I have mixed feelings about this....
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"Only one crucial element is missing -- the wholehearted support of the US government. Unless President George Bush joins this effort in the five weeks before the summit in Scotland, Africa's hopes will be disappointed and the US's image in the eyes of a world that once looked to it for enlightened leadership will be further diminished."
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and this
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"This really should be a no-brainer," said the Business Day editors. "At a time when the image of the US abroad is at rock bottom, Bush could go a long way toward re-establishing the world's richest country as the moral leader it was last century. He can do that by supporting his most reliable international ally in this crucial effort and taking to heart the world's poorest and most wretched place."
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really rub me the wrong way. I mentioned in another thread that Bush shouldn't have called out China in a public forum, I do think he deserves the same respect. This quotes seem to be thinly veiled threats that they in fact will be doing us a favor by restoring our good standing to the world. (Do you think Turkey or Iran care about African opinion?) Sits bad.
I do believe in eliminating Third World debt, but we also have a lot of problems here and dropping agriculture trade barriers with a continent so large, and so poor would be a nightmare for our farmers. If anything we need to increase our agriculture to replace some of the manufacturing we have lost.
Instead of abolishing all of the debt, what if we were to wipe half away, put a 10-year interest free moratorium on the other half, and then keeping that debt on the books we invest the same amount into infrastructure development for Africa that only American contractors can bid on?? It's charitable, fair, and sends a message to Americans that our debt and rising unemployment is a priority as well.