Despite criticism he is beholden to the interests of big business, recently re-elected United States President George Bush appears to have driven a strong, principled and effective pro-Africa policy, says Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.
”There are aspects of the Bush presidency that deserve a closer look,” Leon states in his weekly newsletter, published on his party’s South Africa Today website on Friday.
The DA leader has recently returned from a visit to the US.
”In New York last Tuesday, on Election Day, I met [international diamond dealer] Maurice Tempelsman, a lifelong Democrat and one of Africa’s best friends in the upper echelons of American business.
”He drew my attention to the fact that Bush, despite his poor support among African-Americans, has driven a strong, principled and effective pro-Africa policy.”
Tempelsman had cited the Bush administration’s strong funding commitments for fighting HIV and Aids, its leadership in raising funds for the Millennium Challenge Account, its active involvement in peacemaking in Sudan, and its support for the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, which has immense trade benefits for the continent.
”Each of these policies, Tempelsman pointed out, had required Bush and his national security advisers to expend considerable political capital on ‘The Hill’ to win over a reluctant Congress.
”This effort, I believe, should give the habitual nay-sayers at home some food for thought,” Leon said. — Sapa