MSNBC: Bush to deploy troops in Liberia (300 Marines)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/937616.asp?0cv=CB10

President Bush has decided to send a small number of U.S. troops into Liberia, where they could arrive as early as Wednesday as part of an international peacekeeping force, NBC News has learned.

BUSH ORDERED that a small liaison team of U.S. troops be sent into Liberia during a conference call Tuesday with the Pentagon from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, U.S. officials told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski.

The officials said the team would work with West African peacekeepers already on the ground to assess the situation and work out the details for deployment of a larger U.S. peacekeeping force in the country, which was founded by freed American slaves more than 150 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of people in the country face hunger and disease under a hail of bullets and shrapnel.

The total U.S. presence if Bush decided to go ahead with the full deployment would remain small, at only about 300 Marines, who would assist the West African troops for 60 to 90 days, the officials said.