Charles Taylor's 50 year sentence a reflection of Liberia's past and future
OPINION - Taylor’s conviction places the spotlight on neighboring Liberia, which has a special relationship with African-Americans...
In 2003, Taylor was indicted by an international tribunal for war crimes in Sierra Leone. President Bush called for the Liberian leader to step down, prompting Robertson to accuse Bush of “undermining a Christian, Baptist president to bring in Muslim rebels.”
“How dare the president of the United States say to the duly elected president of another country, ‘You’ve got to step down,’” Robertson said of Bush in 2003 on The 700 Club.
“It’s one thing to say, we will give you money if you step down and we will give you troops if you step down, but just to order him to step down? He doesn’t work for us.”
Meanwhile, overrun by rebels at home and faced with international pressure to step down, Taylor resigned and went into exile in Nigeria.
Elections were held in 2005, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first woman to lead Liberia and the first democratically-elected female president in Africa. Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained banker, has taken steps to turn things around by encouraging foreign aid and investment and fighting corruption. And yet, Liberia’s challenges continue. A devastating civil war has left Liberia one of the world’s poorest countries, with unemployment at 85 percent, poverty at 68 percent, and literacy less than 60 percent. Liberia’s per capita GDP ranks 225 in comparison to the rest of the world. Heavily dependent on foreign aid, Liberia faces enormous costs to rebuild its damaged infrastructure.
Maternal mortality in Liberia ranks 5th globally, and infant mortality ranks 18th. In addition, 35 percent of Liberians are malnourished, while only 25 percent have access to safe drinking water, 28 percent are fully immunized, and a mere 36 percent have access to proper sanitation. Life expectancy in Liberia is 57 years.
In addition, there are 15,000 UN peacekeepers in the African nation, one of the UN’s most costly operations. As the CIA reports, “The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) maintains a strong presence throughout the country, but the security situation is still fragile and the process of rebuilding the social and economic structure of this war-torn country continues.”
The sentencing of Charles Taylor reminds Liberia and the world of the warlord’s regime of terror, which devastated a West African nation founded by African-American former slaves. Understanding the damage Taylor inflicted requires a study of Liberian history and learning lessons from it.
Follow David A. Love on Twitter at @davidalove
