ABSTRACT
The so-called ‘Liberators’ played a deadly role in the Liberian civil war. They turned Liberia into a land where they dictated the affairs of the state with immense brutality and coercion. In order to enhance their grip on state power, these men and women created a human-made crisis in which they brought under their domain, the major natural resources of Liberia, notably timber and diamonds. The ‘Liberators’ could not have achieved this feat alone. Western European and East Asian ‘friends’ needed Liberian timber, while others wanted its diamonds. And so the major actor, Charles Taylor, became comfortable enough to create a paradise for loyal actors and accomplices who perpetrated heinous crimes against the Liberian populations with impunity. How did Liberia become a paradise for ruthless actors and lawless people (thugs)? What role did the major natural resources (rubber, timber and diamonds) play in the conflict?
