Talk:Charles Taylor (Liberia)

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    In 1989 Taylor launched an armed uprising from Ivory Coast. He came to power in 1990 after overthrowing and killing President Samuel Doe whose troops had been accused of civilian attrocities. Taylor had been appointed by Doe to run the General Services Agency but did jail time in a Massachusetts prison when Doe accused him of embezzeling almost US$ 1 million.


    Taylor's regime was legitimized when he became Liberia's president in a landslide poll victory in 1997. The vote may have been tainted by ballot-stuffing and intimidation of opponents.

    What title if any did Taylor have between 90 and 97? the article states he came to power in 90, but he became president in 97, what about Sawyer who is listed as Pres from 90-97 was he just a figure head or was he an opposing group that had international recongization ? User:Smith03

    The second-biggest rebel group is Movement for Democracy in Liberia [1]

    Could someone explain me what is ment by neighbouring country Nigeria? -- Inic

    It's nearby. They don't border but are part of the same region. Everyking 08:02, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

    Contents

    [edit] Number of Nigerian peacekeepers

    "The neighbouring nation of Nigeria also deployed dozens of troops to the country"

    I just watched a documentary (Liberia: An uncivil war) which claimed that about 700 Nigerian peacekeepers were deployed. I did a quick search and found this which says that initially 200 peacekeepers were deployed, and that 3250 was expected. Couldn't find anything on how many who were eventually deployed, but "dozens" might be understating it a bit. The History of Liberia article mentions the Nigerian peacekeepers, but doesn't say how many they were. 80.203.115.12 22:34, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

    There were two separate UN peacekeeping missions, each done partly in conjunction with an ECOWAS mission. The article on this topic (UNMIL)) is painfully incorrect, as I've noted on its talk page, and I plan to fix it up and break it into two articles as it should be since I am quite knowledgable about the topic. As of right now, I'm not sure of the answer to your question but Nigeria did send peacekeepers to both missions and had quite a bit more for the second mission. That probably has something to do with the confusion on this topic. The two missions were UNOMIL (1993-1997) and UNMIL (2003-Present). The first had an ECOWAS counterpart, the second one started out under ECOWAS and got taken over by the UN, if my memory serves me. I'll brush up on the subject tonight and fix the problem. --The Way 15:15, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Pat Robertson

    Has anybody got more information concerning why Pat Robertson tried to portray this loathesome dictator as some sort of persecuted hero? Sweetfreek 21:53, 10 November 2005 (UTC)

    If its mentioned at all, I think it should be done in passing, e.g. "He has spawned controversy, illiciting support from such notables as X, and larger outcry from X." Arvidius 09:21, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

    Pat Robertson owns (or owned) a gold mine in Liberia, among other properties in that country. I guess holy men of God need money too 195.7.34.195 13:50, 28 March 2006 (UTC) K.B.

    I've added a citation to the Virginian-Pilot article. However, the article is not sufficient for much of the current section on Pat Robertson. The content of this section should be edited and additional reliable sources provided. Alternatively, the content could be deleted, or greatly downsized, since it concerns Pat Robertson more than Charles Taylor. (I tend to agree with Arvidius's solution of mentioning Pat Robertson in passing, presuming that other notables did support Taylor.) -Scottwiki 05:50, 31 March 2006 (UTC)

    • Any objection to moving this Pat Robertson section between Rise to Power and End of Rule? As is, everything else is chronological, this is the only section that is out of place. GRuban 19:04, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
    Pat Robertson is not a key figure in the story of Charles Taylor. The progression "Rise to Power" - "Taylor and Pat Robertson" - "End of Rule" emphasizes Robertson all out of proportion to the story of Taylor and his rule in Liberia. I'm convinced now that Robertson should be mentioned in passing, if at all.
    (Charles Taylor may be a key figure in the story of *Pat Robertson,* since the Taylor connection is a notable controversy in Robertson's career. That justifies a section on Taylor in the Pat Robertson article. Taylor's importance to the article on Robertson doesn't mean that Robertson is important to the article on Taylor.) -Scottwiki 04:31, 1 April 2006 (UTC)

    The current version of the Pat Robertson section has a bad reference (14) in it. This referenced article is indeed about Pat Robertson, but does not mention Taylor, diamond mines, or the DA of Virginia. I've never written in Wiki; can someone address this? Is there a better reference?4.228.21.117 18:56, 24 December 2006 (UTC)Wisdomaspire

    [edit] Child Soldiers?

