mdpm99
07-11-2003, 12:05 AM
Bush Africa Policy: It's A Trip
Salih Booker is Executive Director of Africa Action, the oldest Africa advocacy organization in the United States.
President Bush’s first trip to Africa this week is intended to show a compassionate side to the Bush administration. It is designed to bolster Bush’s reputation as a president committed to ‘acts of mercy’ overseas. The president travels through Africa riding high on a sea of promises and new initiatives meant to show U.S. partnership with African efforts to address the continent’s most urgent challenges.
But the truth is that the Bush administration’s commitment to Africa is hollow. While the president claims he is taking real steps to respond to Africa’s priorities, the White House’s few new policy initiatives on AIDS and poverty are actually fictitious because they are going unfunded. What’s more, the policies the Bush administration is pursuing are simply antithetical to Africa’s interests. American unilateralism is at odds with African efforts to gain international cooperation in addressing the most urgent global priorities -- such as AIDS -- which have the most devastating consequences in Africa.
The United States defines the most urgent international priorities as weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. But African countries, and the majority of people in the rest of the world, are concerned less with these potential threats than with the more immediate threats to human security and global stability -- AIDS, poverty and civil conflicts. The divergent priorities of the Bush administration and the people of Africa should become apparent as President Bush travels through Africa this week.
The crisis in Liberia has grabbed the media spotlight and imposed itself on the president’s trip this week. The United States finds itself under increasing pressure to intervene and stop the violence, as part of a multilateral peacekeeping force. Bush has called for the removal of Liberian President Charles Taylor and has sent a team of investigators to examine the situation in Liberia, but he remains unwilling to make a real commitment to ensure a peaceful transition in that country, and stability in the larger region. Despite America’s unique historic ties with Liberia, the "hands-off" approach of the United States is undermining African peace-making initiatives so important to Africa’s people. This is true in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well.
In South Africa, President Bush visits ground zero of the global AIDS crisis, home to almost 5 million people living with HIV/AIDS. While Bush has made much of his commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa, centered around the "Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" announced in his State of the Union speech in January, this is becoming a cruel hoax at the expense of those on the front-lines fighting AIDS in Africa. The president requested no new money to fight AIDS in Africa this year, and only $450 million in new money for 2004. He has virtually side-stepped the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, thus undermining the most important vehicle in the war on AIDS in Africa. Despite his declarations -- that he is committing $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean -- Bush’s failure to take action now is tantamount to breaking his promise.
Far more significant to the Bush administration is the so-called war on terrorism. The military footprint of the United States has been growing, particularly in East Africa, where military bases and access to ports and airfields are considered of increasing strategic importance. Washington military concerns run counter to the efforts of Kenyans, Ugandans and others to combat poverty, HIV/AIDS and broader insecurity. The new $100 million anti-terrorism initiative recently announced by Bush will not even offset the money being lost by the tourist industry in Kenya as a result of frequent terror warnings from Washington.
President Bush visits Nigeria on the last leg of his tour. This is Africa’s most populous nation and the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States. However, Washington’s interests in West African oil have not translated into a commitment to Nigeria’s democracy or to its economic development. Nigeria’s efforts at poverty reduction are impossible under the burden of the $30 billion it owes in foreign debt. The refusal of the United States to support the cancellation of these debts reveals the absence of a real partnership between the United States and Africa’s superpower.
As President Bush travels through Africa, we must recognize the dichotomy between the global priorities of the Bush administration and those of Africa’s people. It is becoming clear that the Bush White House is willing to deal with Africa only on its own terms, defined by its interests in oil and in strategic military relations. The interests of Africa’s people, in fighting AIDS and poverty and promoting peace, are simply not being met. The real measure of President Bush’s commitment to Africa must be the reality of his policies, not the symbolism of a whirlwind trip.
Note: Africa Action:
http://www.africaaction.org/index.php
+
http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/web_article_display.cfm?ARTICLE_CATEGORY=GenIn&ARTICLE_ID=181439
[ July 11, 2003, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: david mancuso ]
Salih Booker is Executive Director of Africa Action, the oldest Africa advocacy organization in the United States.
