Russ Feingold: “Situations like Liberia--and indeed other conflicts that have not been resolved by post-cold-war politics--demand…”

“Situations like Liberia--and indeed other conflicts that have not been resolved by post-cold-war politics--demand creative responses by the international community. Liberia poses challenges that do not fall under the traditional definitions of United States national security, but they do include threats to our well-being and national interests. For instance, as Liberian refugees spill over into Guinea, the stresses on some of the last remaining tropical rainforest in West Africa become untenable, and the rainforest shrinks, causing shortages of resources, food, and medicine. Large concentrations on refugees and displaced persons also heighten potential for outbreaks of disease. One case of Ebola or typhoid in a refugee camp, and we have a humanitarian disaster that can spread anywhere in just a plane ride. Unfortunately, our option is not to pull out of Liberia and wash our hands of the problem: because of regional ramifications and threats of disease and environmental degradation, the issue is whether we meet the challenge of Liberia, or invest more after more destruction in the tragedies that would unravel in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote D'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, and perhaps elsewhere in West Africa. So, Mr. President, we don't really have a choice: the problem is maintaining stability in West Africa, whether we call it Liberia or Burkina.”