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It's really just my guess, but I think Liberia is not important enough to capture the attention of the neocons or other high level shrub functionaries. When a country is not important, its diplomacy tends to be run by career professionals at the State Department.
At the State Department, there has developed over the last 10 years a strong consensus to support West Africa's strongest state -- namely Nigeria -- and West African multilateral organizations -- namely ECOWAS, Economic Community of West Africa -- to solve the Liberia problem.
Nigeria made a lot of missteps in the early 1990s, but since Nigeria elected as president, former General Obasanjo -- a really good guy, a kind of west African Mandela, former political prisoner and the only military leader of Nigeria ever to voluntarily return the country to civilian rule -- they've done a pretty good job at trying to bring stability to the region.
If State's solution involves sending a few Marines to support ECOWAS troops, the Pentagon will usually go along.
I wouldn't credit this to bush, but the career professionals at the West Africa desk of the State Department.
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