The west African state of Liberia comes at the very bottom of the United Nations' list of countries ranked by various indices of development. It has been devastated by 14 years of almost continuous civil war, in which an estimated 250,000 people have been killed and 1.3 million uprooted. As a result, devastation and misery are everywhere to be seen.
This is a dangerous environment, but one that has started to respond to international intervention in recent months. In that context, the Dáil has agreed to allow a motorised infantry battalion from Ireland, comprising 430 members, to participate in the United Nations Mission to Liberia, UNMIL. The 15,000-strong peacemaking force will be drawn from 20 countries. Its main tasks are to enforce a ceasefire between government forces and two rebel factions, demobilise and disarm tens of thousands of rebels (many of them teenagers who have killed and raped civilians), and thus create an environment in which reconstruction can begin and the country can be prepared for elections in 2005.
The Irish contingent will be used at first to prepare the way for establishing a UN presence in the jungle areas outside the capital, Monrovia. It will then operate as the force commander's rapid reaction reserve. Initially, the deployment is for a year, but it is expected that the force could be there for up to four years. Irish officers will have leading roles in commanding it.
As the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has pointed out: "This mission is not about risk. The situation on the ground is highly volatile." The Government has undertaken the deployment following a specific request from the UN. According to Fine Gael's Mr Jimmy Deenihan, speaking in the Dáil debate on Irish participation, this will be the most dangerous UN mission undertaken by Irish troops since the Congo mission in 1960. Most of the other UN deployments have been in peacekeeping rather than peacemaking forces.
It is not surprising that Defence Forces representative organisations have expressed concern about troop safety in these circumstances. Medical facilities will be especially important. But there have been few, if any, voices expressing disapproval of the Government's decision. It is an important commitment and one which will absorb most of the Army's overseas capacity.
As the troops prepare to deploy in Liberia they deserve public support for this difficult assignment. Irish people can be proud that the Army should be entrusted with such a worthwhile and potentially effective as well as dangerous task.