The problem is that he will not accept any forgiveness without reward, and this means giving him the presidency. Whether such a man should be rewarded for destroying a country is a choice Liberians will have to make come May, 1997. Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis recently noted that the next president of Liberia must be reconciler, a healer of wounds. The truth, the naked truth, is that if any of the warlords, under any circumstance, becomes President, it will ignite new flames of war. None of them is a reconciler.
None can be a healer of wounds.
The proliferation of warring factions was the result of deep seated suspicions and fears of one warlord against the other. The warlords' decision to grudgingly embrace the democrat option was not voluntary. They had sought to rule Liberia through the barrel of the gun. That their option was rejected by the Liberian people and the international community has forced them to take a bitter, uncomfortable look at the ballot box. The scheduled elections will be between the men of guns on the one hand and civic society on the other.