Preventing a rebel takeover.  The greatest danger of a quick downfall of Charles Taylor is that his despotic government would simply be replaced by an equally despotic regime, this one comprised of the LURD/MODEL rebels, who have stained hands of their own and who, in time, might prove just as problematic despite the lip service that rebel military chief Sékou Konneh has occasionally paid to human rights.  The rebels will need to be disarmed or at least prevented from seizing the capital - an easy enough task given that LURD is poorly armed and most Monrovians would be loathe to see them - and then drawn into a national dialogue.  A rebel takeover would be a humanitarian as well as political disaster. 

Having facilitated the removal of the Taylor regime, assured the passage of humanitarian assistance, rooted out the terrorist and other subversive elements presently hosted in Liberia, and prevented a rebel takeover, the objectives of American interests will be met.

 

Dr. J. Peter Pham served as a senior international diplomat in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, from 2001 through the end of 2002. He is the author of a forthcoming book on the regional conflict, Child Soldiers, Adult Interests: The Sierra Leonean Tragedy.