The civilian target in Sierra Leone and Liberia: Political power, military strategy, and humanitarian intervention

Abstract

This article traces one of the logics of the ongoing war in the Mano River region of West Africa. It argues that, in the wake of humanitarian interventions in Sierra Leone, combatants who moved on to fight in Liberia were more likely to use attacks against civilians in their military strategy. It suggests, however, that such tactical military choices are to be understood in terms of local contexts of meaning, most notably about the nature of political power. The author's own ethnographic work with the kamajor militia in Sierra Leone and with Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in Liberia serves as the basis for this analysis, and he advocates a participant-observation field methodology for the study of contemporary conflict. 'VIOLENCE', WRITES THE SIERRA LEONE SCHOLAR YUSUF BANGURA, 'does not have only one logic, but several.'' In what follows, I trace one of those logics of war in the African postcolony: from humanitarian interventions to attacks on civilian targets. In doing so, I make two points. First, that in the Mano River region of West Africa, humanitarian interventions have led combatants to employ atrocities against civilians increasingly as a military tactic, making the bodies and futures of non-combatants a crucial terrain of the frontline. Second, this logic can only be understood if we simultaneously consider the local context of meaning in which such tactics are deployed, most notably cultural constructions regarding the nature of political power. Humanitarian interventions are now an integral component of African conflicts. Despite the legitimate criticisms of observers of African affairs Danny Hoffman is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. He is currently researching the kamajor militia and their role in the wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia. For their input to various versions of this article, he wishes to thank Charles Piot, Orin Starn, Scott Straus, Benjamin Valentino and Elizabeth Woods, as well as two anonymous referees. 1. Yusuf Bangura, 'Understanding the political and cultural dynamics of the Sierra Leone war: a critique of Paul Richards' Fighting for the Rainforest', African Development XXII, 3/4 (1997), p. 130.