Word: liberia
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...Washington pondered its eventual response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. was suddenly forced to make a move in another long-festering global trouble spot. Last Saturday night George Bush ordered U.S. Marines into the civil war-torn African nation of Liberia. Their job: to evacuate any of the 370 Americans residing there who wanted to get out. On Sunday a force of 225 Leathernecks from four U.S. warships off the Liberian coast landed by helicopter in the capital of Monrovia and quickly began rounding up U.S. citizens, many of whom had gathered at the American embassy...
...working weekend at the presidential retreat in Camp David. The action, observed a White House official, "sends the same message that we sent when we went into Panama. When American lives and interests are at risk, this President will take military action." And while Bush's decision on Liberia was not linked to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, it came at an opportune moment for demonstrating U.S. resolve to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein...
...months ago, when rebel forces appeared heading for victory over Doe, the U.S. warships steamed toward Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves that traditionally has close ties to Washington. President Doe, a former army master sergeant who rose to power through a bloody coup in 1980, had become the object of growing popular resentment because of his regime's rampant corruption and arrogance. The conflict also centered on tribal antagonisms. What support Doe still claimed came from his Krahn tribe, while the rebels received support from the Gio and Mano peoples...
Short, stocky, bearded and a teetotaler, Taylor, 42, is the son of a Liberian mother and an American father. He was born and grew up in Liberia but attended Bentley College in Waltham, Mass. After earning a B.A. in economics in 1977, he continued to be active in emigre Liberian organizations and worked as a mechanic in Boston...
Because of those Libyan links and uncertainty about how effectively Taylor might govern Liberia, Washington distrusts him. All American citizens have been urged to leave. Four U.S. warships are stationed off the coast to evacuate them if necessary. Taylor says U.S. suspicions are misplaced. He describes himself as "a cold-blooded capitalist" and has said that his heroes are "Tricky Dick Nixon" and "good old Ronnie." State Department analysts believe that there is in fact little ideological difference between Taylor and Doe and that their struggle is simply for power. The U.S. provided Doe with hundreds of millions of dollars...