A West African military reconnaissance team arrived in Monrovia today as explosions and gunfire continued to rock the Liberian capital. The group will assess conditions in the war-torn country to prepare for the deployment of regional peacekeepers. U.S. marines are stationed off the coast of the west African country, but the Pentagon says it's too early say if American troops will take part in a ground effort. President Bush has demanded that President Charles Taylor leave Liberia before he'll consider sending in the U.S. military. For decades, western Africa has been a battleground for warlords seeking control of the continent's diamonds, oil, and other resources. Millions of Africans have died in the conflicts. Dr. Willie Roberts marched to the U-S embassy in Monrovia in 1990 to ask for U-S intervention in Liberia and is once again pleading for United States to help stabilize his native land. The Minnesota resident lived through Liberia's bloody seven-year war. He says he was naively optimistic that the election of President Taylor in 1997 would bring stability to his homeland.