October 1st begins the new fiscal year in the United States. This year FY 09 marks the end of the Bush Presidency. So in what is his final budget submitted to the Congress how much money does He want to send to Africa?
The Amount of money that both the State Department and the Defense Department wish to spend is just over $1 Billion. Almost half of that amount ($500 Million) will be earmarked for the State Department for Drug Enforcement, Training of Law Enforcement, Anti-Terrorism,Demining and other Programs.
Several Countries will recieve an increase in Foreign Military Funding Projects as well. Ethiopia will receive $1.9 Million which is an increase from the FY 08 package of $843,000. Djibouti receives an increase of $800,000 in the Proposed Aid Package. The DRC will receive $600,000 this year and Nigeria has since a request for $1.35 Million.
Meanwhile the Pentagon will be spending just under $400 Million for its Headquarters in Germany. There currently is no money being allocated for a forward deployment installation. There is some speculation that when France pulls out of its base in Djibouti in 2010 the US may take it over.It is estimated under this current budget proposal that the Pentagon will spend rough $ 400 Billion to train Paramilitary,Police and Regular Armed Forces.
Some of the Money and Arms from the US will be making its way to several trouble spots in Africa. The DRC continues to have problems with several Militias exerting influence in the east of the country. West Africa is a concern as it is used to trans-ship Narcotics from South America to Europe. The US is increasing its Presence in the Gulf of Guinea Region as well due to the Large Amount of oil that is in close proximity to that body of water.
Other Areas that the US are concerned with are the Horn of Africa and the Sahel Region. In the Horn the US has spent Millions of Dollars and even used precision strikes to support Ethiopia as it attempts to prop up the weak Somali Government. Stability in Kenya has to be a concern after the Elections there earlier this year. In the Sahel Region it is believed that Al-Qaida is attempting to get a foothold in the region as well.
In General Africa was on the backburner of the Policy Makers in Washington for a while.The US has generally stood on the sidelines for several African Crises such as what occured in Rwanda.But there has been some positive efforts such as bringing the Warring Factions in Southern Sudan together with the Government for a Peace Accord.
There is some concern that AFRICOM (Africa Command) could be the beginning of an attempt by the US to Militarize the Continent. The stated goal of AFRICOM is not to place boots on African Soil but to assist the African Military Forces. But it is clear that whatever happens in Africa cannot be ignored in Washington.
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The Author publishes Confused Eagle on the Internet. It can be found at morganrights.tripod.com
HARAR, ETHIOPIA — Visited Harar this past weekend. Quick trip. Spent more time on a bus than actually on ground in Harar. But worth it. I visited with Anita, a German who is studying at University of Chicago and is in Ethiopia to figure out a dissertation topic, and Colleen, who is from New Jersey, resides in Brooklyn when in the U.S., and came to Ethiopia to find a job. Both are also staying at the Cozy Place.
Harar is a 16th century walled Muslim city. Very old and very cool. In the 19th century, Richard Burton, the English explorer was the first westerner to enter Harar as it was closed to non-Muslims for a long time. Arthur Rimbaud, the famous French poet also lived in Harar for about 10 years. Hailie Selassie had his honeymoon in Harar and was provincial governor before becoming emperor. Our guide told us that Harar is the fourth most important Muslim city behind Medina, Mecca, and Jerusalem.
There is a new town built on the outside of the walls. I am told that new town is mainly populated by Orthodox Christians and inside the walls only Muslims live. Small alleys and crowded houses just like it was hundreds of years ago still exist inside the walls. Improvements to the sewage system is under way but in some ways that is like it is hundreds of years ago also: open drains running along the alleys or sides of buildings. We took a guide and it was worth it to be shown around.
Every night outside the walls hyenas come prowling in from the outskirts. Hyena men sit down with baskets of raw meat and feed the hyenas. The hyena men sometimes places the raw meat in their mouth or yell at the hyenas as he feeds them. I was standing less than 5 feet from these animals at certain points.
