Interesting article from an AP writer...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050730/ap_on_re_af/why_africa_goes_hungry

Economist Blames Aid for Africa Famine

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 32 minutes ago


In Niger, a desert country twice the size of Texas, most of the 11
million people live on a dollar a day. Forty percent of children are
underfed, and one out of four dies before turning 5. And that's when
things are normal.

Throw in a plague of locusts, and a familiar spectacle emerges:
skeletal babies, distended bellies, people too famished to brush the
flies from their faces.

To the aid workers charged with saving the dying, the immediate
challenge is to raise relief money and get supplies to the stricken
areas. They leave it to the economists and politicians to come up
with a lasting remedy.

One such economist is James Shikwati. He blames foreign aid.

"When aid money keeps coming, all our policy-makers do is strategize
on how to get more," said the Kenya-based director of the Inter
Region Economic Network, an African think tank.

"They forget about getting their own people working to solve these
very basic problems. In Africa, we look to outsiders to solve our
problems, making the victim not take responsibility to change."

Moving the aid can be nightmare in itself. Africa's good roads are
few, and often pass through the front lines of civil wars. But
Shikwati notes an additional problem: Even African countries that
have food to spare can't easily share it because tariffs on
agricultural products within sub-Saharan Africa average as high as 33
percent, compared with 12 percent on similar products imported from
Europe.

"It doesn't make sense when they can't even allow their neighbors to
feed them. They have to wait for others in Europe or Asia to help,"
he said. "We don't have any excuses in Africa. We can't blame nature.
We have to tell our leadership to open up and get people producing
food."

Nature, of course, does bear some of the blame. Recurring drought is
a part of life in Africa. Farmers have learned to cope, but exploding
population growth sucks up water, pasture and livestock.

Many food crises result from bad government and civil wars. For 30
years after winning independence from France, Niger was ruled by coup
and military dictatorship. Now it's a peaceful multiparty democracy,
but its desert is getting bigger and drought is unrelenting

All it took was the locust swarms of a year ago, the worst in 15
years, to start tipping Niger over the edge. The crop-devouring
insects ravaged some 7,000 square miles of Niger farmland. The
combined drought-locust onslaught cut cereal production by 15 percent
last year, according to the United Nations.

At first, few noticed. Places like Niger "were never on anybody's
radar screen. They're not considered important, geopolitically or
resource-wise," said Cathy Skoula, executive director of U.S.-based
Action Against Hunger. "It comes down to a question of priorities.
But any human life is important."

Aid groups say Niger's catastrophe could have been averted — that
early warning systems were in place, and the United Nations and other
humanitarian agencies warned of imminent food shortages late last year.

In November, Niger's government issued an emergency appeal for 78,000
tons of food. Donors, busy with higher-profile crises, barely responded.

The following month came the Indian Ocean tsunami that entirely
eclipsed Africa's misery on the world's TV screens.

Aid workers say heading off famine needs long-term, steady funding.

"Prevention doesn't sell that much," said Stefanie Savariaud,
spokeswoman for the U.N. World Food Program in Niger's capital,
Niamey. "The world has to wait for images of dying children to react.
The question is, how to mobilize the international community when
it's still preventable?"

Ironically, only three weeks ago the world's attention was fixed on
Africa again, when the G-8 summit pledged to double African aid to
$50 billion and granted 18 of its countries debt forgiveness,
including Niger. At the same time, rock concerts televised worldwide
made sure Africa's troubles stayed high on the global agenda.

A week later, TV pictures of hungry people began beaming out of
Niger, and donors reached for their wallets. But the World Food
Program has only raised $9 million of the $16 million it appealed
for, Savariaud said.

At a feeding center in Mada Roufa, in eastern Niger, Mai Sali, a
local employee of the international relief organization Doctors
Without Borders, praised those efforts, but agreed crisis aid was not
the answer.

"We need to find other long-term solutions. We can't just address
emergencies," he said.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE: Todd Pitman has covered West Africa for The Associated
Press since 1997. He is based in Dakar, Senegal.

