O Liberia

I saw a chilling PBS documentary two nights ago on the descent of Liberia into chaos. The most disturbing part of the story was perhaps the rise and fall of Samuel Taylor Doe, the master sergeant with an eighth grade education who seized power in a military coup and then was brutally deposed some years later by Charles Taylor's rebels. Memorable scenes included Doe's utter incapacity to answer foreign journalists' questions about his plans after he seized power, his appearances with Ronald Reagan at a time when the U.S. found him a useful pawn in the war on Communism, and his grisly end after he was betrayed, his ears and genitals were chopped off, and he was put on public display to die a slow and painful death. Doe apparently did not suffer more than thousands of Liberians under his despotic rule and the ensuing civil war, but his suffering was particularly vivid both because of its contrast with his previous state and because it was captured so starkly on television.

The broader theme of the piece seemed to be that even when Liberia was a showpiece of African independence, the U.S. descended founders and leaders of the country never managed to reconcile with the indigenous Liberians, leading ultimately to the countries' descent into despotism and anarachy.