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| International-UN-NGOs |
| Mercenary industry on the rise |
| 2004-11-16 |
| Harrier jets screamed over-head. Cobra gunships armed with rockets circled the city. Sea Knight helicopters lumbered through billowing columns of yellow smoke marking the landing sites where U.S. Marines alighted last week to seize control of war-torn Monrovia. THEY WERE WELCOMED as heroes. Shouting crowds cheered and clasped the soldiers' hands. Women sang gospel songs, grateful for a sign that the fighting that has claimed more than 1,000 lives over the past two months might finally be over. An orgy of looting ensued as hordes of hungry people broke into the port in search of food and medicine after two months of near famine. But there was no denying the upwelling of relief in Liberia's beleaguered capital. "Thank you, George Bush," people cried. "Thank God, America." A happy ending? Perhaps. Optimists hailed the intervention as a victory for international humanitarianism, even a model for the future. The reality is more ambiguous. After all, the American force in Liberia numbers only 200. They join fewer than 800 Nigerian peacekeepers, dispatched by the 15-member Union of West African States early in August. It took months of dithering and diplomacy to put together even this modest mission, in the face of unspeakable atrocities. Overstretched in Afghanistan and Iraq, Washington made clear that its participation was at best reluctant and would be neither large nor long-lasting. There's talk of sending U.N. peacekeepers in October. But if fighting erupts anew, either in Monrovia or in the two thirds of the country controlled by the rebels, those plans could fall apart. And what happens when, almost inevitably, another humanitarian crisis erupts elsewhere in the world? |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 So Mark, any insight here? Can I buy a basket of private army stocks? Or are they all closely held? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-16 3:37:21 PM |