CNN: Those troops we sent to Liberia are being attacked now.

[doxieone]

This was only 41 guys.

What will Jr. do???

[NNN0LHI]

1. He will send more n/t

[greyl]

2. What are you talking about?

The US Embassy is being attacked and the 41 soldiers haven't arrived there yet.
www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/07/21/liberia.fighting/index.html

[NNN0LHI]

3. Fighting rages in Liberia as U.S. Marines fly in

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21255158.htm

MONROVIA, July 21 (Reuters) - Fighting surged back to the heart of Liberia's capital on Monday, stray bullets zipping into districts where thousands have sought shelter, as U.S. Marines flew to reinforce the U.S. embassy.

Residents said fighting between rebels and government forces was raging on the far side of bridges that stand on the threshold of the city centre, hours after Liberian government forces vowed to fight to the death.

"Nobody retreats and nobody surrenders. This is a battle for survival," said army chief of staff General Benjamin D. Yeaten.

Children, keeping their heads as low as they could to dodge the bullets, ran with plastic buckets to the few sources of water to carry back to anxious families. Blood poured from the face of one boy who got hit.

more

[greyl]

4. Right. They're flying in

to be added to the 30 that are there now.

[demnan]

5. Yeah

more babies will die. Why was diplomacy so effective in avoiding these conflicts a few years ago?

Oh yeah, I remember why. We had a President with brains then and a State Department that wasn't the Defense Department.

[doxieone]

28. The first time CNN mentioned this, they said the troops were

being attacked. Later came out info about the embassy.

[Zech Marquis]

6. another brillant move by Rummy!

Only 41 troops, ad already they're being attacked?! I fear that very soon, someone, somewhere is really going to hit our GIS wit a nasty attack andchalk up a bunch of dead innocents. Here in Hmton Roads, ALOT of the same flagwavers are openly po'ed at *--even my hardcore repukke boss said,"Zech, they're killing us day by day over there in Iraq..."

And if SHE is upset, oooohhhh boy! * is this close to being cooked. :nuke:

[gratuitous]

9. I realize she's your boss

You know, signs the paycheck and all, but it would be incredibly hard for me to keep from asking her, "Well, what did you think was going to happen when Lil George launched his invasion?"

God almighty, but I think some people are taken by surprise when winter comes every year! "Let's get all the military folks over to Eye-rack and teach the mean ol' Saddam a lesson, yuh, yuh! And there won't be any downside to this, so just shut up you commie liberal traitors! Support the troops!" Which inevitably gives way to "Hey, some of them brown fellers are shootin' back! Our guys are dying. Why didn't anyone tell me this might happen?"

[Zech Marquis]

11. that's the bauty of it actually

She's the on who told me about the GI getting killed Frday--we have Faux news updated piped in every hour,so the news is imposible to miss..wel, if you consider Faux actual NEWS :evilgrin:

[gratuitous]

14. Yeah, okay, knee-jerk reaction over

This is one of those "teachable moments," a chance when someone's attention has been drawn to a real-life example that demonstrates your point far better than any rhetoric or argument is likely to do.

I hope you can maintain a civil engagement with your boss, Zech, and turn another voter away from the Dark Side. Best wishes and good luck!

[RapidCreek]

34. Ask her why she doesn't "support the troops" anymore.

RC

[0007]

16. .....yeah, and like Saddam better disarm

or we'll be coming to Iraq to kick butt.

junior is nuts and the troops are saying, "I wanna come home" I think they are begining to see the administration for what they are. Moral and confidence are lost. Who wants to fight for junior and his gang of thugs?

[umcwb]

7. Kick, n/t

[radwriter0555]

8. But, But, this is like Clinton's Bosnia, doncha know??? Bush wants

to be the great liberator!

Dang is karl rove abusing substances or something? His knots have completely slipped the winch. He has lost all control here....

Hey, I wonder if shrub is actually attempting to man the helm, and hence the debacles?

[HawkerHurricane]

10. Only 41 troops?

Are us sure these aren't the embassy gaurds? Marines are used for embassy duty, and 41 sounds about right for the embassy gaurd force.

[papau]

13. 41 New troops are to add to 30 or so already at Embassy

the 2000 "Combat" that will be part of the multi-nation 10,000 man force of "peacekeepers" will not go in until the fighting stops - per Bush.

Fighting will not stop until Taylor leaves town.

Taylor will not leave town until peacekeepers arrive.

Catch 22

:-(

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. Actually NOT a Catch-22...

It's Shrub's chickenshit way of saying, "No."

[IndianaGreen]

12. CNN confirms US Embassy being shelled now

Looks like it is going to take more than 41 guys to stop this.

