How U.S. Left Sierra Leone Tangled in a Curious Web. 1998: Clinton goes to Africa, promising an African Renaissance and greater U.S. involvement in the continent. 1999: U.S. brokers peace accord empowering rebels. 2000: U.S. invisible in the faltering peacekeeping effort. “When the Rev. Jesse Jackson, President Clinton’s special

envoy for democracy in Africa, came to West Africa to help

defuse the crisis, he was forced to cancel a stop in Sierra

Leone because he was not welcome.

Mr. Jackson was given the role of special envoy to Africa

after helping to keep the black vote solidly behind Mr.

Clinton in 1996. He is a vocal proponent of intervening in

Africa’s conflicts.

In May last year, Mr. Jackson criticized the administration for

protecting Kosovo Albanians but leaving Africans to defend

themselves so that Sierra Leone’s war was “fought in the

dark” for seven years.” [New York Times]