The English Lesson (NY Times)

NYT Op-Ed の論説。テイラーが去ったあとのリベリアを国連の多国籍軍にまかせて海兵隊を引き上げさせようとするアメリカに対して、3年前シエラレオネでのイギリスの教訓から。

By exhibiting such lack of resolve, the United States has relinquished what any Western peace-making mission can easily have on its side in most of sub-Saharan Africa: the aspect of intimidation the British relied on in Sierra Leone. And by involving itself so timidly, the final achievement of the United States in Liberia could well be worse than nothing. For there may be the vague perception of effort on the part of the United States without the reality. So, if full-scale war explodes once again in Liberia, it will seem as though intervention failed when in fact it wasn't tried. The prevailing American sentiment -- that there is nothing to be done about Africa's self-destruction -- will appear confirmed. More war in Liberia could stir chaos in the volatile countries that surround it, compounding the belief that Africa is a nether world beyond help.