Get everyone out of the country, and do not get involved in Liberia. It is a complex and dangerous situation!

[lumpy]

20. Any normal administration would get the hell out of there NOW !

This mess is not fixable with Bush's hands-on operations no moreso than Iraq is fixable using force.

[Corgigal]

17. timing

Is it just me or does anyone else see the timing of this as, interesting. I just watched an hour ago some newschannel showing the military walking around liberal and minutes later the US Embassy is being mortar attacked. Maybe not but I am so distrusting of Bush and his needs for war.

[aquart]

27. His polls are in the fifties. Of course he needs a war.

This one may not give him the same oomph as the last one, though.

[underpants]

18. Once again doing something half-a**ed and on the cheap

And what does it get our fighting boys and girls.....in more trouble.

How many screwups will it take before everyone realizes that these clowns don't know what they are doing? They already know inside the Pentagon but the gag order is in effect.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

39. Either get out or get 5,000 in there.

I could go either way on Liberia but for chrissakes either shit or get off the pot. Adding 40 does absolutely nothing.

[greyl]

19. "Deteriorating by the hour" right now cnn tv

"Dead bodies are being piled up outside the embassy in protest..."

[I AM SPARTACUS]

21. "Doctors Without Borders" on the ground

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/bf7d5d1eba920e8fc1256d6a0024ce90?OpenDocument

<snip...>
Shooting and shelling close to our hospitals is making it nearly impossible for us to treat our patients safely," said Alain Kassa, MSF head of mission in Monrovia. "Yesterday, a bullet landed in the middle of our hospital's pediatric ward even as war wounded civilians continued to arrive. Today, we fear the fighting in the streets is so intense that the wounded cannot be transported to the hospital for treatment."

On Friday, fighting forced MSF to suspend work in three medical clinics serving tens of thousands of displaced persons in Montserrado County just north of Monrovia. As hostilities intensified in the area, thousands of camp residents began streaming toward what they hoped would be safety in Monrovia. Last night, many of them had joined an estimated 20,000 displaced persons already taking shelter in the Samuel K. Doe Stadium in Monrovia where MSF continues to run a medical clinic, cholera treatment center, and water facilities.
<snip...more>

other links for humanitarian orgs' reports:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLCE/West+Africa?OpenDocument&StartKey=West+Africa&ExpandView

[htuttle]

22. BBC: Shell Hits US Embassy in Liberia

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3082973.stm

One mortar shell has hit a building of the US embassy compound in the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

There are no reports of injuries from that attack, but more than 60 are being reported killed in less than an hour of bombardmenton the centre of the city.

<snip>

Earlier about 40 US soldiers arrived in the capital to reinforce security at the embassy.

<snip>

A United Nations envoy has said the US will not take a decision on whether to send troops into Liberia until a West African force is in place.

[MattNC]

23. mistake

Assuming we evacuate the embassy, that should be it for U.S. military involvement in Liberia.

I've heard no reasonable argument for placing U.S. peacekeepers there. I know there's the Al Qaeda/conflict diamond connection, but it's not been fully explained how peacekeepers could put a permanent end to that.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

24. AFP update: few details

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/117edbdd34d98632c1256d6a0041054b?OpenDocument

<snip...>
WASHINGTON, July 21 (AFP) - Faced with a flare-up in Liberia's civil war, the United States has ordered 41 additional troops to the capital of the West African nation, but given no word on whether it will send peacekeepers.

The soldiers, from a naval "anti-terrorism security team" based in Rota, Spain, are to join US Marines currently guarding the US embassy in Monrovia, the Defense Department said as it announced the move late Sunday.

There was no indication US President George W. Bush was any closer to making a decision on US participation in a peacekeeping force being considered for Liberia, despite the spiraling violence. The deployment was ordered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the request of US Ambassador John Blaney, according to a Pentagon statement. A Pentagon spokeswoman declined to provide any further details.
<snip...more>

[IndianaGreen]

30. We should evacuate Americans out of Liberia and close the Embassy

Let the UN handle this, and tell Bush to shut up.

[study_war_no_more]

36. agreed

sorry to say but this is a mess, there is no clear side to take except for the civialians who are are being herded by both sides. The UN needs to send their forces in now!!!The US needs to evacuate the embassy and back the UN troops. No photo ops this time around Mr Prez.

[Dulcinea]

48. I agree as well.

This requires a multinational force, not 41 Marines.

But Boy George needs to show everyone he really, really cares about Africa, so off go more servicemen/women.

