Beware of Pseudo Loyalists

FOR SOME TIME now there have been utterances from some quarters and individuals in society relative to the ongoing war and the pending peace talks to find a lasting and workable solution to the Liberian crisis. Some of these individuals prefer the continued engagement in warfare with the dissidents, while others oppose any peace talks with the dissidents.

WHAT IS NOW creeping is reminiscent of what occurred during the regime of the late Samuel K. Doe, when some individuals opposed direct talks with the then National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) headed by Mr. Charles Taylor, who is now the President of the Republic. At that time, as the war that started on December 24, 1989 intensified, some officials of the then NDPL government vowed to join to fight the NPFL.

REV. EDWIN LLOYD, then president of the Liberia National Red Cross Society, who had called for direct talks between the Doe Government and the NPFL, was ostracised and castigated by so-called loyalists and patriots for his statement. As a result and owing to the security situation at the time, he retracted his statement and said he was taken out of context.

INTERESTINGLY, WHEN THE war intensified, those who had opposed talks with the NPFL and others who had vowed and pledged to fight along government forces, escaped and ran for their dear lives, leaving Doe and a few others to combat the advancing forces of the NPFL.

WE ARE TODAY ‘historicising’, because we see the same ugly deceptive act of patriotism and loyalty surfacing in the ongoing conflict. Some individuals who feel they are more loyal than others are insisting on "fighting" the dissidents, when there are ceaseless calls for the Government and LURD to dialogue to end the conflict.

AS EFFORTS CONTINUE to organize peace talks to end the conflict, it is necessary that Liberians be mindful and beware of so-called patriots and loyalists who are self-centered and are very insensitive to the precarious predicaments faced by ordinary Liberians because of the continued war.

LEST LIBERIANS HAVE forgotten what pseudo patriotism and loyalty have done to this country over the years. It is time that Liberians learn from the past and decry these so-called patriots and loyalists, who throw stones and hide their hands.

ONCE AGAIN, WE call on Liberians to support efforts to bring the opposing parties together to dialogue and equally reject with vehemence any attempt by so-called patriots and loyalists for continued violence. We support dialogue, not continued hostilities.