Opinion: George W. Bush, Third World hero
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The sad thing about President Bush’s disastrous image, both domestically and overseas, is that he doesn’t even get credit when he does something right. Europeans revile him for his Iraq policy but seldom mention that he has done more to relieve poverty and disease in Africa (supposedly an issue of great concern in Europe) than any other American president. I have friends who are such committed Bush-haters that they find it impossible to believe that he has ever done anything morally right or geopolitically beneficial; when I point out that his global AIDS initiative has saved thousands and possibly millions of lives, they quietly admit they didn’t realize that.
Today, Bush upped the ante by asking Congress to double the size of his AIDS program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, to $30 billion over five years. That is a vast commitment that dwarfs past efforts and provides real hope that humanity will in the near future be able to stop the spread of AIDS—an accomplishment akin, at least in scope, to putting a man on the moon. This disease has killed 25 million people so far and is still raging out of control, especially in Africa. PEPFAR has come in for its share of criticism because of some rules that seemed based more on evangelical ideology than science, but most of its critics have quieted down in the face of its obvious successes.
It’s very cheap and easy for a lame-duck president to make financial commitments his administration will never have to keep. Bush’s extension is aimed at keeping PEPFAR going after 2008, by which time he will have left office. But his successor will pay a political price if he or she breaks this funding promise.
None of this, of course, makes up for Bush’s blunders in the Middle East and elsewhere, but at least give the guy his props. He’s showing people overseas that the United States isn’t just about bombs and oil.