The Growing Crisis In Liberia

World attention last week focused on the escalating war between Israel and Hamas, then the shot down passenger plane in Ukraine.  A humanitarian disaster, however, has hit West Africa hard.  Over 700 have died in possibly the worst Ebola virus outbreak ever.  And the usual measures have not contained its spread. The coastal nation of Liberia has taken the most severe hits while adopting the most radical containment measures.

Ebola virus is one of the deadliest on earth.  It affects humans and other primates, such as gorillas and chimpanzees.  Four of the five strains can infect human beings. According to the Center For Disease Control, the virus first appeared in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976.  It appears, spreads rampantly for a time, then dies away only to return sporadically.  Ebola causes hemorrhagic fever, symptoms of which can appear anywhere from two to 21 days of infection. The disease has a very high rate of transmission and can spread by contact with bodily fluids.

Liberia, led by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has taken strong steps to stop the spread of the virus in her country. The descendant of American born slaves, who is also the first female to win a head of state or government election in Africa, closed almost all border checkpoints.  International flights to and from Liberia have mostly ceased.  The country also suspended soccer matches and even imposed regulations on how many people may ride in an elevator.  Liberia's government embarked on a campaign to increase awareness and encourage better hygiene.

Outbreaks have also occurred in neighboring Guinea and Sierra Leone.

One troubling aspect of the outbreak has been the infection of doctors treating the patients.  Liberia's most prominent expert in the virus, Dr. Samuel Brisbane, became infected at later died at Monrovia's John F. Kennedy Medical Center.  An American doctor and a North Carolina based missionary have also suffered infection.  A Ugandan doctor also died of the disease.

Liberia has a special relationship with the United States that few know about.  After the War of 1812, many Americans became troubled about continued use of slaves in the southern states.  The American Colonization Society, led in part by James Monroe and Chief Justice John Marshall, encouraged the emancipation of slaves and their return to Africa. They carved out a plot on the western coast, settled, organized an agriculture and trade based economy, and formed a government.  Liberia's capital, Monrovia, honors President James Monroe.  Another city is named after President James Buchanan.

As Europeans later in the century divided up Africa, US influence ensured that British, French, and German colonists stayed away from Liberia.  Occasionally, the US Navy would help its government put down revolts of the native African peoples.  A social divide between the natives and the Americo-Liberians remains to this day.

The country remains one of the poorest in the world. Today the Tennessee sized nation has about 4 million people. Its mining of ore and diamonds, plus natural rubber production and small scale agriculture, do not offset an unemployment rate of over 85 percent.  Decades of civil war and dictatorships ruined a once capable economy.  Democracy returned to Liberia after an Marine expedition sent in President George W. Bush's first term.  Johnson won election in 2005 and has remained in office ever since.  Her government's efforts to rebuild the shattered nation are seriously threatened by the disruptions caused by the Ebola outbreak.

Despite Liberia's efforts, the disease continues to defy attempts at control.

Our Dangerous World . . .

Just a few stories this week from a world grown increasingly terrifying . . .

Liberia has closed its border, quarantined many communities, and has seen even top experts stricken with the dreaded Ebola virus.  Sick officials made it onto international flights despite stringent precautions by the Liberian government.  West Africa has seen the most serious outbreak of the extremely contagious disease yet.  No end in sight.

Libya faces its worst violence since 2011, causing several nations to shut down their embassies there. The country's "fragile government and fledgling army" currently struggle to keep control of the capital's international airport.

War continues in Gaza.  Secretary of State John Kerry continues to undermine the cease fire agreement supported by Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority in an effort to kowtow to Hamas extremists.

Boko Haram crossed the Nigerian border, raiding Cameroon.  The terror group best known for kidnapping hundreds of young girls seized the wife of Cameroon's vice prime minister.  Cameroon has suffered three attacks from the terrorist group.

European Jews, particularly in France, are fearful of a continent wide spike in active anti-Semitism.  Could this produce an exodus from Europe to Israel and the United States?  An ambassador appointed by Hungary to represent that nation in Italy resigned after criticism of his "raging" anti-Semitism.

US intelligence officials released images that seem to show Russian artillery firing into Ukraine in support of separatists there.  This threatens to escalate the conflict into a full scale war between two of the European continent's largest nations. With Ukraine the home of some of Europe's most productive farmland, a full scale war could disrupt food supplies for millions.

While the female mutilation edict attributed to ISIS may be fake, Christians have fled areas under its control by the thousands. Islamicist officials have imposed prejudicial sanctions on Christians which have not existed in Iraq in generations.  Islamic State officials also ordered the destruction of the tombs of Jonah and Daniel, figures holy to the Jewish, Christian, and other faiths.

Meanwhile China, which has threatened the neighboring countries of Japan, Vietnam, and the Philippines in recent years, has accelerated its naval program. Iran also continues its quest for more effective weapons capable of hitting Europe and North America.