An Extra Video About Liberia 🇱🇷
(This is the flag of Liberia 🇱🇷. As you can see, it looks an awful lot like the American flag 🇺🇸, only it has only one star ★ instead of 50. This is a reflection of Liberia 🇱🇷's origins as an American colony 🇺🇸, the strong American influence on the country 🇺🇸.)
There was another documentary about Liberia 🇱🇷 that I completely forgot to link in my companion piece to the review I did of Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045. It's a pretty good one, it's called "The Cannibal Warlords of Liberia 🇱🇷." It's by VICE, and while I do I have mixed feelings about some of their work, this is one of their best works. Unlike the other documentaries and videos I linked to in the Companion Piece to "My Thoughts on Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045," this isn't really about the wars. I mean, it is kind of, but it's mostly about the generals and commanders who found in it.
It was hosted by this guy named Shane Smith, he's a journalist working for VICE, and he had this series on there called "VICE Guide to Travel," where he would travel to dangerous places around the world, mostly conflict zones or former conflict zones, and just interview the people involved, whether they be civilians, or military personnel, rebel leaders, rebel fighters, terrorists, or government officials. He did the same thing here, but with Liberia 🇱🇷. He interviews some of the generals involved in the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, but mostly from the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷.
If you read the companion piece, you already kind of know the deal about the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. Charles Taylor and his rebel group, the NPFL win the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. An election is held, Taylor wins it, and becomes the new president of Liberia 🇱🇷. He becomes a dictator, and starts brutalizing the Liberian population 🇱🇷. He increases his support for the RUF in the Sierra Leone Civil War 🇸🇱, a group he was already supporting during the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷, as a way of increasing his influence in West Africa, and creating a "Greater Liberia 🇱🇷."
Several of the Liberians 🇱🇷 who fled the country into neighboring Guinea 🇬🇳 after Taylor took power decide to take up arms against him. And so, with the blessing of the Guinean government 🇬🇳—who hated Taylor too—they invade Liberia 🇱🇷, thus kicking off the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. The war started in 1999, and lasted until 2003, and was a complete blood bath 🩸, arguably even worse than the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. It wasn't even a straight-forward two-way civil war between the Taylor regime and anti-Taylor rebels. It was more like a four-way civil war, with many of the rebel groups fighting each other as much as they fought the Taylor regime.
Now, as the title of the documentary suggests, it highlights the frighteningly large amount of cannibalism that went on during the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, but especially the second. I mean, the documentary opens with Shane talking to General Butt Naked while they're walking through a marsh, and General Butt Naked talks about how he and his men participated in human sacrifice and cannibalism before they went into battle. He talks about how his men would drain the blood 🩸 of children, and then drink it before going into battle. That's how crazy and depraved the war became, and the documentary goes into more detail about.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, General Butt Naked was called General Butt Naked because he did indeed fight naked. He says so at the beginning. So, yeah, imagine being an infantryman or a rebel fighter, and your commander leads into battle completely naked. Like, he's wearing nothing at all, except maybe underwear, but probably not even that. That'd be something wouldn't it?
The main purpose of the documentary is to show that despite how many war crimes many of these guys committed during the war, none of them faced any justice, and were allowed to go Scott free, and reintegrate into society. One of the generals, I believe it was General Butt Naked, even became a preacher, and advocates for peace and clean drug-free living, as a way of atoning for everything he did during the war.
In case you're wondering yes, there was a lot of drug use in both Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷 on all sides, a lot of soldiers and rebels smoking heroin, doing cocaine, and other hard illegal drugs. There was drug use, cannibalism, genocidal ethnic killings, kidnappings, lootings, and rapes during the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷. These were really messy and brutal wars that put most other African wars (interstate wars or civil wars), and even most Middle Eastern wars to shame. There's a reason why a lot of videos and documentaries about the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷 are age-restricted on YouTube, including this one.
