Moses,

Your comments and distortions read more like you were waging a personal vendetta against me. Given what has transpired between ux, I do not think it was appropriate to drag into your commentary things from past feuds.

I stated my position on "Smart Aid for Africa" in a 5-page paper. If you disagree with my position, please put down your own view regarding Western aid to Africa. You sketched it in your concluding PARAGRAPH. EXPAND it to 5 pages, replete with all the nuances so that people know exactly where you stand. Here's the paragraph:

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Tony Blair's set of proposals, which actually fall short of the 100% debt cancellation (not forgiveness or relief), is a good place to start. It does not commit the error of simply throwing money at a bad situation. It marries the concerns of reform and the urgent need to save and improve lives on the continent. More importantly, it attempts to redress the anti-Africa trade practices of Western nations, who in effect have stifled African agricultural and proto-industrial production through their hypocritical subsidies and tariffs. My only disappointment with the plan (besides the failure to recommend the cancellation of all of Africa's debts) is the fact that it's call for reform is one-sided in that it does not demand the reform of Western financial institutions and global capital transfer practices in order to make it impossible for corrupt African leaders to bilk the continent of aid money, which are then used to finance and lubricate investments and accounts overseas.

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George Ayittey,
Washington, DC