In order to thank President Bush for his generous proposal to help Africa with AIDS relief, South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela, was kind enough to say that Bush has "no foresight and cannot think properly."
These would not have been my words of choice, especially considering the state the African continent is in and the considerable strides this money will contribute toward alleviating the destruction AIDS has had on it. Nonetheless, Mandela has a point: America has no right throwing its wealth all over the world to help save lives.
How dare we! Trying to help save lives with all of this money - of all the nerve. Mandela went on to say, "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings." Amen. The $15 billion that Bush proposes to allocate for AIDS relief in Africa is the most heinous act I have ever witnessed.
Even if Mandela gives an accurate description that the United States has, historically, been an uncaring country, why should that fact detract from the significance of this new AIDS relief package? After all, the African government has done nothing about this problem. Mandela thinks this AIDS epidemic will just blow over, with a mere 28 million cases and without the help of the heartless Americas.
Mandela has many reasons for hating America - we had the nerve to prompt his release from prison for murdering a policeman in South Africa. His loathsome comments are comparable to the ASU business college taking Carey's $50 million just before kicking him in the groin instead of thanking him.
Of course, Mandela could not help but play the race card for his central argument. He argues that Bush no longer cares what the United Nations says because Secretary General Kofi Annan is black. I have a feeling, however, that if Colin Powell were president and made the same move, Mandela would dub him an Uncle Tom and continue in his ignorant argument.
"What Bush wants is to get hold of that oil," says Mandela, "because Iraq produces 64 percent of the oil in the world." Actually, Iraq produces roughly 2 million barrels of oil a day, or 4 percent of the world's oil. Our military actions there would cost more than what we could gain in oil.
Mandela isn't the only person upset with Bush. Right here at ASU students have clearly conveyed that we have no business overseas. I have seen everything from Bikes not Bombs to a 12-foot-high cardboard cutout of our commander in chief sporting every cowboy stereotype possible.
Look around. The United States is constantly hated and disrespected for whatever decisions our politicians make - from military actions to financial assistance. If Mandela is correct in saying we have no right to police the world, then we had no right to interfere when the Third Reich invaded Poland and France and began bombing our British allies; Hitler never did anything to us.
We should have minded our own business, just as we should have in Bosnia. No one forced ethnic cleansing on Americans, so we should have stayed out of the way.
Let us not forget Korea where 37,000 of our soldiers are selfishly keeping the North Koreans at bay. Having served a year in Korea I can tell you they do not like us. South Korea's new president, Roh Moo Hyun, made it clear he no longer wants our presence there after the incident in June when two South Korean girls were run over by American soldiers. If we leave, Korea would again be unified since South Korean forces would hold off the Northerners for roughly an hour before flying the Red flag. Then the whole peninsula could starve under North Korea President Kim Dae-jung's "commonwealth."
Perhaps what we need is another spell of isolationism. From now on we will engage in no more interference. I am certain no students would protest that, allowing 30 million to die of AIDS and sitting back while dictators worldwide do as they wish. No sooner would we mind our own business then the same people who are telling us to keep to ourselves would beg for our aid.
Crack the spine on one of those dusty history books and see that we have been more proactive with monetary relief than any superpower in history. But I agree; let's stay right here. Let the Statue of Liberty no longer display "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," and let it read "My name's Paul and this is between ya'll."
Darren Todd is an English Literature senior, reach him at lawrence.todd@asu.edu.
