Monday, February 18, 2008

Bush in Africa: Our interests are now making a significant effort


Bush visited a hospital in Tanzania to talk about malaria. He’s against it: “every death caused by malaria is unacceptable.” Just in case you were wondering if some of the deaths caused by malaria are acceptable.

I don’t know if it’s a genuine Bushism or a transcription error that had him praising American religious types who come to Africa to “confront the suffering and heal the sick.”

Bush never talks about humanitarian efforts without invoking American “interests.” I mean, he may talk about “to much is given etc”, but he seems to be embarrassed by wholly selfless motives, or maybe he just considers them illegitimate. “It’s in the interests of the United States to save lives. And it’s in the interests of the Tanzanian government to put forth an effective strategy. Our interests are combined, and our interests are now making a significant effort.”

He is heavily promoting bed nets to prevent malaria, calling them “one of the simplest technologies imaginable, but it’s also one of the most effective.” Then he went to a bed-net factory....

BBC caption: US President George W Bush gets caught in a mosquito net used to combat Malaria at a textile mill in Arusha, Tanzania.

One of the simplest technologies imaginable.

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