Good afternoon. I appear before you today at one of the bleakest moments in Liberia's history. Monrovia, once a safe haven for more than 1 million civilians, lies in ruins, the result of fierce fighting by Charles Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia— NPFL— and Alhaji Kromah's United Liberation Movement for Democracy— ULIMO-K— rebels against Roosevelt Johnson's break-away faction of ULIMO— ULIMO-J, comprised primarily of ethnic Krahns. More than 80,000 Liberians have been left homeless. Thousands have fled or are trying to flee the fighting in the capital. At least 100 peacekeepers have lost their lives attempting to restore security in the city and its environs. At this point we do not know how many Liberian fighters and civilians have been killed.