This great article or commentary from the Washington Post sheds some
important light on why radio plays so much crap. it's not a new
discovery, but it's well articulated. it's mind boggling how people
can so easily have their tastes determined by other forces. i know i
sometimes wonder why i think certain things are good only to realize
just how much i've been had by some clever marketing consultant!

i was also drawn to the article because i do have an Ella Fitzgerald
bias! :-) i was had once again, by a marketing trick. damn... you
can't win!

what annoys me though, is that you never see people america talk
about corruption as something that happens in america too. you have
"watergate" and you have the enron and worldcom "scandal" and all
sorts. you have scandals and scams and so on. never is the word
corruption used to describe america or americans. why...? martha
wasn't corrupt...? she did something other act. but the G8 talks and
talks about african "corruption." or, so now corruption is unique to
certain places and not others...? we should call a spade a spade!

what's sad though, is that south africa is buying the same mentality.
they have corrupt Members of Parliament who used public money to
finance personal trips for relatives, friends etc... they call it
"travelgate!" the former caption of their cricket team accepted
brides to throw games. they called it "hansie-gate" (his name was
Hansie Cronje). everything gate...? please!



Less Payola, More Ella
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, July 29, 2005; A23



What a bummer summer. Iraq is either a bloody mess or a tragic
quagmire, depending on your level of optimism. Suicide bombers are
busy memorizing subway maps. The blast-furnace heat that baked the
country has eased, for now, but here comes hurricane season. If you
want to escape to the beach, a tank of gasoline costs a small fortune.

But if you believe, as I do, that the truth will set us free, then
amid the gloom there's a ray of light: Thanks to New York Attorney
General Eliot Spitzer, now we know one reason why most of the music
that gets played on the radio is such unchallenging pap.

I don't begrudge Spitzer his naked headline-chasing, because he
delivers the goods. This politically ambitious scourge of Wall Street
has turned to the music industry, obtaining a $10 million settlement
from giant Sony BMG and a promise to stop bribing radio stations and
their employees to play certain songs.

How did "I'm Real" by the thin-voiced Jennifer Lopez and "Hold On" by
angst-ridden rockers Good Charlotte get played by a station in
Buffalo? Sony's Epic Records division paid for the program director's
personal trips to New York City and Fort Lauderdale. To get the
station to play a song by throwback glam-rockers Franz Ferdinand,
Sony had to give the guy an "extravagant" trip to Miami.

A program director in New York City got a plasma TV and an
entertainment system "worth several thousand dollars" in exchange for
playing hip-hop music from Sony Urban. A compliant program director
in San Diego also got a flat-panel TV, but the transaction had to be
buried in Epic's accounting system so it was disguised as a "contest
giveaway"; the supposed winner of the fictitious contest was a friend
of the program director's who had agreed to accept the TV for her.

A radio station programmer in Greenville, N.C., got travel expenses,
a laptop computer and a PlayStation 2, similarly disguised as contest
prizes "awarded" in a false name. Spitzer's accounting of Sony payola
goes on and on. Sony paid stations to play songs by the whiny John
Mayer, the petulant and scratchy Avril Lavigne, the derivative Maroon
5 -- and songs by Jessica Simpson, whose "music" defies my powers of
description.

All of this is detailed in vivid internal e-mails that Spitzer
obtained. When will companies learn that if you're about to do
something questionable, it's a really bad idea to spell it out in an
e-mail? Here is one overcaffeinated promotion employee, angry that
stations were playing the bombastic Celine Dion single "I Drove All
Night" in the wee hours when no one was listening:

"OK, HERE IT IS IN BLACK AND WHITE AND IT'S SERIOUS: IF A RADIO
STATION GOT A FLYAWAY TO A CELINE [DION] SHOW IN LAS VEGAS . . . AND
THEY'RE PLAYING THE SONG ALL IN OVERNIGHTS, THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE
FLYAWAY."

You're right in assuming that the "flyaway" was a junket to Vegas.
One such "contest" for station employees even offered the chance to
"play blackjack with Celine."

There are other reasons why the music on broadcast radio is so
uninteresting. One is the consolidation of station ownership by
behemoths such as Clear Channel, Infinity and ABC, which leads to
standardization of formats and playlists. You might hear a little
more go-go in Washington and Baltimore, or a little more R. Kelly in
Chicago, but basically we get the same music from coast to coast.

Another reason is the decline of music education in the nation's
public schools. The next Stevie Wonder may be out there somewhere,
brimming with undeveloped talent, but he might never get the chance
to learn to play the piano. Instead, he might settle for laying down
a few computer-assisted drum tracks and seeking fame as a rapper,
calling himself MC Blind or something like that.

