Africa bright spot in Bush foreign policy legacy
2008-02-14

Category U.S. Diplomacy Ethnic Cleansing Nations Tanzania Liberia Rwanda Nigeria Ghana People George W. Bush Event Darfur Genocide Crisis Bush Admin.

President George W. Bush travels this week to Africa, one of the few regions where he can claim globally recognized successes for efforts on AIDS and development in a foreign policy legacy dominated by the Iraq war.

But conflicts in Kenya and Darfur will intrude on a trip intended to show the positive impact from U.S. investment in health and development programs in the largely stable countries of Benin, Tanzania, and Ghana as well as Rwanda and Liberia, once ravaged by civil war.

"The trip will be an opportunity to demonstrate America's commitment to the people of these countries and to Africa as a whole," Stephen Hadley, White House national security adviser, said. "There's more hope in Africa and the American people can be proud that many of our innovative programs are making a real difference."

The February 15-21 trip will be the second for Bush to Africa, and the fifth for his wife, Laura, as they promote aid programs by visiting hospitals, schools and businesses, and it will also offer Bush a chance to highlight his "compassionate conservative" credentials.

The trip will take Bush away from issues like the Iraq war and a troubled U.S. economy that are weighing on his popularity at home, where the November election has shifted the political focus to the race to choose his successor.

Bush will discuss with African leaders the turmoil in Kenya, where post-election clashes have killed 1,000 people, and the need to deploy more African Union/U.N. peacekeepers into Darfur where he has labeled the violence genocide.

The United States has been pressing the international community to get about 25,000 peacekeepers on the ground in Darfur and Bush has complained progress has been too slow.

Those issues are likely to be raised with Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the new chairman of the African Union, and whose country has been affected by spillovers from neighboring Kenya's violence.

"There is a broadening arc of crisis in East Africa in the Horn. It's very much on Tanzania's door. It is very much on the African Union's door," said Stephen Morrison, co-director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

FOCUS ON AID

But the focus of the trip will be aid programs started by Bush that are popular in Africa.

A Pew Global Attitudes Project report released last July, found that the "U.S. image is much stronger in Africa than in other regions of the world."

"Generally Bush is viewed positively in Africa, as is the U.S.," said J. Anthony Holmes, director of the Africa program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

In his recent budget, Bush requested $30 billion over five years to fund the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR. AIDS groups say more is needed to make progress against the disease, but PEPFAR is generally considered a success for its role in getting drugs, condoms and treatment programs to places hit hardest by the virus.

Another Bush initiative, the Millennium Challenge Corp, which provides funding to countries that adhere to democratic principles and sound economic policies, has approved $698 million for Tanzania and Bush will sign the pact there.

U.S. plans to establish a military Africa Command, or Africom, has raised some concerns on the continent, and will likely be discussed during Bush's trip, but no announcements were expected. The United States currently has about 1,700 troops in Djibouti.

Liberia has offered to host Africom, while regional powers like South Africa and Nigeria have been wary, and activists like rock singer Bono have expressed concern it could put a military face on U.S. foreign policy toward Africa.

The United States is also facing competition in Africa from China, which is investing heavily in the continent. "In Africa, China's influence is now seen as rivaling American influence," a Pew report in December said.

"We think countries need to be responsible in their activities, in terms of investing and acquiring the resources in Africa," Hadley said.

(Editing by Peter Cooney)