It was hosted by this guy named Shane Smith, he's a journalist working for VICE, and he had this series on there called "VICE Guide to Travel," where he would travel to dangerous places around the world, mostly conflict zones or former conflict zones, and just interview the people involved, whether they be civilians, or military personnel, rebel leaders, rebel fighters, terrorists, or government officials. He did the same thing here, but with Liberia 🇱🇷. He interviews some of the generals involved in the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, but mostly from the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷.
If you read the companion piece, you already kind of know the deal about the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. Charles Taylor and his rebel group, the NPFL win the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. An election is held, Taylor wins it, and becomes the new president of Liberia 🇱🇷. He becomes a dictator, and starts brutalizing the Liberian population 🇱🇷. He increases his support for the RUF in the Sierra Leone Civil War 🇸🇱, a group he was already supporting during the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷, as a way of increasing his influence in West Africa, and creating a "Greater Liberia 🇱🇷."
Several of the Liberians 🇱🇷 who fled the country into neighboring Guinea 🇬🇳 after Taylor took power decide to take up arms against him. And so, with the blessing of the Guinean government 🇬🇳—who hated Taylor too—they invade Liberia 🇱🇷, thus kicking off the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. The war started in 1999, and lasted until 2003, and was a complete blood bath 🩸, arguably even worse than the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷. It wasn't even a straight-forward two-way civil war between the Taylor regime and anti-Taylor rebels. It was more like a four-way civil war, with many of the rebel groups fighting each other as much as they fought the Taylor regime.
Now, as the title of the documentary suggests, it highlights the frighteningly large amount of cannibalism that went on during the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, but especially the second. I mean, the documentary opens with Shane talking to General Butt Naked while they're walking through a marsh, and General Butt Naked talks about how he and his men participated in human sacrifice and cannibalism before they went into battle. He talks about how his men would drain the blood 🩸 of children, and then drink it before going into battle. That's how crazy and depraved the war became, and the documentary goes into more detail about.
Oh, and in case you're wondering, General Butt Naked was called General Butt Naked because he did indeed fight naked. He says so at the beginning. So, yeah, imagine being an infantryman or a rebel fighter, and your commander leads into battle completely naked. Like, he's wearing nothing at all, except maybe underwear, but probably not even that. That'd be something wouldn't it?
The main purpose of the documentary is to show that despite how many war crimes many of these guys committed during the war, none of them faced any justice, and were allowed to go Scott free, and reintegrate into society. One of the generals, I believe it was General Butt Naked, even became a preacher, and advocates for peace and clean drug-free living, as a way of atoning for everything he did during the war.
In case you're wondering yes, there was a lot of drug use in both Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷 on all sides, a lot of soldiers and rebels smoking heroin, doing cocaine, and other hard illegal drugs. There was drug use, cannibalism, genocidal ethnic killings, kidnappings, lootings, and rapes during the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷. These were really messy and brutal wars that put most other African wars (interstate wars or civil wars), and even most Middle Eastern wars to shame. There's a reason why a lot of videos and documentaries about the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷 are age-restricted on YouTube, including this one.
They were also bizarre and even stupid wars where Taylor named the operation to capture the capital city, Monrovia in the First Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷, Operation Octopus 🐙, where generals had names like General Butt Naked, General bin Laden, General Rambo, General Mosquito 🦟, and General Mosquito Spray 🦟💨, and where rebels wore Halloween masks and even crossdressed.
BTW, the reason why the generals in those wars had those bizarre and funny names is that they were basically cover names so that no one could identify them by name after the war, and you know, charge them with war crimes. It was a way for them to maintain some degree of anonymity while they acted with impunity. They were also meant to intimidate their enemies.
But, it is kind of funny to see what these guys thought was intimidating. Like, mosquitos 🦟 are not scary or intimidating. They're mostly just annoying. The only thing that's remotely scary about them is that they can spread diseases like malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever, and many more. So, if your goal is to instill fear into your enemies, then perhaps don't name yourself after an insect that most people just see as a nuisance that they can easily swat with their hand.