    The articles places no mention upon the army of over 20,000 child soldiers that Taylor had in the NPFL, and his methodologies of keeping them loyal. I know wikipedia has a very narrow index of child soldiery articles, but I think it is particularly relevant, especially with his involvement in Sierra Leone. Arvidius 09:23, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

    [edit] His middle name

    The article lists his middle name as Ghankay. I've heard some sources give McArthur as his middle name. Which is it?

    It appears that "Charles MacArthur Taylor" is an alias. See, for example, [2]. -Scottwiki 10:35, 29 March 2006 (UTC)
    I'm not sure, but I think MacArthur was his original middle name, and Ghankay was something he added later, perhaps for symbolic reasons because the name is African. Everyking 07:45, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Missing Information

    The article states "...controlled most of the country. Doe was overthrown, and tortured to death..." in the paragraph detailing one of the first uprisings he lead. Who the hell is Doe?

    Samuel Doe was a military dictator who performed a coup d'etat circa 1980 and who Charles Taylor worked for for three years before being exiled to the US. When Charles Taylor helped to start a civil war it was against the government of Samuel Doe.

    [edit] Charles Taylor is a frequent figure in numerous 419 scams ?

    Scams are exactly what the word says. 419 is a section in Nigerian law covering the practice. I have removed this note from article, pending proof: Note: Charles Taylor is a frequent figure in numerous 419 scams. Gregorydavid 14:02, 28 March 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Al Qaeda links?

    According to this article (http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0505/27/i_dl.01.html), it is claimed that prosecuters are accusing Taylor of aiding and abetting members of al Qaeda in an effort to destabilize the entire West African region. Worth mentioning, perhaps?

    Sure; it's probably nonsense, but the accusation is notable. Everyking 10:05, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] 419 scam

    i've received this mail today: Attn:

    I am one of the personal financial secretary/investment advicer to president Charles Taylor of Liberia who is presntly in United nation detention in Holland for trial.

    Dear, pls i need your foreign partnership to assist me invest in your country. I have interest in buying of shares in big companies,corporate orgenizations and real estate management and any other profitable business you may wish to recommend for me.

    I have with me $8.5M for this project. I realized the fund from sales we made in cash from liberia diamond and timber trades during the administration of president taylor. This money is presently with INTERNATIONAL BANK (LIBERIA) LIMITED My major problem now is the world national court and united nations has also decleared his TEN MAN COMMITEE WANTED WHICH I AM AMONG THEM, for judgement for his past rule to Liberian Government with his ten men commitee.

    Please view this websits for more proof:::::::::::::::::::::::FOR YOU ALONE.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taylor

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4860976.stm

    http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=8936

    As soon a s this money is transfered to you, i will come over immediately.send your direct phone number where i can reach for more discussions.pls keep this mail and transaction confidential for security reasons especially for my sake. YOU CAN ALSO CALL ME OR SEND SMS TEXT IMMEDIATELY ON MY PRIVATE NUMBER+234-8060016358.

    Best regards,


    Joy Mba.

    [edit] Renaming proposal

    Since the disambig page has 14 different "Charles Taylor" articles, why does the name go to this one guy? Seems to give him undue precedence. I thus propose renaming this article to "Charles G. Taylor" and renaming the disambig page to "Charles Taylor". Comments? Akradecki 20:38, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

    No objections, so I've made the move. Akradecki 22:30, 8 October 2006 (UTC)
    _ _ Moved to Charles Taylor (Liberia). He is virtually always called "Charles Taylor", so the initial is an contrived substitute for explicit disambiguation. Cases like this are what Dab'g is designed to do.
    _ _ Having Charles Taylor be his article was not as outrageous as your reasoning suggests: English speaking culture has given him substantial precedence over nearly all of the others by talking about him so much. But i for one need some context to know whether the name refers to the warlord or the philosopher, so even tho i suspect Google would show the warlord is far more notable, i have no objection to equal disambiguation.
    --Jerzy•t 22:48, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

    [edit] Escape from Massachusetts

    Many articles discussing Charles Taylor talk about the escape from Massachusetts as being a bit dodgy. They consistantly refer to the possibility of there being assistance from influential Americans interested in removing Doe from power.

    I was unable to find a solid reference discussing the issue which would allow the adding of this to the main article.

    Mentioned in:

    Lod 23:39, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

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