Bush Approves Support Forces in Liberia

President Bush has approved a small contingent of U.S. troops to coordinate logistical support for West African peacekeeping forces in Liberia.

A senior administration official speaking Tuesday on condition of anonymity said Bush approved the contingent of six-10 U.S. troops Tuesday morning and that they could enter Liberia as early as Wednesday.

The team could grow to as large as 20 in coming days, but should not be seen as a vanguard of a larger force, the official said.

The authorization was made on the recommendation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

The defense official who also discussed the deployment on condition of anonymity said the team would report back to the U.S. commander aboard the three-ship amphibious ready group that has been standing by in the waters off Liberia.

The USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship and USS Carter Hall amphibious landing dock were within 100 miles of Liberia’s coast Tuesday. The amphibious transport dock USS Nashville was moving toward Liberia and expected to join the others Wednesday.

The West African peacekeepers are already bringing a measure of calm to the country. African nations and the United Nations have urged the United States to participate in the force, citing its historic ties with the nation founded by freed slaves in the mid-19th century.

Bush has said that Liberian President Charles Taylor must leave Liberia. Taylor, then a warlord, launched the civil war in 1989 that has ravaged the tiny nation. One of his conditions for leaving is U.S. participation in a peacekeeping force.