Add to that the fact that Liberia is a former US "colony" and the symbolism is powerful, at least as powerful as symbols can be.
As I understand it, in terms of troops on the ground, France is now _the_ neo-imperial power in Africa.
"France Seeks to Widen Influence in Africa"
Julio Godoy
PARIS, Jun 17 (IPS) - "France is looking to spread its influence in Africa through peacekeeping operations, analysts say.
France has deployed more than 11,000 soldiers in countries such as Chad, Djibouti, the Cote d'Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the latest mission, about a thousand French soldiers arrived in Bunia, in the north-east of Congo earlier this month as a part of a UN (United Nations) force that aims to halt the ethnic war in the region.
French soldiers are playing a similar role in the Cote d'Ivoire, torn by civil war since September 2002. About 4,000 French soldiers monitor an unofficial line that separates areas controlled by government and rebel forces.
Some 300 French soldiers are also deployed in the Central African Republic since March, following the military coup that deposed President Angel Felix Patassé. The official mission of the French troops is to evacuate foreigners in case of a crisis.
The French military intervened in Liberia last week to evacuate about 600 Western citizens after violence threatened capital Monrovia.
Besides such interventions, France has permanent military bases in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, in Senegal, Chad, and Gabon.
The conflicts in Africa have presented an opportunity to re-establish a diplomatic balance vis-à-vis the United States and Britain after the Iraq crisis, says Henri Vernet, diplomatic correspondent with the daily newspaper Le Parisien."
[the rest at]
http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=18819