But if you want to realize just how low our standards have fallen,
listen to the pop music of the 1940s or '50s. Listen to Ella
Fitzgerald -- her incomparable voice, her musicianship, her subtlety
and nuance, her perfect phrasing. Listen to the way she can flat-out
swing. Yes, I know there was only one Ella. And I'm not suggesting
that in 2005 we should be grooving to 50-year-old tunes. We need
modern music for modern times. I'm just saying we should demand that
the musicians we shower with fame and fortune be talented, and that
they work to perfect their craft.

And I'm grateful to Eliot Spitzer for making the point that radio
programmers shouldn't be bribed to assault our ears with monotonous,
thumping mediocrity.

eugenerobinson@washpost.com

this paul jacob guy makes some interesting arguments about ending
poverty. although i think he is very simplistic in saying what
africans need to end poverty is 'freedom.'
have a look...


Begin forwarded message:

>
> The Live 8 dead end
> Paul Jacob (archive)
> July 10, 2005 |

Irish rocker Bob Geldorf and the music superstars who recently held Live 8 concerts across the globe made a lot of noise. Their siren songs entreated us to pressure the leaders of the G-8 Nations to spend whatever it takes in Africa to "make poverty history."

But beyond the wall of electric amplifiers, a quiet truth rarely got much notice. You see, a cure for poverty has already been found. Yes, a cure!

Freedom.

And by freedom I mean more than just the right to buy rock 'n' roll records. I mean the right to private property, to buy and sell, to compete for any peaceful business. And more. Free markets and free individuals — communicating, trading, praying, working, with maximum liberty and minimum harassment from criminals or governments.

Throughout the history of agriculture there have been great advances in know-how and machinery. But none of these have vanquished poverty or famine from our world. It is the freedom to grow and harvest and enjoy the fruit (and grain and buffalo and ostrich) of one's labor that makes all the difference.

Unfortunately, freedom is too rarely prescribed. In the cruel history of our species, those wielding political power commonly doctor up the laws to favor themselves at the expense of the people.

Africa is such a place, sadly — poor precisely because of the many despots in power. According to the Heritage Foundation's 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, Africa lacks a single nation considered to be "free" and 87 percent of the continent's countries were found to be either "mostly unfree" or downright "repressed."

Dictators destroy economies. And too often they take the aid we send to help the poor and use it to stay longer in power.

Africans know this well. Asked about more aid, a Kenyan health care worker quickly and depressingly predicted that "the aid money will go into the pockets of corrupt officials to buy their fully loaded Mercedes-Benzes."

"For God's sake, please stop the aid," Kenyan economist James Shikwati bluntly told a German weekly. "If the West were to cancel these payments, normal Africans wouldn't even notice. Only the functionaries would be hard hit."

In the 20 years since Live 8's predecessor, Live Aid, raised $2 billion for African famine relief, Africa's Gross Domestic Product shrank 25 percent. The continent's share of world trade has fallen from 6 percent in 1980 to just 2 percent in 2002. Of course, this was not exactly Live Aid's fault:compared to the over $25 billion in foreign aid Africa has received over the last decade, Live Aid's effort was a drop in the bucket.

As the late economist Peter Bauer pointed out, "The argument that aid is indispensable for development runs into an inescapable dilemma. If the conditions for development other than capital are present, the capital required will either be generated locally or be available commercially from abroad to governments or to businesses. If the required conditions are not present, then aid will be ineffective and wasted."

Foreign aid just doesn't work. Sending more will only make aging musicians feel good.

But we can't say that the pop-musician activists are stuck in the past. They have swapped strategies. Unlike the Live Aid effort of two decades ago, which asked individuals to donate voluntarily, Live 8 asks us instead to lobby our leaders to fork over the cash.

Gee whiz, I wonder from which trees Bush, Blair and other politicians will pluck that cash?

The concerts were timed to influence the annual "Group of Eight" Summit, featuring the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the world's eight wealthiest countries. As Live 8 posted on its website: "This summer, these leaders will gather in Scotland to decide the fate of an entire generation living on less than one dollar a day."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair harmonized with the Live 8 effort, saying, "There can be no excuse, no defense, no justification for the plight of millions of our fellow human beings in Africa today." He's right there. But he adds, "And there should be nothing that stands in our way of changing it."

"Our" way? Are we really supposed to believe that Bush and Blair and other leaders of wealthy countries will decide the fate of Africans, without Africans getting even a cameo role? Isn't this just a little condescending?

Some Africans think so. Ousmane Sembene, a Senegalese-born filmmaker, called the efforts "fake." Nigerian musician Femi Kuti called Live 8 a "waste of time."

