Military

DATE=7-15-03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=CONGRESS - LIBERIA (L ONITER)

NUMBER=2-305459

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell meets with members of the U-S Senate at the Capitol on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of sending U-S troops to Liberia. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: Many lawmakers would like the United States to play a role in securing peace in Liberia, a country founded by freed American slaves in the 19th century.

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But many also are hesitant about over-extending U-S forces, which are already heavily involved in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia is Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee:

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I am concerned our forces are stretched very thin world-wide.

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Lawmakers also do not want a repetition of what happened the last time the United States undertook a peacekeeping operation in Africa. It was a decade ago in Somalia, where 18 American troops were killed in a clash with local militias in Mogadishu.

Senators, including Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, have questions about the costs and the duration of any U-S peacekeeping mission in Liberia.

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Will the United States participation in the leadership over-stretch our resources? What are the costs? What commitments are we making? What is our exit strategy? What are our plans for the coordination of long-term stabilization efforts?

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President Bush Monday said he was open to sending U-S troops, but he said any deployment would be limited in size and scope.

The United States is under international pressure to send troops to enforce last month's cease-fire between forces loyal to President Charles Taylor and rebels fighting to oust him. West African nations have offered three-thousand troops and suggested the United States contribute two-thousand. (Signed)

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