|
When Home is No Home
For hundreds of thousands of Liberians driven out of the country
by their bloody civil war, the benchmark for the great march
home was democratic elections, which they were told, held the
keys to peace for picking up the pieces and moving forward.
Liberia's Politicians
Blinded by "The Ground"
Isolated, demonized and despised for their role in the Sierra
Leone war and related diamond theft, among others, Liberian politicians
are now claiming that their image woes are linked to a conscious
misrepresentation of prevailing developments "on the ground."
The claim however falls apart when placed against continued clampdown
on free speech and media institutions seeing events "on
the ground" wearing different lenses in interpreting events.
Liberia Says It Has
Been Attacked By Guinea
The Liberian Government said over the weekend that Zorzor District
has been shelled by Guinean forces in an attempt to provoke Liberia.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Information said, "the
Liberian government has expressed its outrage at last Friday's
early morning shelling of Zorzor district, Lofa County, by Guinean
forces from across the Guinean border town of Korymeh."
Africa Ranks
First Under the Burden of Thieves
Five African countries have been named winners as the world's
most corrupt nations. Nigeria, defeating Cameroon, which held
the cup last year, now ranks number one, graduating from the
27th place one year ago, according to Transparency International
(IT), a group that specializes in investigating how corrupt countries
are.
Taylor's Zone
of Discomfort
A summary of what we have heard from President Charles Taylor's
current troupe of pain minimizers, who continue to arrive on
the shores of both the United States and Britain, is not so easily
distilled without understating their determination to blitz us
and overstating their listeners' capacity to accept badly processed
thoughts as substitute for reason.
Taylor's Millions
Target US Politicians
The Liberian Government, currently on a PR crusade to win vital
converts in countering and reversing its pariah image, has launched
a new lobby group to complement dozens others already in operation.
The group's aim is to intensify the campaign of influencing American
elections and politicians.
Liberia Accuses
UNHCR of Supporting Dissidents
Killings and abduction of relief workers in the wake of increasing
cross border incursions from Liberia and Sierra Leone into Guinea,
are likely to surge as fighting intensified.
Messengers Carrying
the Burdens of Bad News
The tragic comedy marring Liberian
politics is manifesting itself through a bandwagon of loyalist
messengers endlessly storming the United States to win hearts
and minds by selling Government's agenda to exiled Liberians,
themselves battling for legal status in making America their
home.
Testimonies from Sierra Leonean Refugees in Conakry,
Guinea
Testimonies of rape, sexual assault and humiliation compiled
by Human Rights Watch
Refugees and
West Africa's Triangle of Xenophobia
Omens of rising xenophobia with dire humanitarian implications,
a byproduct of Liberia's Charles Taylor's love affair with war
and destabilization at home, Sierra Leone, and now Guinea are
frightening in the wake of cross border attacks on Guinea which
have sparked violent raids on Liberian and Sierra Leonean refugees
in that country.
Nightmares of Nigeria's
"Peacekeeping" Unfold
With the American decision to train and equip a Nigerian "super
force" destined to solve Sierra Leone's horrors underway,
a report by the Commander of the United Nations force in Sierra
Leone (UNAMSIL) indicting the Nigerians for sabotaging peace
in the country may necessitate a rethink if results are the objectives.
Pariahs, Sanctions,
Vs. "Ordinary People"
With sanctions ominously hanging over his paralyzed and isolated
country for its continued backing of Sierra Leone's rebel Revolutionary
United Front (RUF), Liberia's President Charles Taylor has vowed,
"[He] will not budge. Sanction will hurt the ordinary people,
not the Government.
God's Promised
Restoration
As Liberians listen to CNN, RFI and BBC radio or consult these
and other Internet news websites, including "The Perspective"
for information and commentary on our country, one cannot help
but feel a deep sense of sorrow at the way things have turned
out. Some of you may have been pulled aside from many airports
queue for questioning by immigration authorities for no apparent
reason. Not to mention the countless insults about "you
Liberian people."
