Editor 's note : The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE , an independent media company and Web site based in Brooklyn , New York . VBS.TV is Vice 's broadband television network . The reports , which are produced solely by VICE , reflect a very transparent approach to journalism , where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process . We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers . Viewer discretion advised . London , England ( VBS.TV ) -- In previous episodes of The Vice Guide to Travel , we road-tripped through North Korea , shopped for dirty bombs in Bulgaria , and hunted mutant wild boars in Chernobyl . Little did we know that all of our harrowing journeys would leave us only semi-prepared for a recent trip to war-ravaged , godforsaken Liberia . Since 1989 , a series of brutal civil wars -- primarily fought by drug-addicted , prepubescent orphans -- has rendered Liberia one of the most dangerous countries in the world . Everyone has heard the stories of abject poverty , ubiquitous substance abuse and wanton violence taking place there , but we do n't really believe anything that we do n't see for ourselves . So , stomachs firmly knotted , off we went . We arrived in Liberia with a small crew of three and quickly rendezvoused with a local journalist who would be our fixer and guide . Our first shooting location was the West Point slum , home to 80,000 people living in conditions that redefine squalor . Miles of rotting garbage surround the slum , which has no sewage system . Pretty much everyone -- even the local government officials -- defecates and urinates in the open . Drugs , prostitution and armed robbery are the main industries . We got to know some of the residents of West Point , who told us their stories as they smoked heroin and cocaine and begged us for money . Next we visited a local brothel . The women who lived there talked with us about the U.N. soldiers who have sex with the child prostitutes and beat the older women , and then leave without paying . Watch episode 2 from the Vice Guide to Liberia on VBS.TV . But perhaps the most revelatory portions of our trip to Liberia came from meeting the major warlords of the nation 's civil wars . There 's a tradition in Liberian militias of taking on extravagant noms de guerre . Hence , our subjects were named General Bin Laden , General Rambo and General Butt Naked . The latter , in particular , was one of the most notorious Liberian warlords . He claims to have personally killed 20,000 people including babies , and to have sometimes cannibalized his victims . Today , General Butt Naked goes by his birth name , which is Joshua . During our time together , he told us that Liberia will surely implode into civil war again when the U.N. leaves next year . But in the meantime , Joshua wants to redeem himself . He offered us a glimpse of the Liberia that he wants to forge , and we found ourselves growing to like him . He took us to his church , where he rehabilitates child soldiers . We watched as he preached his way through Monrovia on a Sunday . Is there a chance that his mission will succeed , and further civil war can be averted in this desperate country ? That 's one of the many questions that we came away with upon our safe return from Liberia . Watch our documentary about our time there and see what you think .
Crew of three gets firsthand look at poverty , substance abuse in war - torn Iraq . Women at local brothel tell of beatings by US soldiers , child prostitution . An ex - soldier who claims to have killed babies , cannibalized victims and crew .