The Bush Administration has significantly increased aid to Africa, but that increase falls far short of what the President has claimed. U.S. aid to Africa from FY 2000 (the last full budget year of the Clinton Administration) to FY2004 (the last completed fiscal year of the Bush Administration) has not "tripled" or even doubled. Rather, in real dollars, it has increased 56% (or 67% in nominal dollar terms). The majority of that increase consists of emergency food aid, rather than assistance for sustainable development of the sort Africa needs to achieve lasting poverty reduction.
.....seems like just a bandaid...
.....or like the articles contines below....
What the U.S. Should Do and Why
The Gleneagles Summit poses an historic opportunity for the United States to lead the international community in providing increased development and other assistance to Africa. The Bush Administration should join the UK, France, Italy and Germany and twelve other developed nations and commit to devote up to 0.7% of U.S. gross national income to overseas development assistance by 2015.
This commitment would place the U.S. in the forefront of international efforts to alleviate global poverty.
Global poverty undermines U.S. national security by facilitating the emergence and spread of transnational security threats, including disease, environmental degradation, crime, narcotics flows, proliferation and terrorism. First, poverty substantially increases the risk of conflict, which in turn creates especially fertile breeding grounds for such threats. Second, poverty erodes weak states' capacity to prevent or contain transnational threats.
RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
Disagree. How about Africa reform their economy to take advantage of their massive natural resources and become productive? Giving them food and aid enables them to live off our credit card.
RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
No amount of money is worth it.
Every country thrived under european colonial rule, now that those ties are gone, they reverted back to tribal/ethnic war. The only sub-saharan country that's kept some sort of level of legitimacy is South Africa, but its fading fast.
Until legitimate governments can be set up and stability reached, there's no reason to piss away money on that continent.
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RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
We're going to get more and more oil from West Africa over the next ten years. Nigeria is full of light sweet crude, and we need it badly. Investment in the continent is a way of created more stability than there now (virtually none). More American business interests, more American military forces offshore.
If we don't buy Africa, China will. And if we can get more oil for less money and effort, I would say it's a worthy investment...
RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
Quote:
ORIGINAL: Aught Six
We're going to get more and more oil from West Africa over the next ten years. Nigeria is full of light sweet crude, and we need it badly. Investment in the continent is a way of created more stability than there now (virtually none). More American business interests, more American military forces offshore.
If we don't buy Africa, China will. And if we can get more oil for less money and effort, I would say it's a worthy investment...
While that sounds a little opportunistic, it is highly pragmatic.
RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
This is just another example on how Bush doesn't care about the American homeland. All the time, you'll here about African nations, and Iraq, but when does he care about OUR country? Rarely. And its nice to know that he gave our mosquito nets to prevent malaria in Africa, at the expense of 2 BILLION dollars of our own money. Sure, its nice and all that he's helping a country in need, but there are problems here ya know!!
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RE: U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
If sending aid had ever solved anything, I'd say it was worth a try, but every country we aid in this manner just gets worse faster. They should sue us.
U.S. Foreign Assistance to Africa: Claims vs. Reality
