US embassy cable - 03OTTAWA2236

UNCLAS OTTAWA 002236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN, WHA/PDA 
WHITE HOUSE PASS NSC/WEUROPE, NSC/WHA 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OIIP, OPRC, CA 
SUBJECT:  MEDIA REACTION: LIBERIA 
 
 
LIBERIA 
1.   "Share the burden" 
The conservative National Post opined (8/1): "Liberia's 
14-year-old civil war may finally be ending. Last 
Wednesday, the country's giant neighbour, 
Nigeria, agreed to send 1,300 peacekeepers to help end 
hostilities.... On Monday, the European Union voiced 
support for a multilateral intervention -- but did not 
promise funding for it. Also on Monday, Ottawa pledged 
$1.75-million in humanitarian assistance to displaced 
Liberians. We find it interesting, however, that these 
moves came only after George W. Bush's July 4 decision 
to send military observers to the war-plagued nation. 
Two thousand U.S. Marines and three U.S. naval ships 
are now en route to West Africa. This sequence of 
events typifies the international community's standard 
operating procedure when it comes to humanitarian 
emergencies. It waits for the United States to agree to 
do the heavy lifting, and then parcels out the less 
onerous tasks. But U.S. manpower, capital and political 
will have limits. Washington cannot be expected to bear 
the burden of intervention during every crisis. What 
the world needs is what international relations 
theorists call 'burden sharing.' Responsibility for 
global public goods - such as international stability, 
or the care and feeding of refugees - must be be 
carried by a coalition of wealthy, Western states.... 
Today's burden shirking may exact a high price 
tomorrow. Isolationism always has a significant 
constituency in the United States. And if ordinary 
Americans gets the sense that their country's goodwill 
is being exploited by other nations, they will retreat 
from trouble spots like sub-Saharan Africa and the 
Balkans entirely - emerging only to fight wars that 
suit Washington's self-interest. The better strategy is 
for Europe and Canada to ante up now, before it's too 
late." 
 
CELLUCCI