It's a conundrum isn't it? Iraq and Liberia. One country we have invaded with a "clear and compelling" mission, that we are finding out now may not have been either so clear or compelling. The reasons that the 1600 Crew put out there were not, let's be charitable for a minute, straightforward. In the eyes of the world we are now the only superpower. We're also the biggest bully in the yard, and the world seems to believe that we don't want to play well with others. We are losing soldiers in Iraq, and I have this feeling, that no matter what happens their losses will not be mourned outside our country. Because of our attitude, because of the falsehoods of our leadership in getting into Iraq, and because of the general perception that we are all about a Twenty-first Century Neo-colonialism that's not sitting well with both our allies and our stateless enemies.

Liberia offers us a chance to overcome some of that perception. Both sides of that long-running bloody civil war seem to want outside intervention. They are asking us to take a leadership role in the stabilization of their country. What does this entail? I can't tell you, but I know that if we can stop the killing, then we can perhaps begin a process that might lead to peace, self-reliance and ultimately self-government for a country whom we have more in common with than many third world countries we have poured resources into in years past.

Doing the "right thing" in Liberia will not be unilateral either, some of our European allies are willing to work with us there, even when they are less than willing to do that in Iraq. We should take them up on that, it may be a first step to building coalitions of peacekeepers where everyone wins. If we do the "right thing" in Liberia with the expectation of no "quid pro quo", we are serving our long-term national interests as surely as if we could destroy 51% of Al-Qaida tomorrow. And we'll be the better for it.