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By Associated PressAs the fighting intensifies, the president stops short of saying Americans will be directly involved in a peacekeeping mission.
WASHINGTON - President Bush ordered U.S. troops into position off the coast of Liberia on Friday to support the arrival of a West African peacekeeping force, as renewed violence in the country's capital killed dozens.
The bloodiest barrage in days sent shells crashing into the U.S. Embassy grounds and a school packed with refugees in Monrovia, leaving people wondering why a long-awaited U.S. peace deployment was coming only after so high a toll.
Bush's order was broadcast over the radio as refugee families gathered broken bodies of men, women and children. All were victims of a daybreak mortar attack that killed at least 26 and wounded more than 200.
In Washington, Bush stopped short of saying the Americans would participate directly in a peacekeeping mission in Liberia, where rebels are trying to oust President Charles Taylor, a former warlord.
Pentagon officials said the only major troop movement in the works was the dispatching of three Navy ships carrying hundreds of Marines to the waters off the Liberian coast.
It was not clear whether the Marines would go ashore.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that until West African countries involved in the peacekeeping effort identify the specific forces they intend to send into Liberia, "we are going to continue to assess our role in supporting that force."
In New York, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Bush's announcement "a very positive development" that should accelerate the deployment of West African peacekeepers.
"I hope it will bring some relief to the people of Liberia," he said.
The U.S. troops' role and mission would be limited, Bush said, but he did not define either. He said he expected the United Nations to relieve the troops "in short order."
Bush and senior aides have indicated for some time that the United States probably would get involved. Liberia has a historical relationship with the United States as a country founded by former slaves.
"We're deeply concerned that the condition of the Liberian people is getting worse and worse and worse," Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden. "Aid can't get to the people. We're worried about the outbreak of disease."
"And so our commitment is to enable ECOWAS to go in," he said, referring to peacekeepers from the Economic Community of West African States. "And the Pentagon will make it clear over time what that means."
Bush said anew that Liberian President Taylor must leave.
The only word from the Pentagon Friday was on the movement of the three ships, led by the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship that is capable of carrying 1,900 Marines from the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, plus 30 helicopters and six to eight AV-8B Harrier fighter planes.
The Iwo Jima was in the Mediterranean, and officials said it would take several days to reach Liberia's coast. The other two ships that will join the Iwo Jima are the USS Nashville, an amphibious transport ship used to launch a landing force of Marines ashore, and the USS Carter Hall, which transports air-cushioned landing craft and other amphibious craft.
In the capital of Monrovia, a frantic crowd spilled into the streets near the U.S. Embassy after Friday's 10-minute pounding by up to 20 mortar rounds.
"I want to tell George Bush to do something hurriedly, very fast and quickly," cried Emmanuel Sieh, 28, part of a frantic crowd that spilled into the streets in front of the embassy.
"People are dying every day," Sieh said.
One shell Friday struck inside the U.S. Embassy compound, exploding harmlessly on rocky ground, a U.S. official inside said.
Other rounds wrought carnage among refugees, who have crowded around the embassy by the thousands in hope of protection through proximity to the Americans.
At the beginning of the attack, a shell slammed into a yard where two boys stood brushing their teeth, killing both. Blocks away, another shell crashed into the yard of a school where hundreds of people have taken refuge.
The round killed seven refugees outright; an eighth was reported dead at an international aid group's tent clinic.
At the school, wailing crowds surrounded the dead. Victims' flip-flops lay discarded, soaking in pools of blood. One body, that of a boy in his early teens, lay curled in a corner.
Cradling a 2-week-old baby, a woman sobbed uncontrollably next to a body bag holding the corpse of her sister, the child's mother.
"What do they want to achieve?" Peter Garwah, 27, cried out, before a new mortar round sent terrified survivors scrambling for cover under schoolhouse tables or pressing, screaming, against classroom walls.
"Innocent people are dying, not soldiers."
Taylor has offered to step down and accept haven in Nigeria, but has given no time frame and has suggested he would not leave until an international peacekeeping force is in place.
Blamed for 14 years of near perpetual conflict in Liberia, Taylor has retreated to his mansion by the sea, his forces battling to block insurgents from crossing bridges into downtown.
Taylor's government's welcome of Bush's announcement was grudging - and expressed annoyance at Bush's past demands that Taylor step down as part of any peace effort.
"We have always recognized that the United States is the superpower of the world and their presence in the international peacekeeping force in Liberia might make things easier to disarm the rebels," said Vaanii Paasawe, Taylor's spokesman.
Rebel leaders welcomed word of the American deployment, ordering their forces to cooperate with any Americans and to cease-fire. The rebels have repeatedly broken promises for a cease-fire, as have government forces.
"I think that's what all Liberians want to hear. We applaud that," rebel official Charles Benney said of the announced American deployment.
Who would go?The USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group would be moved from the Mediterranean Sea to waters off Liberia's coast, the Associated Press, citing a military official, reported. It will take several days to reach the coast.
More than 4,000 sailors and Marines are attached to the group, which includes:
USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship
USS Nashville, an amphibious transport dock
USS Carter Hall, a dock-landing ship
36 helicopters
Six AV-8B Harrier fighter jets
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a unit that can carry out special operations. It is designed to be the first on a scene in the event of crisis.
Amphibious Squadron 6, a planning and operations staff of up to 75.
- SOURCE: AP; Naval News Service; Global Security