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This is rich.
This money is expected to be plucked from the European Union's coveted money tree.
All joking aside, this is ridiculous. Most African nations make next to no effort to solve their own problems. Their attempts to fight AIDS and other diseases are nearly non-existent (with a few important exceptions). Most African governments are headed by dictators. What's the world's biggest hotbed of civil war? Africa. What's the world's poorest continent due to poor financial policy? Africa.
And now they expect to be given a standing army and twenty billion dollars in blank check donations? I don't think so.
I'll admit that I like what I've been seeing from the African Union. Unlike the European Union, which makes a half-assed attempt to snatch the sovereignty of independent European nations, the African Union seems like a possible solution to the problems on that continent. I think that logistical and possibly even operational support, and some financial support, is a good thing; but I'm certainly not willing to sign off on a twenty billion dollar blank check.
As for a standing army... Well, let's see how things go in Darfur, and in the other hot spots. To be honest, something like the European Battle Groups might be a good solution for Africa; it would certainly be a better solution for Africa than it is for Europe.
African leaders will put forward a proposal for the region to get its own standing army to G8 leaders next week, Africa's development body has said.
It should be ready to go to trouble spots at a moment's notice, Nepad head Wiseman Nkuhlu said.
He also said that a new $20bn fund is needed to speed up the distribution of cash for development projects.
This money is expected to be plucked from the European Union's coveted money tree.
All joking aside, this is ridiculous. Most African nations make next to no effort to solve their own problems. Their attempts to fight AIDS and other diseases are nearly non-existent (with a few important exceptions). Most African governments are headed by dictators. What's the world's biggest hotbed of civil war? Africa. What's the world's poorest continent due to poor financial policy? Africa.
And now they expect to be given a standing army and twenty billion dollars in blank check donations? I don't think so.
I'll admit that I like what I've been seeing from the African Union. Unlike the European Union, which makes a half-assed attempt to snatch the sovereignty of independent European nations, the African Union seems like a possible solution to the problems on that continent. I think that logistical and possibly even operational support, and some financial support, is a good thing; but I'm certainly not willing to sign off on a twenty billion dollar blank check.
As for a standing army... Well, let's see how things go in Darfur, and in the other hot spots. To be honest, something like the European Battle Groups might be a good solution for Africa; it would certainly be a better solution for Africa than it is for Europe.
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