But, it is kind of funny to see what these guys thought was intimidating. Like, mosquitos 🦟 are not scary or intimidating. They're mostly just annoying. The only thing that's remotely scary about them is that they can spread diseases like malaria, West Nile virus, yellow fever, and many more. So, if your goal is to instill fear into your enemies, then perhaps don't name yourself after an insect that most people just see as a nuisance that they can easily swat with their hand.
Anyway, the documentary doesn't really tell whether it's a good thing or a bad thing that these men never faced justice for what they did during the two Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, and just takes a neutral stance. I imagine that if you're a person that has even just a shred of morality and decency, and doesn't like it when war criminals escape justice, then you'd probably consider this a bad thing. I kind of do.
I mean, sure, General Butt Naked became a preacher after the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷, and renounced violence and says that he regrets everything he did during the war. But still, I don't think adopting Christianity ✝️, and turning to God is enough to make up for killing children and drinking their blood 🩸, among other terrible war crimes. That sort of thing's kind of unforgivable, and anyone who does those things deserves to be in prison.
At least, he's honest about what he did. A lot of other war criminals just deny that they ever did anything bad. But, not General Butt Naked. He's completely honest and open about the fact that he and his men killed children and drank their blood 🩸 in a sacrificial ritual to gain good luck or good fortune before a battle like they were vampires or something.
It's terrifying that a man like that is just roaming the streets, and is fully integrated in the society as a religious leader, but it is a bit more respectable than a Nazi war criminal for instance hiding out in Argentina 🇦🇷 like some kind of recluse and swearing up and down that that they didn't kill any Jews ✡️, and if they did, they only did it because they were following orders.
So, if you want to learn more about the mentality of the generals and commanders who fought in the Second Liberian Civil War 🇱🇷 before and after the war, and can't grasp the sheer insanity of the fact that none of them faced any justice for what they did, and are just allowed to live amongst the people as if nothing ever happened, then check this documentary out. It truly is one of VICE's best, and it really was the first video that I saw that gave me a better understanding of the Liberian Civil Wars 🇱🇷, and the complete humanitarian disasters that they were. It isn't perfect, they do get some things wrong.
Like, they say at the beginning that Samuel Doe was elected as president, but he wasn't. He came to power in a military coup. He was an officer in the Liberian army 🇱🇷. He assassinated the previous president, William Tolbert, like he literally killed him in his sleep. And then he had the other top Americo-Liberian officials 🇱🇷 in the previous government executed by firing squad, which he televised for the entire nation and world to see. This was by no means a peaceful transfer of power.
They also suggest that Taylor was backed by the United States 🇺🇸, even though he wasn't. There's no evidence to suggest that he was. The Americans 🇺🇸 hated his ass. He was a criminal who defrauded the Liberian government 🇱🇷. He was a top official within the Doe government, and he was fired after it was discovered that he was stealing money from the state coffers to enrich himself 🤑.
Then, he fled to the US 🇺🇸, and was arrested and held in an American prison 🇺🇸 until he escaped. That doesn't sound like someone who was backed by the US government 🇺🇸 to me. They didn't even approve of his actions when he engaged in insurrection against the Liberian government 🇱🇷, and didn't recognize his self-declared government based in the city of Gbarnga.
Then, he fled to the US 🇺🇸, and was arrested and held in an American prison 🇺🇸 until he escaped. That doesn't sound like someone who was backed by the US government 🇺🇸 to me. They didn't even approve of his actions when he engaged in insurrection against the Liberian government 🇱🇷, and didn't recognize his self-declared government based in the city of Gbarnga.
They even tried to get him to stop, but he refused, and said that he would only stop if the US 🇺🇸 sent in the Marines, which of course was a nonstarter. The only person who ever claimed that Taylor was backed by the US 🇺🇸 was Taylor himself, and Taylor isn't exactly a reliable source of information. He had every entice to lie about being backed by the US 🇺🇸, because it made him seem powerful and seem impressive that he had the backing of a superpower (even though he didn't), and it was the perfect scapegoat in case his rebellion failed. Like, "Don't blame me, it was all the Americans' fault 🇺🇸." So, that's a bit misleading.
