Bush Gets Africa Right
President Bush is not the smartest man ever to occupy the Oval Office, and his own mother would likely not argue the point, but he has a practical reasoning that has helped him fail upward in life. America's Africa policy seems about to benefit from this where more intellectual presidents have been unwilling, uninterested or unable to address the continent's needs, and America's as well.
Before his trip as the first Republican President to visit Africa (shame), Mr. Bush had already done more than his predecessors in focusing his energies on AIDS and development. The two are horribly intertwined south of the Sahara. And although he and Nelson Mandela (who was convicted once of planting a bomb by a racist government), were unable to patch together a photo-op, Mr. Bush may wind up being the most popular western leader there.
Bush's interest is not part of a geopolitical global view, as the man hasn't got one, but rather it is based on a few simple facts. First, Nigeria is awash in oil that OPEC does not control. Second, southern Africa has natural riches that can be had for a song since the indigenous population can likely be convinced to sell on favorable terms. Third, too many African countries are socio-economic basketcases that will eventually fall into civil war, which could lead to
drug
smuggling, money laundering and terrorism. In other words, there are things to do and things to prevent that will all help the people Mr. Bush was selected by the Supreme Court to help.
However, it is the height of foolishness to think that because his motives are questionable his actions must be bad for Africans. A policy that results in American power, wealth and technology being used to benefit Africans can not all bad. Mr. Bush probably has it wrong on lecturing Africans on abstinence as a solution to AIDS, but he also seems to be genuinely concerned about getting help to the AIDS orphans -- man has Christian instincts to go with his religion. One hopes that his habit of failing upward marks a permanent change in US-African relations.