Bush begins 5-day trip to Africa
Sept. 11 attacks made him take continent's problems seriously
Dakar, Senegal -- President Bush's five-nation swing through Africa, beginning today in Senegal, underscores how the region has climbed on the administration's agenda,
as growing political instability and staggering humanitarian problems threaten U.S. interests.
The AIDS pandemic and the gradual spread of freedom, two issues that are gripping the continent and driving the president's trip, have become more important considerations in the Bush administration's foreign policy since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"The Bush administration's new strategic vision is trying to identify the areas where terrorism can take root or hide" or receive financial or operational assistance, said Pauline Baker, president of the Fund for Peace in Washington. "And Africa is wide open because there are so many failed or failing states without an ability to control borders, monitor financial transactions or control resources like diamonds or timber that is used for money laundering."
Hours before the president's departure Monday night, the administration was still working out details for deploying a small number of troops to war- torn Liberia. Fourteen years of civil war in Liberia have spawned instability or conflict in neighboring Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Both the United Nations and West African countries have pushed hard for U.S.
involvement in a military mission in Liberia to help ensure that a temporary cease-fire produces a political transition and eventual peace.
Liberia was founded in the mid-1800s by freed American slaves, and the two nations historically have had close relations.
A 32-man U.S. military assessment team landed by helicopter at the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia, Liberia's capital, Monday to assess the security situation and humanitarian needs.
Nearly one-third of Liberia's 3 million people have been displaced since rebels took up arms against President Charles Taylor in the latest round of fighting in 1999.
Intense diplomatic contacts continued Monday as well. U.S. officials talked with the United Nations and members of the Economic Community of West African States, the two organizations that would take the lead in any military deployment in Liberia. |
