Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Thursday, 2 October 2003

Genesis Chapter 1:

In the early 19th century, there were two opposing views in the United States of America on the issue of freed Black slaves. One school of thought insisted passionately that, because freed Black people posed a serious threat to the smooth operation of the institution of slavery in the United States of America, they could not be trusted to live peacefully in the post-independence, post-slave trade era. The other school of thought believed strongly that freed Black slaves were under constant harassment, and threats of attack from former slave owners, and so, there could never be any meaningful peace between Whites and Blacks in the United States of America.

Although both sides vehemently despised each other, they both agreed that there could never be national stability in a racially mixed post-independence, post-slave trade United States of America. It is interesting to note that there was no Black participation in the decision-making process: all the actors in the debate were exclusively White. In the end, it was decided to create a Black homeland in Africa, for freed Black slaves from the USA, in today’s Liberia. Thus, 1822 saw the establishment of the US colony of Liberia, and the Back-to-Africa Movement in the Americas, both of which ironically, are the creation of 19th century White power elites in the United States of America!

Liberia was established as a colony of the United States of America, which was only just 46 years earlier, itself, also a colony of “Old Europe”. Imagine for a moment, a scenario in which Nigeria sets up a colony in Australia, with impunity, 3 years from now, in 2006, some 46 years after independence from Great Britain. That is how arbitrary the very origin of Liberia is.  Liberia was arbitrarily, and unilaterally set aside as a homeland in Africa, for freed Black slaves from the United States of America, in the same manner that Israel was arbitrarily set aside as a homeland in Palestine, for the benefit of the surviving victims of anti-Semitism in “Old Europe”, following a most grotesque selective extermination of over 6 million Jews in Germany alone, during the Second World War.

For many decades, Liberia was a colony of the United States of America in Africa, even before the sudden scramble for Africa by “Old Europe”, post-Berlin Conference, after centuries of apparent apathy towards the continent. Liberians made several passionate, though futile appeals for independence from the USA, but were rebuffed until 1847, when it was granted independence, more as a token political statement about Black sovereignty in the United States of America. Since achieving independence, Liberia has functioned, more or less, as a protectorate of the United States of America, but without being granted any special economic, political and military considerations whatsoever. In fact, Liberia has remained an outpost of American presence and diplomatic influence in the ECOWAS sub-region.

Although the USA has no permanent military presence in their country, ships and military personnel from the USA have always been welcomed by Liberians, whenever the USA needed to display its military might in West Africa. Liberia was commonly used by the USA as a staging post for brandishing its military prowess along the Gulf of Guinea, and in the mid- and South Atlantic region, over the past 100 years. Paradoxically, just like in Palestine, today, the collective psyche of Liberia, indeed, West Africa is overheated and stretched to the limit, in the wake of unilateral decisions taken far away, in the United States of America, over 150 years ago.

Revelations Chapter 2003:

Unlike Israel, another brainchild of the USA, Liberia has been abandoned by the United States of America, to bleed to death. Shortly after US President George W. Bush (The Younger) reminded Americans about the well-known historical relationship between Liberia and the United States of America, as a partial justification for sending US troops offshore Monrovia, he also made any US involvement in “liberating” Liberia from 14 years of anarchy, to be conditional on the departure of Pastor Charles Taylor from Liberia. It is now clear that, because of Pastor Charles Taylor, the United Kingdom exploited a fool-proof alibi for “liberating” Sierra Leone. Later on, the French also had another very good excuse for “liberating” Cote D’Ivoire too. Now, US troops have gone very close to Liberia, so as to help “liberate” Liberia properly, should the need arise, once again, all because of Pastor Charles Taylor.

Definitely, the USA has some kind of obligation to Liberia. Not only was Liberia created as a result of racial conflict in the United States of America, but the country has also spent its entire existence as a deprived child, functioning at the whims and brainwaves of the USA, just to maintain a favoured nation status. Indeed, Liberia is the old orphan of the United States of America.