Fear, Incursions
and West Africa's Apocalypse
Fears of West Africa gravitating towards the brink of more regional
conflicts and chaos heightened this week with incursions into
Guinea from Liberia and Sierra Leone. The incursions from Liberia
left over 47 peasants dead and many homes destroyed, while the
exact casualty figures from Sierra Leone invasion are yet unknown.
The Arguments
of "The Rice Import Liberalization Agenda in Liberia"
The need for economic research and analysis as prerequisite for
policy decisions is an elementary and obvious fact, which we
should waste no time to debate. And yet, some people have superfluously
stressed this need for policy research, as if others were not
aware of it.
Demonstrate
For Peace or Pray For Peace?
It seems that in Liberia the solution for dealing with national
crisis, and especially the Christian solution, is to publicly
demonstrate against the crisis, malign the opponents and show
partisanship in favor of the government. I have seen this once
in 1990 during the incursion when religious groups demonstrated
against the rebels.
When "Terrorists"
Refuse to Negotiate with "Terrorists" (Editorial)
Unfolding events in Liberia are again assuming dreadful and strange
proportions. About a decade ago, President Samuel Doe, besieged
by rebel leader Charles Taylor's marauding rebels, vowed he would
never negotiate with a "terrorist" and a "rogue,"
meaning Taylor, his former purchasing agent who absconded to
the US with allegedly almost one million dollars, returning only
at the head of a private rebel group to seize power.
The Continuing
Debate on Self-sufficiency in Rice Production
As Geepu Tiepoh notes, I am an advocate of free trade and make
no apologies for that. I do not believe that free trade is a
panacea for all economic problems. Nor do I think that free trade
is without its difficulties.
Liberian Dissidents
Accuse BBC of "Unfair" Reporting
The ongoing fighting in northern Liberia is now characterized
with claims and counterclaims while the dissidents are alleging
that they are finding it impossible to counter Liberian Government's
claims on the BBC Focus on Africa and related programs widely
used by President Taylor's rebels, National Patriotic of Liberia,
during the seven-year civil war and now.
Government by Cooptation,
for Gratitude, and of Silence
Ties between former interim President Dr. Amos Sawyer and his
friends at the "NPP-led Government" of President Charles
Taylor have gone from the good, the bad, and now the ugly, that
is if their current war of words is any indicator.
Forty-Seven Guineans
Killed in Liberian Raid
Sources from Conakry, Guinea, quoting national radio, say Liberian
troops this week crossed into the Guinean town of Musadu and
killed 47 people while seriously wounding 18 others. Guinea has
vowed to take "appropriate action."
LURD Disputes
Government Claims in Lofa
A spokesman for Liberian dissident group known as Liberians United
for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), now battling Government
troops in northern Lofa County, has disputed BBC reports claiming
Government troops were in the town of Kolahun, close to the county
headquarters of Voinjama now under dissident control.
Why I Escaped
Taylor's Justice
The author, James Torh, is a human rights activist who
was arrested for criticizing President Charles Taylor's Government,
and was charged with treason. He subsequently escaped from the
country and now lives in exile.
"Liberia
Operates on Fear" Says Released Journalist
Sierra Leone journalist, Sorious Samura, just out of Liberian
prisons along with three colleagues, told Dutch television Monday
that "Liberia is operating on fear. There are so many things
happening in Liberia." Other members of the British Channel
4 team also released described the country as "hell on earth."
Voices for Liberia's
Mass of Faceless Prisoners
President Charles Taylor's staged performances beamed as news
by many visiting journalists to Liberia are being slowly unveiled
by the weeklong detention and subsequent release of four members
of the British Channel 4 television team.
Can We Sweep Away
History?
Liberian history is replete with contradictions. These contradictions
are apparent in much of how events and processes have been interpreted
or written about. It is obvious that when the Liberian problem
is being discussed, various perspectives will be offered that
are influenced by one's biases, interests and experiences.
Our Apologies
There is something wrong with freedom when you have to beg for
it. When freedom is at stake - as it is currently - our worries
shift ultimately to freedoms down the road. Beg for it now, and
you are likely to spend a good deal of time on your knees in
the future, if you want more of it.
