Bush's African Safari

On Saturday, President George W. Bush began his six-day tour of Africa. Bush is visiting the continent for the second time during his presidency to appeal to Congress, who has questioned his spending levels for his foreign aid programs. The programs help African countries stricken with AIDS and malaria, but only if the countries' politicians agree to embrace democracy and free markets.

In true Bush-like fashion, he chose to skip war-torn countries, like Kenya, Darfur and Chad. Though, at least Bush addressed Africa's crises in Tanzania, where he said he backs mediation efforts in Kenya.

In defense of his decision not to visit Kenya, Darfur and Chad, Bush said he wanted to focus on the success of his programs. (Which, in turn, means not the negative of civil war...)

"When you herald success, it helps others realize what is possible," Bush said. "This is a large place with a lot of nations, and no question not everything is perfect. On the other hand, there's a lot of great success stories, and the United States is pleased to be involved with those success stories."

Although Bush said he wants to focus on the positive, not all Africans gave him a warm welcome. In a segment on Al Jazeera, a television reporter walked among protesters in Tanzania. They called Bush "evil" and an "oil thief."



But with all the material I read about Bush's six-day African tour, only a few newspapers seemed to think the protests worth mentioning. And most only had one measly paragraph about the riots at the end. So, let's just call his little trip what it really is: a PR campaign to boost his ratings.