In fact, there is a strong case to be made that Doe was US-backed 🇺🇸, though to even say that is a bit of an exaggeration. The US 🇺🇸 supported Doe, and didn't oppose his rule in any way because he was anti-communist, and the US government 🇺🇸 supported any foreign government that was anti-communist during the Cold War, regardless of whether they were democratic or authoritarian. And Doe's government was pretty authoritarian if you hadn't noticed from the way I've described it so far.
Beyond just token support, the US 🇺🇸 didn't seem to really support Doe's regime, like they weren't giving him military arms, or any financial assistance like say, Mobutu Sese Seko's regime in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩). They didn't even really help him out when Taylor started waging war against him. And they did nothing after Prince Johnson, the leader of the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) 🇱🇷, a breakaway faction of the NPFL, captured, tortured, and executed him.
In fact, the US 🇺🇸 paid as little attention to Liberia 🇱🇷 as possible because they had other fish to fry during the 90s as far as foreign policy went. They had Iraq 🇮🇶 and Kuwait 🇰🇼, they had Bosnia 🇧🇦, they had South Africa 🇿🇦, they had Somalia 🇸🇴, they had Rwanda 🇷🇼, they had the Congo 🇨🇩, they had Kosovo 🇽🇰, they had China 🇨🇳, they had North Korea 🇰🇵, and they had Russia 🇷🇺. There was no room for Liberia 🇱🇷 in the US 🇺🇸's foreign policy agenda during the 90s, and made no attempt to make room for it. It was as if they just forgot it even existed, except for the US Ambassador to Liberia 🇺🇸🇱🇷, and other US diplomats 🇺🇸 assigned to Africa; specifically West Africa. Hell, they paid more attention to Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 than Liberia 🇱🇷, even though both wars were happening around the same time and involved many of the same people. But of course, it ultimately wasn't the US 🇺🇸 intervened in Sierra Leone 🇸🇱, it was the UK 🇬🇧.
In fact, the US 🇺🇸 paid as little attention to Liberia 🇱🇷 as possible because they had other fish to fry during the 90s as far as foreign policy went. They had Iraq 🇮🇶 and Kuwait 🇰🇼, they had Bosnia 🇧🇦, they had South Africa 🇿🇦, they had Somalia 🇸🇴, they had Rwanda 🇷🇼, they had the Congo 🇨🇩, they had Kosovo 🇽🇰, they had China 🇨🇳, they had North Korea 🇰🇵, and they had Russia 🇷🇺. There was no room for Liberia 🇱🇷 in the US 🇺🇸's foreign policy agenda during the 90s, and made no attempt to make room for it. It was as if they just forgot it even existed, except for the US Ambassador to Liberia 🇺🇸🇱🇷, and other US diplomats 🇺🇸 assigned to Africa; specifically West Africa. Hell, they paid more attention to Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 than Liberia 🇱🇷, even though both wars were happening around the same time and involved many of the same people. But of course, it ultimately wasn't the US 🇺🇸 intervened in Sierra Leone 🇸🇱, it was the UK 🇬🇧.
But, regardless of those flaws, this is a documentary worth watching. As I said before, the documentary is age-restricted on YouTube, so I can only link you the video, and I can't show it on here. Oh, and another thing too is that the documentary originally aired in 2009, around the time that Taylor was on trial for war crimes in The Hague. It was uploaded to YouTube in 2012.
So, it is kind of old, but the information within is still valuable. I mean, Liberia 🇱🇷 today is still a pretty poor country, and still hasn't fully recovered from the civil wars even after all these years. So, Liberia 🇱🇷 is still pretty much the same today as it was back in 2009, when this documentary was made. It's only slightly better than it was back in the 2000s. It's still one of the poorest countries in the entire world, and things have improved very little, if at all since then.
—
—
Link to VICE's documentary the Cannibal Warlords of Liberia 🇱🇷:
Comments
Post a Comment