In the darkness beyond the feeding spot you can hear other packs of hyenas yelping or growling. Since the packs don’t mix it is first come first served although the guide said that the hyena man knows all the packs. For some extra Birr you can take a try at feeding the hyenas. I was going to but everything was happening so fast. I am happy enough with just the pictures and experience. At one point a large hyena stealthily dumped his head in the meat basket gorging himself on the delicacy contained within. It took a few minutes for the hyena man to cajole it out of the now empty basket. The hyena man went through about three or four baskets before we left. Apparently, hyenas roam the countryside in this area of Eastern Ethiopia. On the bus ride back to Addis the driver noisily honked at a few causing them to slink off the road and back into the wilderness whence they came.
Minutes before being laid to rest on Monday, a baby believed to have been stillborn began displaying signs of life.
Early Monday morning, a 26-year-old pregnant woman arrived at the Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya suffering from severe pains and hemorrhage.
A preliminary examination found that the fetus had no pulse, and the woman was rushed to the operating room to have the fetus removed. At the end of the procedure, a baby girl weighing 610 grams was retrieved.
Showing no signs of life, she was pronounced dead by a senior doctor and taken to the morgue freezer. Hours later, when she was taken out to be prepared for burial, he mother noticed she was moving. She was rushed to the hospital’s intensive care department, where she is fighting for her life.
The baby’s father, Ali Majdub, had harsh criticism for the conduct of the hospital, telling Haaretz “we have many misgivings about the way the hospital handled the case.”
“In my opinion, they were negligent in the speed with which they pronounced my daughter’s death. It is curious how a 600-gram child, who is the size of the palm of my hand, comes back to life by herself,” he said.
The father described how his wife realized the child was alive after asking to see her dead daughter one last time.
“When I came to the morgue to collect her, her body was wrapped up,” he continued. “Then my wife, out of an inexplicable impulse, asked to see her again. At first, I didn’t want to break her heart, but then I went up. When I got there, she realized she was moving.”
Hospital director Dr. Massad Barhoum said the baby was breathing on her own. But he said her chances of survival are very, very slim because she was prematurely born in the 23rd week.
“There was one miracle, and we’re hoping for another one,” he said.
Asked whether negligence was involved, hospital deputy director Dr. Moshe Daniel said that the doctors were not too hasty in pronouncing the baby dead.
“It was a senior doctor. We passed all the findings to the Health Ministry, and they can launch an investigation if they deem appropriate,” he said.
BEIJING – Marathon world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie regrets pulling out of the 42-km race at the Olympics over fears that Beijing’s air pollution would damage his health.
“I’m surprised. What do you expect from me? I was here in February, I didn’t see no blue sky,” the Ethiopian runner told Reuters on Monday in China’s capital, where the sun was shining in a slightly hazy sky.
“Since I came here everything is perfect. They should tell us,” he added with a laugh.
Asked if he was now sorry not to be running in next Sunday’s marathon, he chuckled again and said: “Don’t push me. Yes.”
Gebrselassie, a 35-year-old who suffers from asthma, announced in March that he would not participate in the marathon and called on China to deal with Beijing’s pollution problem, saying it would be a hazard to athletes.
International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge said last year that endurance events such as the marathon or long-distance cycling races could be rescheduled if efforts to clear Beijing’s polluted skies were unsuccessful.
As it turned out, the opening days of the Games were marred by smoggy skies but the weather has cleared for the second week.
“It’s really good for everybody, good for all … to keep such clean air, that’s fantastic,” Gebrselassie said.
Gebrselassie ran in the men’s 10,000m in Beijing on Sunday, an event in which he has twice won an Olympic gold medal. He finished in sixth place, behind fellow Ethiopians Kenenisa Bekele and Sileshi Sihine, who took gold and silver respectively.
“Getting sixth in 10,000, it was not bad,” he said.
“The only problem I had yesterday … was just the last 250 meters, the last 300 meters. I have no more sprint. My training is mostly for a marathon.”
He said he may return to the 10,000 meters and is also keen to run in the marathon at London’s 2012 Olympics.
-By Vivi Lin Reuters. Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Ed Osmond
ISTANBUL, TURKEY (Reuters) — Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Turkey on Monday for a summit of African leaders this week in his first trip abroad since an international court moved to indict him for genocide.
International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo last month asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, saying his state apparatus had killed 35,000 people and indirectly at least another 100,000.
