Liberian Civil War

Eric PingerShubham Gogna

Ricky GenzDavid Mar

Liberia

• Liberia is a country in western Africa with a current population of approximately 3,500,000. • It has approximately 111,369 sq. km. of area. • The capital of Liberia is Monrovia. • The terrain consists of swamps, beaches, hills, shrub lands, plateaus and tropical forests.• The religions consist mainly of Christianity, Muslim, and animist.• The life expectancy in Liberia is 42.5 years.

First Civil War: Liberia under Doe

• Master Sergeant Samuel Doe creates a military coup which now controls the country.

• Doe publically executes Tolbert and 13 of his aides

A council created by Doe suspends Constitution Samuel Doe becomes 20th president of Liberia. United States supports the new president [despite rumors of vote-stuffing]. 1986 – New Constitution created for the second republic of Liberia

Second Civil War: Liberia Under Taylor

• Charles Taylor was formerly the procurement chief. He contributed strongly to the civil war in Liberia and formed his own party called “Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, or (NPFL) He later ran for president and won. He promised not to return to war.

• He did not make life better for the Liberians. illiteracy rates and unemployment was above 75%, and he did little to better the countries infrastructure. Rather then help the economy, he supported the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. His misrule led to the resumption of armed rebellion among Taylors adversaries. On August 11, 2003, President Taylor resigned office and went into exile in Nigeria

Charles Taylor

War Pictures

More War Pictures

Liberia’s Post Second Civil War

• Water and electricity still unavailable

• 50,000 Children killed

• 21% of fighting force that was disarmed were children

• As of 2005, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world

• Economy is on the rise

• Since the 2005 elections, the political situation in Liberia has remained stable. The government has gone forward to economic recovery.

• Liberia's security sector disarmed more than 100,000 ex-combatants, to maintain stability through the post-conflict period.

Economy of Liberia due to the civil war

• The 1989-2003 civil war devastated the economy. Most of the major businesses and stores were destroyed, and foreign investors left the country. Iron production stopped and diamond and timber were banned from being exported.

• Gold deposits are now nearing production, and it will lead to more available jobs.

Quotes

“The only thing any Liberian can tell you, lots of innocent people are going to die”

“All it takes is one idiot with a gun and we’ll be back to square one”

– Zubin Cooper, Liberian Journalist

“They have a Liberian expression: when two elephants get fighting in the grass, the grass suffers”

– Sister Barbara Brilliant, Dean of the Medical Training Program

Bibliography

• http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6618.htm

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/.../liberia-1989.htm

• http://www.globalsecurtiy.org/military/.../liberia.htm

• memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/libhtml/liberia.html

• news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1043567.stm

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/liberia.htm

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/liberia-1989.htm

• http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/liberia/facts.html

• http://www.worldlingo.com

Bibliography 2 [Pictures]

• http://www.africanpanorama.org/shooting_civil_war_Liberia_op_600x390.jpg

• http://www.open2.net/blogs/media/blogs/39197167_gold.jpg

• http://www.scumdoctor.com/images/Death-Of-Samuel-K-Doe.jpg

• http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Third_Party_Photo/2007/06/03/1180845644_4981.jpg

• http://www.onebodyonehope.org/images/Liberia%20at%20war.jpg

• http://www.ipb.org/i/photos/58-liberia-boy-with-rifle.jpg• http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/images/time/africa/lib

eria.jpg