Liberian
"Justice" Unfolds Against 4 Foreign Journalists
The chicanery of the Liberian justice system is unfolding in
all its rotten forms with wider implications this time because
of its victims - international journalists and therefore international
concern. Even before President Charles Taylor's evidence could
be marshaled, heard and evaluated by the jury, the trial judge
has in effect made up his mind: the men are guilty.
The Liberian Horror
Film We Didn't Miss
Cry the beloved country indeed. When barren tyranny mixed with
mediocrity becomes a standard operating political practice, anything
goes. Now let us get some insight into the "James Bond"
mission that the British Channel 4 television team, currently
in detention for alleged spying, was executing in derelict Monrovia.
IPI Condemns
Journalists Arrest, Reminds Taylor of Rights Violations: The Vienna-based network
of editors and media executives, the International Press Institute
(IPI), has strongly condemned the arrest of 4 international journalists
currently held by the Liberian Government on allegations of spying
and called for their immediate release.
Gen. Guei's Lost
Chance
The curtain is indeed closing in coup d'etats as anterooms for
the presidency in Africa, with convincing signs that La Cote
d'Ivoire will make history in West Africa by punishing an initially
admired military ruler for interpreting the desire for change
as an endorsement of his brand of politics.
The Futility and
End of Elections 2003
Rapid political and security developments in Liberia and pronouncements
from President Charles Taylor signal doubts of democratic transition
in 2003, thus laying the foundations for continued violence in
the contest for power and change. The former warlord's dubious
pledge not to resume war if he lost the elections, and his party's
announcement that it intends to hang to power for the next 20
years, leave doubts of fair election within three years.
Taylor
is a "pathological Liar", Says Sirleaf
Liberia's Opposition leader, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, describing
President Charles Taylor as a "pathological liar",
says the President's accusations against her for allegedly backing
the current fighting in the country indicate his growing paranoia
of defeat in the elections scheduled in 2003. She added that
these "false accusations" are designed to conceal Taylor's
failure in fulfilling his many promises to the Liberian people
since he took office three years ago.
"A Crackdown
on the Press is a Crackdown on Democracy" - Rev. Jackson
With Liberia's arrest of four journalists from Britain's Channel
4 television team, President Charles Taylor has made it known
his capability of maintaining his place as Africa's number one
pariah. International attention is again focused on this devastated
country, with President Taylor's friend, the Reverend Jesse Jackson,
gaining the international spotlight for championing the cause
of the oppressed.
Truth and Treason
If Liberia's association with the United States was ever worth
anything, it is worth the value of the ticket for each Liberian
who entered the United States. Even if academic pursuit was not
one's mission for entering the United States, the tour of the
country should awake any latent curiosity in even the most phlegmatic
among us.
Back to Arms and
Anarchy
After the official disarming and demobilization of the country's
feared armed factions accused of committing some of the worst
atrocities ever in Africa, and the façade of publicly
"burning" weapons as an inducement for international
aid, Liberia is on the verge of recruiting and arming 30,000
more fighters in an effort to defeat the advancing insurgents
of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD),
the country's new dissident group.
The Taylor
Regime Must Go - Says Fahnbulleh
Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh, Jr., a former presidential candidate
during the 1997 election that brought Charles Taylor to power,
has issued a statement on the prevailing situation in Liberia
and the West African sub-region.
Taylor Should
Stop Accusing People Falsely - Says Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Recently, President Taylor
accused Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and others for supporting the dissidents
fighting government forces in Lofa. The Perspective has sought
to get Mrs. Johnson-Sirleaf's reactions to the allegation and
to clarify some recent statements she has made.
Let Justice
be Blind, For the Children of Sierra Leone
The unanimous decision of the United Nations Security Council
to prosecute members of Sierra Leone rebel Revolutionary United
Front (RUF), sponsored by Liberia's President Charles Taylor,
is a landmark decision in honour of the thousands of innocent
children left today without limbs and scared forever.
External Debt
and Political Chaos: Future of Liberia's Economic Policy
Liberians should be mindful of two important forces that now
affect both their present economic reality and the future of
their economic development policies. Huge external debt overhang
and increasing domestic political paralysis have now combined
to not only prevent current development opportunities but also
endanger the domestic autonomy and direction of economic policy
in Liberia. In the present context of global economic adjustment,
excessive external debt always entails the danger of the imposition
of international policy prescriptions that often overlook critical
domestic economic, social, and human development concerns.
