# So, What SHOULD We Do About Liberia? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 9, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097 "2003-08-09T22:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/1 "2003-08-09T22:41:27Z")
Another poser from Miss Doesn’t Know Beans About Foreign Policy. “Liberians are begging for help,” I hear–though _which_ Liberians are begging _whom_ is a mystery to me. I do know that when some US peopole showed up (troops? medicos? I’m not sure), they had rocks thrown at them. So, should we get involved in Liberia? Do we have any business there, and if so, what should we _do?_ ---
**Author:** ![RexDart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@RexDart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RexDart)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/2 "2003-08-09T22:57:13Z")
Q: What should we do about Liberia? A: Nothing. None of our business. Let the UN deal with it, if they want to. The United States is not merely the military wing of the UN, waiting for direction from our overlords to spring into action. The US military is not a humanitarian relief organization, it was organized to defend the United States from foreign threats. That’s the only reason we even _have_ a standing army in the first place. When Liberia eventually loses the dictatorships and gets a free market economy, we should be ready to trade with them just as we do with any other such nation. That’s all I really think we ought to do. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Train\_Song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Black\_Train\_Song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Train_Song)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/3 "2003-08-10T01:31:23Z")
Nothing. If anything, help the rebels. But most of all, Nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/4 "2003-08-10T03:04:11Z")
Have the president honestly admit that while bringing freedom to the Iraqi people is enough of a reason to have a big war there, we are tired now, and besides, there isn’t enough oil in Liberia to make it worth it. At least that way, the rest of the world can stop waiting for us to do something. Tris ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/5 "2003-08-10T04:06:10Z")
Return the overdue books and pay the fine. ---
**Author:** ![Elewyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Elewyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elewyne)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/6 "2003-08-10T04:41:25Z")
It doesn’t seem morally right to do nothing if we have the power to help, especially when they begged for our help. We have troops waiting off shore. What is Bush waiting for, until the country is destroyed, what good is help going to do then? I imagine the situration is complicated, but it seems Bush has taken on the role of the world’s policeman, so then be the policeman when one is so desperately needed. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/7 "2003-08-10T10:41:23Z")
Maybe we should look at the way Western companies source their industrial diamonds and legitamise it, or perhaps their titanium, or their opals, that way a nascent Liberian government would have a source of income, instead of it going straight into the pockets of the local warlords. Sierra Leone is another example of mineral resources being traded in underhand deals too, which in turn is used by the local warlords to arm themselves and seize resource rich parts of the country. Some of the most bitter fighting in the hinterlands has been over mines. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-should-we-do-about-liberia/194097/8 "2003-08-10T10:42:41Z")
titanium oxide of course