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Bush's Africa Interest Is
Personal
By BEN FELLER
15. 02. 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States has economic, political and
security interests in Africa. More and more, President Bush has
personal ones.
Heading into his second trip to the continent, Bush was pressed by
radio reporters from the region about what was really driving his
agenda. He spoke of instilling hope and opportunity as an
alternative to extremism, a familiar theme for him. But he also
spoke about a moral imperative — his country's and his own.
With backing from Congress, Bush is behind an emergency HIV/AIDS
response that is the largest in history to target an infectious
disease. He is now trying to double its size, from the commitment
of $15 billion already spent, to $30 billion, to be spent over the
next five years.
"I couldn't live with myself if I didn't develop an effective
strategy and call upon the American people to help," Bush said in
a round-table with reporters at the White House on Thursday. The
group included one representative from every country he is
visiting: Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia. Bush was to
depart Washington on Friday
Bush, nearing the end of a presidency dominated by the war in Iraq,
is proud of humanitarian foreign policy, too. He often talks about
how many Americans are unaware of their own generosity abroad, and
he makes a point to publicize the country's giving nature. His
aides say he takes Africa policy personally.
The president is also behind a major effort to reduce Malaria,
which is a major killer of young children in Africa.
"When you see human suffering, it's based upon something that
affects your heart," Bush said. "And so that's why I've made the
decisions I've made."
The president is traveling there with his wife, Laura. It will be
her fifth trip to the continent during the Bush presidency.
Bush covered a range of other topics with the reporters. Among
them:
He expressed frustration at the plodding deployment of a joint
African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sudan's
Darfur region. Only about 9,000 of an authorized 26,000 troops and
police have arrived. Conflict in the region has led the killings
of more than 200,000 people over nearly five years, and has driven
2.5 million from their homes. Bush pointed blame at both the
Sudanese government and at other nations for not supplying enough
pressure.
Bush said no decisions are imminent about Africom, the new Africa
Command that is based in Stuttgart, Germany. Liberia has publicly
offered to host a headquarters, while other African nations have
reservations about where the command would be based and whether it
would give the U.S. too much influence.
The president said the command will not be a traditional
military-style command, and will integrate a State Department
component. "We're in the process of making sure we understand what
that integration means, and then evaluating if and where
facilities will be built. It's on my radar screen," Bush said.
Bush acknowledged that Zimbabwe has only gotten worse since his
visit to Africa in 2003. President Robert Mugabe has become
increasingly authoritarian, spearheading media control and
takeovers of white-owned farms. Bush described him in a speech
Thursday as a discredited dictator who "presides over food
shortages, staggering inflation, and harsh repression." In the
interview, Bush said flatly: "Mr. Mugabe has ruined a country."
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