The timing of the current Liberian crisis could not be much worse. US forces are spread thin, with current troop deployments in four major hot spots namely, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and finally the Korean peninsula, where the possibility of war is real, and tenuously dependent on the actions of a sub-regional megalomaniac that is hell bent on extorting reasonable financial pacification from the USA, in order to prevent the collapse of his country.

Since any military involvement in Liberia by the Pentagon would be as part of a much larger multinational effort, military analysts estimate that the USA can get by with a commitment of about 1,000 soldiers for peacekeeping operations in Liberia. This, of course, is in a perfect utopia, in which all the warring Liberian factions disband amicably. However, there are a couple of problems here o earth, in Liberia:

In the real world, things never go as planned and military units in control of territory never disband voluntarily. It is likely that the peacekeepers will spend some time battling a nightmarish combination of urban and cross-border terrorists, marauding rural bandits, a rogue military elite, and diamond smuggling cabals that are determined to test their resilience. There is also the possibility of the introduction of terrorism specifically aimed at attacking Nigerians and Nigerian interests, in Liberia, Nigeria, and beyond.

Generally terrorists love regions of chaos, where US troops operate, because they make for an easy theatre of covert operations, where casualties can be high and dramatic. This is the so-called Somali Scenario, in which US forces went after the warlords, believing them to be responsible for attacks against Americans, when, in fact, the attacks came from Al-Qaeda operatives, posing as technicians, in order to draw US marines into costly fire fights, through deception. From all indications, Liberia has all the attributes of a Somali Scenario for Nigeria in particular, now that the USA has quietly withdrawn its troops from Liberia.

And then there are the Liberian children. Significant numbers of Liberian soldiers that Nigerian soldiers will likely have to face are kids of between 10~15 years of age. Imagine the psychological impact of facing a child-soldier in a fire fight. Imagine the trauma an propaganda impact of seeing the decapitated, or/and mangled bodies of African teenage soldiers in the media, worldwide. This is not a scenario that US President George W. Bush (The Younger) is ready to risk. However, Chief (General) Obasanjo may have superior strategies for handling the dilemma of having to kill child soldiers effectively, given his first hand experiences as a veteran commander in a similar senseless civil war in Nigeria, some 33years ago.

Certainly, it is possible that the peacekeepers could stroll safely into the Liberian interior, and everything will go smoothly eventually. Of course, Pastor Charles Taylor has left Liberia for Nigeria, living a blissful life in exile. Furthermore, all sides in the resultant scramble for political power in Liberia could lay down their weapons in due course, and the UN may ultimately work in collaboration with the war-ravaged Liberians to effectively re-establish order, and install democracy in their country, hopefully. Maybe.

However, it could just as well easily turn into complete chaos. If that happens, there has to be a strong and forceful player, who is willing to take firm control. In that case all eyes will turn, not towards Nigeria, but to the United States of America. Unfortunately the USA is not currently in a position to make such a commitment. The military and economic resources required are just not available. In addition, public opinion in the USA really does not favour the White House bunglingly stumbling through yet another attempt at nation building overseas, like they have failed to do in Afghanistan, and Iraq, so far.

On the other hand, if US President George W. Bush (The Younger) does nothing, Liberia would, most likely, have to contend with several years of continued authoritarianism, urban and rural terrorism, general mayhem, civil war, and tremendous human suffering to look forward to, with Pastor Charles Taylor in remote control, living fine, and feeling funky in Calabar, Nigeria, via GSM. Thanks to the immense personal benevolence, elder statesmanship, Afro-centricity, and omniscience of His Excellency, Chief (General) Olusegun Obasanjo, the civilian Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Police, Army, Air Force and Navy, and President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Kňmbň Mason Braide (PhD)

Thursday, 2 October 2003 @ 5:38 pm.

I welcome your comments (via e-mail: kombomasonbraide@msn.com), and encourage this article to be freely reproduced, published, photocopied, scanned, faxed, reprinted, reformatted, broadcast, digitised, uploaded or downloaded, in whatever manner or form, with or without acknowledgement, or further permission.