President Bush offered to send our Marines in to keep the peace and guarantee a settlement, but he imposed a condition. Our troops would not risk their lives to keep any peace which left Charles Taylor in charge. Taylor had to go. And so he did. Today Taylor skulks in exile in Nigeria, under indictment for war crimes. Our troops went in and made sure that another warlord didn’t immediately fill the vacuum Taylor left, and laid the groundwork for democratic elections. 

By sending Marines ashore in Liberia, President Bush also put to rest another myth about America’s resolve: that after the 1993 Black Hawk Down tragedy in Mogadishu, America would have nothing more to do with Africa. The experience in Somalia obviously had colored future decisions to intervene in African politics. It had even influenced Osama bin Laden’s assessment of America as a “weak horse.”   

Although American troops may not have headed ashore in force until after Taylor agreed to leave, American boots were on the ground well before he fled. A timeline of U.S. troop activity in Liberia shows that a Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Team was inserted into Monrovia in late July, while Taylor was still in power. These 41 Marines were in a dangerous spot, alone and unsupported in the middle of a civil war. If things went sour, the Blackhawk Down scenario could easily have repeated itself, especially since Taylor, like Mohammed Farah Aideed, might have consolidated local support to repel an American invasion.

But the situation in Monrovia was very different from the situation in Mogadishu. Any Liberian warlord still doubtful of American resolve in the summer of 2003 now could consider the salutary example of the recently deposed Saddam Hussein. None of them called President Bush’s bluff. At the same time, President Bush bucked pressure to invade outright and throw Taylor out. As it turns out, he didn’t need to.  Under the Bush doctrine, doubts about American willingness to intervene in Africa have been resolved.

It would be rash for America and the Bush administration to take too much credit for getting rid of Taylor and restoring democracy to Liberia. Several nations helped win the peace, and the Liberians themselves deserve credit for pulling themselves out of their shambles and setting up a legitimate government. But it is certainly fair to say that American diplomacy and force played a part in driving yet another monstrous dictator from power, and ensuring an orderly transition to democracy. When the roll is called of states where democracy has been obtained under this administration, Liberia ought to be counted, and Charles Taylor ought to be numbered among the dictators who have been toppled.

So “George Bush doesn’t care about black people?” On the contrary. The president took quite a gamble on behalf of the Liberians. Today a democracy stands where chaos stood before, because President Bush acted according to one of his most radical and most noble principles: that men everywhere, regardless of race or religion, want to be free and to govern themselves.

According to the Rolling Stone piece, the bloodied, thorn-crowned Kanye West is fighting a tragic addiction to pornography. I guess we all have our crosses to bear.

Speaking of which, President Sirleaf-Johnson, who isn’t making too many magazine covers, has a few problems of her own as she begins the redemption of a blasted country from the aftermath of a hideous war. One of those problems might be the newly elected senator from Liberia’s Nimba province, a man with a real appetite for politics: former President Prince Johnson.