Troubled Indicators,
Needed Remedies
Once again, all signs indicate that Liberia is headed towards
the path of self-destruction. Renewed fighting in the country,
after seven years of crude struggle for power that saw a tenth
of the population killed, points to disaster despite the many
promises of peace, stability and development.
When the Means to
an End are Convenient and then Feared
The end may justify the means as in the case of Liberia where
fear and horrendous atrocities determined the outcome of the
presidential elections in 1997.
Liberians
Denounce War, Want Peaceful Means to Remove Taylor
The umbrella organization of Liberians living in the Diaspora,
the Union of Liberian Associations in the Americas (ULAA), has
denounced the ongoing war in the country, calling instead for
peaceful means to replace President Charles who, the organization
maintains, has failed to uphold democratic values, thus plunging
the country in chaos and international disrepute.
Taylor's Sierra Leone
Peace Plan: "Thanks, but No Deal"
"Thanks, but no deal", can best describe Liberia's
President Charles Taylor's response to American and British threats
of sanctions for backing Sierra Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
rebels.
Liberian Troops
Ambushed in Lofa
A spokesman for Liberian resistance group fighting Government
troops says they have killed a number of soldiers, many of them
from Burkina Faso, and captured arms, ammunition along with food
supplies.
The Right Kind of
Fear
We all are driven by fear, all kinds of fear: Fear of losing,
fear of hurting, fear of disappointing, fear of failing, fear
of being abused, fear of being perceived as weak, etc. But we
strive for joy and pride as we manage these fears.
Charles Taylor
Rejects UN Deployment and Sankoh's Trial
President Charles Taylor has again rejected any attempt by the
United Nations to try Foday Sankoh, leader of the Sierra Leone's
rebel Revolutionary United Front.
ULAA Against
War and Dictatorship
The fragile peace and tenuous security conditions in Liberia
are threatened by renewed fighting in Lofa County and perhaps
other parts of Liberia between the Liberian Government forces
and fighters of the Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(LURD).
The Urgent Need
for Impeachment Proceedings
No other African leader, in recent memory, has gained so much
notoriety, so much demonization, for the theft of other people's
wealth as President Charles Taylor has.
Taylor's Resignation
Or Impeachment Will Save Liberia
Reports of the situation in Lofa indicate that the confrontation
is a serious one, a situation that is very unfortunate for Liberia
and its people.
Liberia's Persecuted
and Rising Voices of Dissent
Liberia's President Charles Taylor may have rightly awarded himself
the prize of being "the most mischievous man in the country..."
Mercenaries
Allegedly Land in Liberia
Security sources in Monrovia say hundreds of mercenaries are
landing in the country to help put down an incursion in the north
and beef-up Sierra Leone rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF)
in their diamond stronghold of Kono.
Crackdown on Opponents
Looms in Liberia
President Charles Taylor has threatened to crackdown on his opponents
and impose a state of emergency that gives him sweeping powers
because of what he alleged is a plot to unseat his Government
from within.
Shaming and Redeeming
Africa
Presenting a convincing case on Liberia's Charles Taylor and
his ally Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaore's complicity in fueling
West Africa's misery, US UN Ambassador, Richard Holbrooke, laments
that he hopes Africans do not evoke the "neocolonialist"
weapon in reaction to the World's findings on the despicable
nature of some of their leaders, criminals plunging their people
in hell for diamonds and personal wealth.
"All Calm in Voinjama,"
Dissidents Say
A spokesman for Liberian dissidents fighting to overthrow President
Charles Taylor has contradicted Government claims of intense
fighting in the provincial city of Voinjama in the north of the
country.
Confusion Spreads
in Liberia as Fighting Intensifies
As fighting between his Government troops and rebels in the north
of the country intensifies, President Charles Taylor has launched
an investigation of his top military brass, accusing them of
misleading him about the fighting. He has also accused University
professors of backing the rebels.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Wants Taylor Answer Charges Before Tribunal
Liberia's opposition leader, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, says
President Charles Taylor's request to appear before an international
tribunal to answer charges of his links with Sierra Leone rebels
and the diamond smuggling syndicates should be granted.
