George W. In Africa

For as much Bush bashing as I and others have done over the past few years (and heaven knows we had enough ammo), I have got to say that I respect Bush's efforts in Africa. Granted, he is a lame duck and it may be merely posturing for history, but I have got to say that I am impressed that the issues Africans live with every day were finally deemed significant enough to merit the attention of our Commander in Chief. For all Clinton did in office, and all the praise he receives for his foreign policy efforts, the Black Hawk Incident in Somalia scared the Clinton Administration badly enough that we stood by and watched the Rwandan genocide occur, where between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Rwandans were shot or mutilated with machetes by their own neighbors and friends. President Kagame of Rwanda, in a news conference in Kigali, stated that bush had done more for Africa than any other previous American president. Powerful words, and they accent admirable actions by a man who many Americans have come to view extremely cynically. I believe that the events in Africa do deserve the attention of the international community, and the mere fact that it has taken so long for the genocide in Darfur to be noticed is inexcusable. Over 2.5 million people have been driven from their villages and homes and the world turns a blind eye because there is no oil under the ground on which they fight. I only hope that Bush's actions don't go unnoticed by the world at large. All in all, the world needs to take note and do something to end the violence, end AIDS, aid in famine and drought, and remember that there is a continent south of Europe.