From the BBC:
George Bush confirmed on Friday that he has ordered the US military “in limited numbers” to head into the area to support a West African peacekeeping mission. But it is still unclear precisely what the role of these forces will be, or how they will be deployed. A three-ship naval task forces headed by the amphibious helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima, with up to 2,000 US marines aboard, has been steaming across the Mediterranean to be in a position to respond to the president’s orders…
…It looks like US forces will be involved only in a support mission. They may not even set foot on Liberian soil in any significant numbers, but limit themselves to an offshore role. That may disappoint many of those who have been pressing for the Americans to take a lead. [“Uncertainties of US Liberia mission”, 25 July, 2003, BBC]
Recommended Reading: Foreign Policy and Self-Interest: Liberia Campaign Would Be a Moral Crime
A foreign policy based solely on America’s self-interest is not simply practical, but *moral*–which is why any “humanitarian” mission, such as the proposed campaign in Liberia, is a moral crime.