Bashir has said he would not cooperate with the ICC and called the court’s move part of a neo-colonialist agenda to protect the interests of developed countries.
Asked about the possibility of an ICC warrant being issued while Bashir was in Istanbul, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official declined to speculate on what Turkey would do.
“Bashir was invited to the summit as an African country leader and there is no arrest warrant against him at this moment. If there are any requests, we will evaluate them then,” the official said.
NATO member Turkey has not ratified the treaty forming the ICC but is under pressure to become a member as part of negotiations to join the European Union.
ICC judges could take weeks or months to issue a warrant, but have never failed to issue one after it was requested by the prosecutor. The court returned from recess on Monday.
International experts estimate some 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million were driven from their homes since mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003 accusing central government in Khartoum of neglect.
Sudan blames the Western media for exaggerating the conflict and puts the death toll at 10,000.
CONCERN OVER MEETINGS
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said on Friday it was “concerned” by Turkey’s decision to welcome Bashir, who is expected to hold bilateral meetings with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a summit focusing mostly on energy and trade.
“The Turkish government should reject efforts by Sudan’s President Omar Bashir to secure a suspension of the International Criminal Court’s investigation against him,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
“Turkey should also convey a clear message that Khartoum must not respond to the investigation with retaliation against civilians, peacekeepers, or humanitarian workers.”
The summit in Istanbul is expected to be attended by leaders from 40 African countries, as energy-thirsty Turkey seeks to tap into the African continent’s vast resources.
Media reports said the prime ministers of Ethiopia, Morocco, Niger, Togo, Rwanda and Uganda would attend.
Turkey, which has signed liquefied gas agreements with Algeria, is seeking to boost investments and trade with sub-Saharan Africa, following similar moves by emerging powerhouses China and India.
Trade between Turkey and African nations rose to $13 billion last year from $5.4 billion in 2003, state-run Anatolian news agency quoted Trade Minister Kursad Tuzmen as saying.
He said he believed trade would rise to $50 billion in 2012.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Improved sanitation Ethiopia could save lives of millions of children and raise the status of local women, only if its policymakers and the general public collectively took up the challenge to bring about change, a UNICEF official said here Monday.
Belinda Abraham, sanitation and hygiene specialist with the UN children’s agency, said that many children in the East African country die needlessly daily because of diarrhoeal diseases and lack of sanitation.
Generating momentum behind global sanitary transformation would lead to better health for children as well as social and economic development, personal dignity and protection of the environment to break the cycle of poverty, according to UNICEF.
Observing 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (IYS), the UN children’s agency Monday challenged the media in Ethiopia to help promote public sanitary habits.
The UN General Assembly has designated the year to create awareness of the plight of more than two billion people who lack access to sanitation worldwide.
“Lack of sanitation and water is a major issue in human development indicators. It is something that UNICEF holds to the heart because it affects millions of children,” said Abraham.
Spearheading the International Year of Sanitation, UNICEF along with other UN partners have come together to engage people, decision makers, the media, school children, parents and teachers to discuss the issue.
Noting that 35 million people in Ethiopia, about half of the total population, have no toilet, Abraham said the situation concerned everybody to bring about the necessary change.
“These people defecate in the bush. They do not have a toilet. This is not only lack of dignity but it also destroys the environment.
“Imagine the millions who are going out into the bush, defecating into the environment. Where does that lead?
“That defecation leads itself into the water areas, the water that we use to water vegetables that are sold in the market and it is a cycle that we all endure.
“We know that we have the technology to handle this. We have low-cost toilets, we have legislation in place, but what is really needed is about changing practices and behaviour,” she explained.
According to the official, the key message of the IYS is that sanitation is vital to health and important for the social and economic development of any society.
The Ethiopian government estimates that it would cost US$650 million to provide 100 percent universal access to sanitation in the country. [The stupid government spends much more than that for buying weapons to terrorize its people and invade neighboring countries.]
But, on the economic point of view, UNICEF maintains that Ethiopian households spend a lot of money to take care of children suffering from preventable diseases that are caused by lack of sanitation and water.
“Sanitation is a very cost-effective intervention. Something simple like hand washing can save 47 percent of the diarrhoea episodes in this country.
“Money saved in health care costs can go into other economic productive areas,” Abraham added.
