After the death of the Liberian tyrant Doe, did the country's political scene return to purity?
Clearly not.
Liberia did not usher in peaceful development afterward. On this disaster-stricken land, different factions and forces fought for power and their own goals. A civil war lasting up to seven years resulted in 150,000 deaths and 850,000 refugees, completely destroying Liberia's economy.
The people's lives became even more miserable.
In 1996, Liberia's GDP fell to $132 million. Charles Taylor, who had previously overthrown Doe, was forced to resign after seven years as president...
On October 1, 2003, United Nations peacekeeping troops took over Liberia, beginning to disarm the various armed factions in the civil war.
On August 18, 2003, the interim government and all political parties and clubs signed the Accra Peace Agreement, and in mid-October, a National Transitional Government was formed.
Charles Gyude Bryant was nominated as Chairman of the National Transitional Government and was sworn in on October 14th.
On December 27, 2017, George Weah, representing the Coalition for Democratic Change, defeated the candidate from the Unity Party and incumbent Vice President Joseph Boakai, becoming Liberia's new president.
Yes, you read that correctly. The current president of Liberia is the famous football star from back then.
George Weah started his football career in Liberia at the age of 14.
In 1987, Weah transferred to Cameroon's Tonnerre Yaoundé football club.
In 1988, Weah entered the European league, joining France's Ligue 1 club AS Monaco, later playing for Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Chelsea, Manchester City, and Marseille.
In 2001, Weah transferred to Al-Jazira Club in the UAE.
During his professional career, Weah won two Serie A titles, one Ligue 1 championship, one English FA Cup, and in 1995, he swept both the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year individual honors.
In 2003, Weah announced his retirement.
In 2017, this football star became Liberia's 25th president.
And in 2018, this very year, George Weah encountered major trouble.
Perhaps humanity is indeed forgetful.
The Liberian people who had violently overthrown the "Tyrant" Doe, dissatisfied with their current impoverished lives, began brewing another riot.
And their chosen leader was the former tyrant Doe's nephew, Matthew Doe.
They eliminated one Doe, only to find another Doe.
War broke out again.
George Weah had a terrible headache and was utterly terrified.
Having lived for many years in the civilized world of Europe, he had no fondness for the savagery and cruelty of this country, especially when that savagery could very well be directed at him.
So he decided to seek help.
He initially wanted to ask for assistance from Africa's "hegemon," Egypt, but Egypt was too far away.
Then he wanted to seek help from the West African power Mali, but Mali indicated they were still dealing with internal conflicts themselves and couldn't help him.
Finally, he thought of Guinea, the West African small country that had developed extremely rapidly over the past decade.
"Liberia is asking us to send troops to help eliminate their internal rebellion?"
Martin looked surprised.
Then his eyes lit up.
Like Guinea once was, although Liberia is one of the world's least developed countries, its mineral resources are very rich.
It has large reserves of iron ore, as well as abundant diamonds, gold, bauxite, copper, lead, manganese, zinc, nickel, barite, and sapphire resources.
Moreover, the country is very suitable for cultivating rice and cassava. Before the civil war broke out, it was once a rice-exporting country.
"Granary" + "Abundant Mineral Resources" = Must be taken over.
...
September 12, 2018.
Conakry Air Base, Guinea.
Delta wing, all-moving tailplane with 23° downward deflection, leading-edge slats with 12° deflection on the outer wing sections, auxiliary air intake ramps with splitter plates, variable-sweep wing configuration... Parked on the runway was the fighter jet Guinea imported from the USA—the F-4 Phantom.
Sitting in the wide bubble canopy cockpit, Colonel Lazraq Lies "lay" in the ejection seat, carefully checking all the instruments.
Colonel Lazraq Lies was the pilot of this "F-4 Phantom."
This former Iraqi Air Force Captain was now a Guinean Air Force Major, commander of the 165th Fighter Squadron.
Although the Phantom fighter jet was like the difference between a tractor and a Mercedes-Benz compared to the latest F-16, Colonel Lazraq Lies was still very satisfied with his mount.
At least it was much easier to handle than the Soviet-made MiG-29 he previously piloted. Soviet fighter aircraft avionics were considerably behind Western fighters, with many aspects requiring manual control by the pilot.
And in air combat, a one-second delay often meant the aircraft being destroyed and the pilot lost.
During the Saddam era, Iraq was the premier air power in the Middle East, possessing hundreds of fighter jets, and even independently developed and equipped large Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft and other special models.
However, Iraq not purchasing American fighter jets had its reasons (at the time, Iraq was largely equipped with Soviet MiG-29s and Chinese-made F-7M fighters). Although American fighters had the best performance at the time, they were also the most complex structurally and had the highest maintenance costs, but that wasn't the main issue.
Iraq wasn't short of money back then.
The important thing was that the relatively harsh climatic environment of the Middle East, especially the massive sandstorms, was not friendly to such sophisticated American fighter jets.
In 1998, the US signed an agreement with Iraq to provide 36 F-16 fighter jets.
In 2002, Iraq's Balad Air Base finally welcomed its first F-16 fighter. A total of 34 were supplied, with two lost during training in the US.
The US provided Iraq with F-16IQ fighter jets, based on the US Air Force's F-16C/D Block 52, including 30 single-seat fighters and 4 two-seat combat trainer aircraft, forming the Iraqi Air Force's 9th Fighter Squadron.
The F-16IQ inherited the advanced features of the F-16C/D Block 52, capable of mounting conformal fuel tanks above the wings. The two-seat version also had a raised spine structure to accommodate new avionics equipment, and the pilot was equipped with a Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System.
However, the Americans tinkered with the aircraft, providing only a basic version.
They stripped this batch of fighters of their beyond-visual-range (BVR) combat capability, preventing them from firing AIM-120 AMRAAM radar-guided air-to-air missiles. The air-to-air missiles provided to the Iraqi Air Force were the older AIM-9M, making their air combat capability even inferior to the Iraqi Air Force's previously equipped Soviet MiG-29s.
In terms of air-to-ground attack capability, the US mainly provided Iraq with MK-82 unguided bombs, with very limited supplies of air-to-surface missiles and laser-guided bombs.
The US move was clearly intended to prevent the Iraqi Air Force from posing a threat to their ally, Israel.
But when the advanced American fighters entered Iraq, they couldn't adapt to the climate. Due to the annual sandstorm season, within a year, only 7 of the 34 fighter jets were airworthy, often requiring cannibalizing parts from other aircraft for maintenance.