Liberians Need
Sober Reflection - Says Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Today, our government stands accused by the major western powers
of aiding and abetting rebels, in the neighboring country of
Sierra Leone, who have committed heinous crimes against their
own people.
All Checks and No
Balances
The Liberian Legislature says nothing while our kids continue
to cry foul at the latest move of the familiar cheat named Charles
Taylor. Constitutional scholars will soon examine the students'
action to show how many mistakes they have made.
Liberian
Troops Invade University, Arrest Student Leaders
Liberian Security Forces Monday invaded the campus of the University
of Liberia and arrested key student leaders in connection with
statement they issued last week on the state of affairs in the
country.
The Challenge of Our
National Purpose and Agenda...
Liberian communities in the Diaspora celebrated Liberia's 153rd
Independence Anniversary over the weekend. For its part, The
Liberian Association of Metropolitan Atlanta had Dr. D. Elwood
Dunn as its Keynote Speaker.
An Interview With Gen.
Wylie
Since 1999, Lofa county, one of fourteen counties and a political
subdivision in northwestern Liberia, has become a magnet for
armed incursions. There has been at least three incursions by
various groups seeking to remove the Taylor regime from power
by the use of force.
Will Taylor
Join Sankoh Before the Tribunal?
It now seems certain that at last, Sierra Leone's ruthless rebel
leader Foday Sankoh and his accomplices will face justice for
crimes and other atrocities against humanity.
Liberia Wants
No More War
The Liberian people have suffered a lot, and do not want another
armed group professing to be their liberator.
Liberia's University
Students Decry Pariah Status and Extravagance: Liberia's University
Students Union, an umbrella organization of the country's university
students, has criticized what it regards as the high level of
corruption in the country, and misguided national and international
policies that have plunged the country into poverty and made
it an international pariah.
Liberia's University
Student Union's Press Statement
On the occasion marking Liberia's 153rd independence anniversary,
the University of Liberia Student Union (ULSU), not happy with
the performance of the Taylor government's first three years
in office, issued a statement highlighting several issues of
concern.
Liberia
Bans Independent Reports of Fighting
The Liberian Government has placed a news embargo on fighting
between its forces and dissidents.
Star Radio and the
Erosion of Press Freedom
Blinded by Free Trade
and Comparative Advantage Dogma
Democracy VS. Dictatorship:
The Quest for Freedom and Justice in Africa's Oldest Republic:
What's the Case
for Self-Sufficiency in Rice Production?
The New Democrat
Halts Operations
Liberia: In Search of
Enemies and Allies
Dutch Human Rights Groups
Want Liberia Covered by Diamond Sanctions:
Corruption
Should Not Be An Acceptable Practice Anywhere!
Freedom Gold's
Secret Operations Liberia
Let the Pretense of
a Democracy Stop!
IPI Condemns Intimidation
and harassment of Journalists of The New Democrat:
Diamonds, War
and State Collapse in Liberia and Sierra Leone
US Convinced Of Liberia's Negative Role In Sierra
Leone
Confusion Over Weapons
Claims and Diamond Links?
Liberia: The Politics
of Brute Force
Liberian Journalists'
Lives in Imminent Dange
Taylor Woos Old
Enemies to Fight New Ones Amidst Dissidents Victory Claims:
Charles Taylor Makes
A Desperate Vice Presidential Choice
The Congressional
Black Cousins
What Liberians Didn't
Know About "Chucky Did it"?
Liberia Threatens War
with Guinea
Charles Taylor Pays
Gadaffi for War Efforts
The OAU's Hypocritical
Reparations (Special Editorial)
Piracy and Anarchy
in West Africa: The Ivory Coast's Turn
Rwanda: The Preventable
Genocide
''International
Conspiracy''
Meaningless UN
Sanctions As Liberia is Pardoned
Poverty's Triumph over
Democracy in Liberia
Can Clinton Administration
"Africa Guru", Rev. Jackson, Help Sierra Leone As He
Links Sankoh to Mandela?
|
