John Hawkins has some interesting views on why many on the left support using troops in Liberia even though they opposed going into Iraq:
. . .the American left has a very different approach to using the military than the American right. Liberals believe that using America’s military to further American interests is immoral. Moreover, the idea that an American President would decide to use American troops to further American interests is so repugnant to the left that any good that might come out of that exercise of American power seems insignificant by comparison. So to lefties, using America’s military in places like Bosnia & Liberia is good because we have no real interests there, while using our military in places like Iraq & Grenada is bad — even if we do good work there as well — because we also benefit by our actions.
I’m sure there’s more to it that this, but Bill is surely on to something. Democrats lined up behind Bill Clinton when he wanted to use force in Somalia (round 2), Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, and other places that posed no threat to US vital interests but many of these same folks thought taking out Saddam was a bridge to far.
