'Thank you' song dedicated to President Bush

CNN

MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- In a humid rehearsal studio, Liberia's pop queen is practicing her newest single -- a song called "Thank you" to be released for President Bush's visit here next week.

Her head tilted back, Juli Endee pulls the microphone close and belts out, "Thank you, George Bush."

"Thank you for democracy," she croons over the electric guitar, shaking her hips wrapped in yellow cloth. "Thank you for the rule of law," she sings. "Thank you for debt relief."

Bush is scheduled to head to Africa on Friday for a visit that will bring him to one of the few parts of the globe where people still have a favorable view of America. A recent Pew poll of 47 nations found that America's popularity is exceptionally high in Africa, where some hold the U.S. in higher regard than Americans do themselves.

America's popularity verges on exuberance in this nation founded in 1847 by freed U.S. slaves. "If you were to take a survey, you would find that there is not one Liberian that doesn't love George Bush," effuses pop star Endee, whose songs calling for peace were among the most played during Liberia's civil war.

The Bush administration has made Africa the centerpiece of its aid strategy. Twelve of the 15 countries receiving funding from the five-year, $15 billion President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are in Africa. Nine African countries are among the 16 drawing grants from Bush's Millennium Challenge Corporation, which provides support to nations that have reached benchmarks from stemming corruption to investing in immunizations.

Since Bush took office, U.S. development aid to Africa has tripled, funding for HIV programs have vaulted from under $1 billion to over $6 billion per year and garment exports from Africa to America, fueled by special trade deals, increased sevenfold, according to U.S. statistics.

"His Africa policy has taken us by surprise. None of us expected this," said Tom Kamara, editor-in-chief of the New Democrat, a leading Liberian daily.

Bush's focus on the continent, analysts said, stems from the realization that it's no longer just a case of Africa needing America, but of America needing Africa.

Today, a fifth of U.S. oil imports come from a single African nation -- Nigeria. By the end of the decade, one in five new barrels of oil entering the global market are projected to come from Africa, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

The continent's vast, ungoverned spaces have been recognized as one of the new frontiers in the war on terror, with al Qaeda claiming responsibility for attacks in northern Africa and a radical Islamic group with alleged links to the terror organization waging a bloody insurgency in Somalia.

More than 1,200 U.S. troops are stationed in Djibouti, which hosts the base for an anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa. Last year, the Defense Department announced the creation of a unified U.S. military command for the continent.

"Of course there is a strong element of self-interest in all this," said Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs at James Madison University in Virginia.

The U.S. approach to aid is no longer just about charity, but about helping emerging democracies evolve and secure their borders to prevent them becoming breeding grounds for terror, Pham said.

Bush's Africa itinerary -- his second trip to the continent since 2003 -- offers examples of countries whose progress toward democracy and economic stability has been rewarded by U.S. aid.

Benin, where Bush's trip will begin Saturday, received a $307 million grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation two years ago for its commitment to democracy. That commitment was especially apparent that same year when a shortage of government funds for election machinery nearly caused the polls to be canceled. They were saved by voters, who raised cash, lent computers and used their motorcycle headlights to illuminate ballot-counting centers.

Ghana, one of the most stable democracies in West Africa, was the recipient of $547 million 2006 -- "the largest grant ever to Ghana," according to Kwabena Anaman, director of research at Ghana's Institute of Economic Affairs. "Even though (former) President Clinton was a friend of Africa, I think President Bush has demonstrated evidence of caring in practical terms."

Rwanda, which is recovering from a 1994 genocide, has just qualified to receive funding under the Millennium Challenge program.

The administration's new approach to dispensing aid has its critics, including some in Africa.

Although the scale of funding under the Millennium Challenge is unprecedented, the program has been slow to take off, with only a fraction of the intended funds reaching the target countries six years after its launch.

"They built a great embassy here in Kigali, but if you go out to the countryside you don't see any signs of the American presence," said Venuste Karambizi, a dean at Kigali Independent University in Rwanda's capital.

Others say the set of indicators used to determine good governance are far from foolproof. For example, Bush has been expected to announce a $700 million grant for Tanzania. But last week, days before Bush's arrival, the prime minister resigned in a corruption scandal.

Nathaniel Heller, a former State Department official who now directs Global Integrity, a think tank that focuses on corruption, said international donors mistake Tanzania's "economic progress for governance progress."

But in the streets of Monrovia, these criticisms seem petty.

The memory of bodies piling up outside the American embassy in 2003 is still fresh, and so is the sight of U.S. warships on the horizon and Bush's call for former President Charles Taylor, accused of orchestrating war crimes, to leave. Liberians are also grateful to Bush for the recent cancellation of the country's debt.

Endee, the pop star, has no time to discuss critiques of Bush's foreign policy. In her studio, she is busy finishing not only her song, but also a welcoming dance. It begins with dancers asking each other, "Have you heard who's coming to Liberia?"

When one answers, "George Bush is coming to Liberia," they explode into dance.