VICE documentary. The cannibal warlords of Liberia

[jmdrake]

Could this be why Ebola is so rampant there?

[specsaregood]

fascinating, those vice guys have balls.
The full length version is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRuSS0iiFyo

[Brian4Liberty]

It is entertaining, and I certainly enjoy the fact that they go into some dangerous places to film, but there is a certain amount of spin going on here.

First, they claim that Samuel Doe was this wonderful President that was the first "native" elected President, and that he was overthrown by US agents.

It doesn't seem to be as simple as that. It is a far cry from this recollection of events:

Samuel Doe takes power in coup (1980)

Samuel Doe had taken power in a popular coup in 1980 against William R. Tolbert, becoming the first Liberian President of non Americo-Liberian descent. Doe established a military regime called the People's Redemption Council and enjoyed early support from a large number of indigenous Liberian tribes who had been excluded from power since the founding of the country in 1847 by freed American slaves.

Any hope that Doe would improve the way Liberia was run was put aside as he quickly clamped down on opposition, fueled by his paranoia of a counter-coup attempt against him. As promised, Doe held elections in 1985 and won the presidency by just enough of a margin to avoid a runoff. However, international monitors condemned this election as fraudulent.
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_...oup_.281980.29

1980 coup, new government

Commanding a group of Krahn soldiers, Master Sergeant Samuel Doe led a military coup on 12 April 1980 by attacking the Liberian Executive Mansion and killing President William R. Tolbert, Jr. Twenty-six of Tolbert's supporters were also killed in the fighting. Thirteen members of the Cabinet were publicly executed ten days later. Shortly after the coup, government ministers were walked publicly around Monrovia in the nude and then summarily executed by a firing squad on the beach.[3] Hundreds of government workers fled the country, while others were imprisoned.

After the coup, Doe assumed the rank of general and established a People's Redemption Council (PRC) composed of himself and 14 other low-ranking officers to rule the country. The early days of the regime were marked by mass executions of members of Tolbert's deposed government.
...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Doe

[Brian4Liberty]

A second criticism of this Vice report.

In defense of Liberia, in almost any nation, you can go to a poor and dangerous area, and then make it seem as if that is the norm. They went to a place like that in Liberia. Unfortunately, in many third world nations, slums develop around garbage dumps, where some people scavenge. In this particular area, it was also a place with severe drug use. Add on top of that the recent civil wars which increases violence and you have an place that is pretty awful. Hints later on in the documentary by the infamous General Butt Naked indicates that these Vice guys were going places that no normal Liberian would dare to go.

They could go to a dangerous and poor neighborhood anywhere and make it dramatic. And if that is what they focus on, they leave the impression that it applies to the entire nation. "Here we are at midnight in (the worst neighborhood of) Detroit, walking the streets looking for prostitutes and drug dealers. The smell is awful. It was amazing we escaped with our lives!"

[CPUd]

You could go into the really bad parts of Detroit looking for hookers and blow, but you will probably only find rats and stray dogs.

[jmdrake]

While there are dangerous places in the U.S. I don't know of any public beaches here where you are are about as likely to find human feces as you are a seashell. And I guess my point to this, in the wake of the Ebola crisis, is that the extreme poverty and lack of sanitation is likely the reason for Ebola taking off like it is.

[specsaregood]

While there are dangerous places in the U.S. I don't know of any public beaches here where you are are about as likely to find human feces as you are a seashell. And I guess my point to this, in the wake of the Ebola crisis, is that the extreme poverty and lack of sanitation is likely the reason for Ebola taking off like it is.

I liked how they said it used to be referred to "little America"... one has to wonder if this is what parts of our future look like.

[Brian4Liberty]

While there are dangerous places in the U.S. I don't know of any public beaches here where you are are about as likely to find human feces as you are a seashell. And I guess my point to this, in the wake of the Ebola crisis, is that the extreme poverty and lack of sanitation is likely the reason for Ebola taking off like it is.

It will certainly make it worse. Especially the close quarters, population density and lack of sanitation in those slums.

[jmdrake]

I liked how they said it used to be referred to "little America"... one has to wonder if this is what parts of our future look like.

Thank you for posting the entire documentary. It was inspiring to hear the conversion of "General Butt Naked". It literally sounded like a Saul/Paul on the Damascus road experience. I hope nothing like that ever happens here. For those talking about Detroit, there is no comparison unless you know places where you can't be sure the ribs you are buying are beef, pork, or human.

[DFF]

There's nothing wrong with the country of Liberia. But with the population, there is something very wrong.

What civilized people $#@! on their own beach, fight each other in the nude, and eat the hearts of children?

Nothing good has ever come from American or European intervention in Africa. It has always ended in failure at best and disaster at worst.

[FindLiberty]

Grim stuff - Yikes!

[DFF]

More cannibalism in Uganda.