[damnraddem]

25. Basic equation: troops + war zone = being shot at.

With Dubya, there's another equation: troops + war zone = quagmire.

[Corgigal]

26. dumb question alert

What does this area hold for our corporations? Oil, Diamonds what?
I know its not because a rich white republican cares about poor little brown people and I can't find out the real motivation from the national press.
Thanks.

[HawkerHurricane]

29. Diamonds, mostly

No oil in Liberia, but there's some nearby.

[bemildred]

31. Not that many diamonds, either.

They rebrand Sierra Leone diamonds a lot (so I hear).
Lately Taylor has been strip mining the forest for money,
although I don't think there is much of that happening
right now either.

[ieoeja]

32. Liberia was founded by Americans.

Ex-slaves from the United States created the country of Liberia. We have tried to shelter them to some extent ever since.

[htuttle]

33. Yes and No

Liberia was founded by Americans, but they were slave OWNERS, not freed slaves.

Here's a brief historical timeline:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/libhtml/liberia.html

Finally, the US hasn't so much 'sheltered' Liberia -- it USED Liberia as a major listening/intelligence post for all of Africa during the Cold War. Anytime things get weird there, however, the US is nowhere to be found.

[ichiro99]

41. Liberia. ...What is it good for?

In the Southern Methodists' eyes? Only the cabal's peculiar gods could say for sure, though of course any reliable flow of brown people's blood and suffering is certainly worth preserving. Crime-wise, cocaine transshipments and money-laundering seem to be the place's strong cards -- though instabilities have hindered the latter.

[sam sarrha]

35. who is attacking us ?

the goverment, or the rebels we seem to be supporting...?

[study_war_no_more]

37. oh hooo i think you hit it on the head

but a very good question and a reason why we dont want to be their as both sides are just as likely to shoot at us. Best bet is to join with the UN forces and evacuate the refugees and there are gonna be a lot of them.

[w4rma]

38. Sounds like Bush should have sent in the peacekeepers when Tayler

told he would leave if Bush sent peacekeepers.

[DoYouEverWonder]

40. Liberia falling apart

Was not in the script folks.

This is what happens when you have an idiot at the helm, who's too busy fund-raising and campaigning to bother with real problems.

Liberia is everything that Iraq wasn't, except for the imminent threat stuff.

We should have been paying attention to Liberia months ago. We should have been working with the UN to try Charles Taylor has a war criminal. We should have sent in troops before everything fell apart. Now it's too late.

While Bu$h was too busy turning Saddam into the boogyman, Taylor was getting away with murder. Now Taylor vows to fight until the last man. I guess that's the fundie way and I'm sure Pat Robertson won't even notice.

[corarose]

42. 41 Troops or 41 Guys?

I don't get it do they mean 41 guys or 41 troops and if they mean troops how many men are in one troop?

[NYC]

43. One man is one troop.

They sent 41 guys. The 41 guys are there to protect the U.S. Embassy.

Edit: What I actually heard was that they are there to protect "U.S. interests" -- Bush's words.

[corarose]

44. Thanks for clarifying that.

For some reason 41 men does not seem like enough to fend off the mob in front of the embassy. What happens if they have a large amount of protesters and our guys have no way out.

[NYC]

45. I heard that there were already about 30 of them at the Embassy.

I guess this raises it to 71. There is a helipad behind the Embassy, and on the other side of that MAY be the ocean.

Also, parts of the Embassy are strongly reinforced. A reporter(?) said they were asked to move from the building (in the Embassy compound) to a sturdier building. At least some of the buildings are reinforced. (bunker-like, I imagine) I wouldn't want to be there.

Earlier in the day, a man from the Embassy was clearly stating that the Embassy was not being attacked; it just happened to be in the area. He called it the "fog of war". The reporter(?) who told about moving to a different building, seemed to think the Embassy was being targetted.

[whatelseisnew]

46. update, some details...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2935282,00.html

Mortar barrages and the
some of the bloodiest fighting to date killed more
than 90 people in Liberia's capital... The troops, who were sent to beef up security at
the embassy, evacuated about 23 foreign
humanitarian workers and journalists... U.S. officials announced that 4,500 more
American sailors and Marines have been ordered
to position themselves closer to Liberia, if needed
for an evacuation of Americans, peacekeeping or
some other mission... Joe Wylie, a rebel delegate at peace talks in
Ghana, said the government was also firing shells.

The rebels were ``not responsible for shooting
mortars into the embassy,'' Wylie said. ``We have
our backs to the U.S. Embassy. ... They
(government forces) were shooting at us.''

[greyl]

47. This morning's tvnews reports 600 civilians dead

in the past 3 days.