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Each day offers George W. Bush, a.k.a. "The Decider", more opportunities to help people around the world. Once again, while addressing the crisis in Sudan, his decision shows what he's made of.
Andrew S. Natsios will serve as the President's Special Envoy for Sudan. His biggest qualification is probably that he can find Sudan on a map. That puts him one up on Bush.
For those who may not remember Natsios, he was head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While there, he recommended cutting funding for anti-retroviral drugs for those living with AIDS in Africa. He based this recommendation on an interesting opinion of the African people. The Boston Globe reported...
| Natsios, who spent a decade in aid work in Africa, said many Africans "don't know what Western time is. You have to take these (AIDS) drugs a certain number of hours each day, or they don't work. Many people in Africa have never seen a clock or a watch their entire lives. And if you say, one o'clock in the afternoon, they do not know what you are talking about. They know morning, they know noon, they know evening, they know the darkness at night." |
He was also CEO of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. There he managed the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a.k.a "the Big Dig." If you doubt his ability to tackle a complex job, look up the results of that project. Wikipedia observed that, "The project has been replete with delays, arrests, escalating costs, leaks, poor execution and use of substandard materials."
I can see why Bush decided Natsios should be our man to try to end the genocide in Darfur. He's demonstrated his ability to successfully complete a given task and he obviously holds the people of Africa in high regard. I'm sure he'll do "a heck of a job".
Copyright © 2006
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