President Bush’s first trip to Africa this week is intended to show a compassionate side to the Bush administration. It is designed to bolster Bush’s reputation as a president committed to ‘acts of mercy’ overseas. The president travels through Africa riding high on a sea of promises and new initiatives meant to show U.S. partnership with African efforts to address the continent’s most urgent challenges.
But the truth is that the Bush administration’s commitment to Africa is hollow. While the president claims he is taking real steps to respond to Africa’s priorities, the White House’s few new policy initiatives on AIDS and poverty are actually fictitious because they are going unfunded. What’s more, the policies the Bush administration is pursuing are simply antithetical to Africa’s interests. American unilateralism is at odds with African efforts to gain international cooperation in addressing the most urgent global priorities -- such as AIDS -- which have the most devastating consequences in Africa.
The United States defines the most urgent international priorities as weapons of mass destruction, nuclear proliferation and terrorism. But African countries, and the majority of people in the rest of the world, are concerned less with these potential threats than with the more immediate threats to human security and global stability -- AIDS, poverty and civil conflicts. The divergent priorities of the Bush administration and the people of Africa should become apparent as President Bush travels through Africa this week.
The crisis in Liberia has grabbed the media spotlight and imposed itself on the president’s trip this week. The United States finds itself under increasing pressure to intervene and stop the violence, as part of a multilateral peacekeeping force. Bush has called for the removal of Liberian President Charles Taylor and has sent a team of investigators to examine the situation in Liberia, but he remains unwilling to make a real commitment to ensure a peaceful transition in that country, and stability in the larger region. Despite America’s unique historic ties with Liberia, the "hands-off" approach of the United States is undermining African peace-making initiatives so important to Africa’s people. This is true in Sudan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well.
In South Africa, President Bush visits ground zero of the global AIDS crisis, home to almost 5 million people living with HIV/AIDS. While Bush has made much of his commitment to fighting AIDS in Africa, centered around the "Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief" announced in his State of the Union speech in January, this is becoming a cruel hoax at the expense of those on the front-lines fighting AIDS in Africa. The president requested no new money to fight AIDS in Africa this year, and only $450 million in new money for 2004. He has virtually side-stepped the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, thus undermining the most important vehicle in the war on AIDS in Africa. Despite his declarations -- that he is committing $15 billion to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean -- Bush’s failure to take action now is tantamount to breaking his promise.
Far more significant to the Bush administration is the so-called war on terrorism. The military footprint of the United States has been growing, particularly in East Africa, where military bases and access to ports and airfields are considered of increasing strategic importance. Washington military concerns run counter to the efforts of Kenyans, Ugandans and others to combat poverty, HIV/AIDS and broader insecurity. The new $100 million anti-terrorism initiative recently announced by Bush will not even offset the money being lost by the tourist industry in Kenya as a result of frequent terror warnings from Washington.
President Bush visits Nigeria on the last leg of his tour. This is Africa’s most populous nation and the fifth largest supplier of oil to the United States. However, Washington’s interests in West African oil have not translated into a commitment to Nigeria’s democracy or to its economic development. Nigeria’s efforts at poverty reduction are impossible under the burden of the $30 billion it owes in foreign debt. The refusal of the United States to support the cancellation of these debts reveals the absence of a real partnership between the United States and Africa’s superpower.
As President Bush travels through Africa, we must recognize the dichotomy between the global priorities of the Bush administration and those of Africa’s people. It is becoming clear that the Bush White House is willing to deal with Africa only on its own terms, defined by its interests in oil and in strategic military relations. The interests of Africa’s people, in fighting AIDS and poverty and promoting peace, are simply not being met. The real measure of President Bush’s commitment to Africa must be the reality of his policies, not the symbolism of a whirlwind trip.
Note: Africa Action:
http://www.africaaction.org/index.php
+
http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/web_article_display.cfm?ARTICLE_CATEGORY=GenIn&ARTICLE_ID=181439
[ July 11, 2003, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: david mancuso ]