Liberia: An Uncivil War

In the summer of 2003, the lengthy power struggle between the rebel movement Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and government leader Charles Taylor (indicted by the United Nations for crimes against humanity) reaches its climax with the imminent capture of the Liberian capital Monrovia. Taylor promises to step down, but only after the arrival of a stabilising peacekeeping force. The rebels also say they will welcome peacekeepers. All hope is pinned on the United States. Liberia was founded by former American slaves, the constitution was written at Harvard University and the flag is a simplified version of the Stars & Stripes. But the strategic interest in Liberia vanished after the Cold War. Co-Directors Jonathan Stack and James Brabazon film on both sides of the conflict. Stack is in Monrovia, where he interviews Taylor, follows inhabitants (including a teacher and the archbishop) and films in the hospital and the sports stadium with thirty thousand refugees, while more and more bullets whiz past his ears. Brabazon is with the rebels, mostly boys, on their way to Monrovia. Rebel leader Sekov Domate Conneh tells him, “The battle is going to begin today. I’m going to pass the order now!” With occasionally shocking images, he captures the seizure of Monrovia, the fighting and pillaging, from up-close.