Zeno's Paradox: "No Vital Interests"

Zeno's Paradox

July 22, 2003 - "No Vital Interests"

I'm still up since 3:30 AM, and going through a second round of news. I ran across an article in the New York Times about the administration and the worsening situation in Liberia. Thoughts below.

One paragraph stood out to me:

Among the chief reasons cited for the ambivalence: The United States has no vital interest in Liberia; the military feels overextended in Iraq and elsewhere; the last African intervention, in Somalia, ended in a debacle; Pentagon officials, in particular, increasingly chafe at noncombat missions.

The phrase "no vital interest" is the one that struck me the most. At the moment, the US gov't is suffering massive PR problems overseas. Whether justified or not, people outside the US are suspicious of actions in Iraq, and while the US struggles to keep Iraq under control and on the way to a self-sustaining gov't, it's increasingly evident that morale is dropping significantly amongst the troops and some international involvement is needed to grant some sort of legitimacy to the action. As the most recent issue of "Foreign Affairs" made evident, American troops are excellent in fighting and winning wars, but lousy as peacekeepers. Europeans seem to be the inverse.

So, going back to the quote above... It is true that there are no direct vital interests in Liberia. However, there are many secondary vital interests that would be served if the US would do something there. First of all, by acting in good faith and bringing the nation a much needed American military presence (the Liberians are begging for US intervention), it becomes much easier to appear as a just actor on the world stage and get other nations to work with you in other areas. Such as Iraq. I predict that if the US were to act in Liberia, it would be much easier to get a much-needed UN resolution with respect to Iraq. With the UN resolution comes the participation of other nations with much better peacekeeping and nation-building forces that would relieve the strained US forces in Iraq. That in itself is a vital interest as the US appears weaker now with its strained forces to countries like North Korea. Weakness on the part of the US only prompts boldness on the part of the other actors.

So, as acting hypothetical president, here's what I would do:

- Send a large enough force of troops to quell the violence in Liberia. Since Kofi Annan is quoted as constantly appealing for US aid, make a political / diplomatic deal that US troops in Liberia would lead to Annan pushing for a UN resolution on Iraq that would quell the hesitancy of the nations who refuse to get involved in Iraq without that UN mandate.

- Allow other nations to take part in the administration of Iraq and contribute manpower and resources. As other nations' peacekeepers are deployed to Iraq, withdraw some of the American troops who have been there for far too long. Give these guys their R&R and work to bring them back up to combat readiness as soon as is prudent.

- With foreign countries and press use the American involvement in Liberia as a counterpoint to the bad press that it has been receiving of late. The point is to get the most out of the goodwill generated by a Liberian intervention.

Anyways, those are my thoughts re: Liberia. While up this morning, I managed to make another iComic plugin for Ctrl+Alt+Del. I'll be bundling this with the 8-bit Theatre plugin later today.

Posted by br284 at 09:05 AM

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i've heard that shining a light on the backs of your knees can help deal with/prevent jetlag, but i think it may be a bit late for you at this point. i just remember reading once that business travellers would shine lights on the backs of their knees to simulate daytime while in the air at night, just to get their biorhythms back on track. at this point though, tea and cucumbers on your eyes might work better :-)

Posted by ... on July 22, 2003 10:03 AM

> the Liberians are begging for US intervention

not quite so, although it's good to hear that US responded first. To tell the truth the US is in such a position right now that it really had to do something pleasing UN. There is a lot of uncertainty in the UN about the current situation in Iraq, looks like the US has to show something good about it but for people being killed. The US officials already told 153 US soldiers were "lost" in the recent Iraq compaign, 146 in Golf War N1. Bad. The Hussein's sons killed - good. Although I don't care whether they were killed, what pleases me most is that it looks like some guy of the Husseins regime decided to tell the place. If the whole thing continues as is, the US in Iraq will get something like USSR in Afganistan.

> Since Kofi Annan is quoted as constantly appealing for US aid

I strongly recommend to look through UN documents. It looks like you're only following what proves your prev thoughts. Not good.

Posted by Alexei Voitylov on July 28, 2003 11:09 AM