Liberia, Aug. 20 -- Arresting a former Vice President took courage. Arresting the serving officers and officials still linked to the same network will take something harder: a willingness to point the law at people still inside the government's own house.

LET US SAY PLAINLY what deserves to be said plainly: Wednesday's arrest of Jewel Howard-Taylor was a serious act, and this newspaper credits the government for taking it. Stopping a former First Lady and Vice President at the airport, taking her to Liberia National Police headquarters, and charging her under the full weight of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Penal Law and the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law is not a symbolic gesture.

IT IS THE MOST CONSEQ...