A Keener Focus on Africa

Africa “doesn’t fit into the national strategic interests, as far as I can see them,” George W. Bush declared three years ago as he campaigned for the White House. His five-day, five-nation African tour, which began Monday, shows just how much the president’s perspective has changed.

In meetings Wednesday with South African President Thabo Mbeki and Friday with Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, Bush plans to discuss his administration’s pledge of $15 billion for a global campaign against HIV and AIDS over the next five years. Most of the money would go to Africa, where HIV prevalence rates in most nations are steady or rising. In Uganda, at least, rates are falling, largely because Museveni has led an outspoken public education campaign against AIDS.

Bush should publicly praise the Ugandan president’s leadership in battling one of the most devastating of the continent’s many scourges and privately prod South Africa’s chief for his reluctance to do more. Mbeki surely must see that Museveni’s head-on approach makes more sense than an Africa shrugging in acceptance of millions of AIDS deaths, millions of AIDS orphans and billions of dollars in HIV-care costs and lost economic promise.

As for Bush, he can’t deliver the full amount proposed for the anti-AIDS campaign because Congress has yet to appropriate the money. So far, the legislators have allocated only $450 million for fiscal year 2004.

Critics of the administration -- and wary Africans -- would be wrong to cynically dismiss the president’s proposal as a ploy to win Africa’s support for the war against terror. With Al Qaeda entrenched in the Horn of Africa and Islamic extremism on the rise among African Muslims, clearly national security is involved, but increasing aid to Africa is also a moral imperative.

This kind of help -- dealing concretely with AIDS prevention and care for the HIV-infected -- lets the United States show the international community its compassionate side. America is more than just a global cop all too ready to intervene militarily, as seems the case in Liberia.

This is not to dismiss legitimate questions some legislators have raised about details of administration plans. Bush, for instance, proposes to distribute some of the anti-AIDS money via a “Millennium Challenge Account.” It would limit the U.S. to helping nations that meet the administration’s economic, social and political standards. Some legislators understandably want Bush officials to explain why this approach won’t give short-shrift to those with HIV who, through no fault of their own, live in nations that don’t meet administration ideals.

Legislators can fine-tune the initiative. But the anti-AIDS campaign addresses a dire need and has strategic and humanitarian importance. It deserves better funding.