These men and others are looking elsewhere for solutions. Kuti cites a need for new leadership, saying, "Africa has very many old leaders who do not want to leave office. They are the ones who have made our debts reach billions of dollars through corruption and stealing. And they are still asking for more so that they can steal to their graves and leave the youth with the burden of paying the debts."

Mr. Shikwati says Africa "must take the first steps into modernity on its own. There must be a change in mentality. We have to stop perceiving ourselves as beggars."

Sembene states what is obvious and overlooked, "The only way for us to come out of poverty is to work hard."

True, the Live 8 campaigners are on target in demanding that Western governments end the agricultural subsidies that hurt African farm products in the world market. This is precisely where Americans can make a difference for Africans — by demanding a free market system here at home.

But the rest of the Live 8 agenda rehashes the same old snake oil: the West, with wealth produced by the freedom we have, must bail out countries in Africa, where government corruption and tyranny make progress impossible.

Luckily, Africa's future does not depend on Western aid. Or even rock 'n' roll.

Africa simply needs freedom. It won't be easy to come by. Never is. But it is a crusade that can and must be won by Africans themselves.

Time for a new campaign to make poverty history? Call it "Liber-8."

Paul Jacob is Senior Fellow at Americans for Limited Government, a Townhall.com member group. His daily Common Sense commentary appears on the Web, and on radio stations across America.

This is Big News. The Australian Senate has endorsed the Earth
Charter. It will be interesting to see whether or not they do use it
as a guide for legislation in the future, which is part of what the
Earth Charter is designed for.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


1. The Australian Senate endorses the Earth Charter
Australia, 21 June 2005. The important endorsement of the Earth
Charter by the Australian Senate follows the Charter’s recent
endorsement by the IUCN (The World Conservation Union). It is
encouraging to see Australia again showing international leadership
in the area of education for sustainable development. The motion says
that the Senate:

“1. Recognizes and supports the Earth Charter as an important civil
society contribution to our understanding of sustainable development
and the ethics and principles needed to promote a more just,
sustainable and peaceful world;

2. Notes the endorsement of the Earth Charter by the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation;

3. Encourages the use of the Earth Charter by Federal and state
educational authorities during the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development and;

4. Encourages the further endorsement and use by state and local
government authorities of the Earth Charter as an ethical framework
for more sustainable ways of living."

some people JUST DON'T GET IT and it's really frustrating because it
just shows how much we just don't learn!

From:-- http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/08/us.reaction.ap/index.html?
section=cnn_topstories

William Orem, 39, an editor for a Boston publishing company, said he
felt detached from the events in London -- a feeling he acknowledged
he shouldn't have.

"I've got that strange suspended feeling that a lot of Americans
have, that until it's going on (here), until someone starts blowing
up my subway, it still feels like it's somewhere else in the world,"
he said.

Kofi Annan spoke about the need for African leaders to speak out
about challenges happening on the continent. the Financial Times
comes out and spins the whole story in reference to Zimbabwe in an
article entitled UN
chief warns on dangers of Zimbabwe Kofi Annan did not mention
Zimbabwe in his remarks, but the European and American media seem
obessed with making that the focus of his comments. They should stop.
Seriously... they should just calm down with this unwarranted attack
on Zimbabwe.

I read this good editorial that was touching on the same topic from
the Mail and Guardian, a South African newspaper that is normally
extremely critical of Zimbabwe as if it was run out of London. the href="http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?articleid=244336&area=%
2f" target="new" class="bodytxt">article points out the imbalance
in the amount of press Zimbabwe gets and the amount of diplomatic
attention given to it at these global summits compared to other bona
fide crises in Africa. Why is the G8 not tabling a discussion or
releasing a statement on the Congo, Darfur, class="bodytxt">drought and hunger in Southern Africa. It makes
me wonder, what the true obsession is with Zimbabwe that it becomes
the issue at the center of the commonwealth meetings, Eu Summits, the
G8 meetings, this meeting, this Summit and the next. I don't attempt
to claim that there are no serious issues of economics and political
tension in the country, but for it to be treated like this is
completely bizarre in my assessment. the New Zealand government is href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=4&ObjectID=10334594"
target="new" class="bodytxt">banning the Zimbabwe cricket team
from entering their country to play cricket in retaliation to the
government's actions against informal settlers in the past month.
Those cricketers are professionals. Let them get on with their trade.
Once again, the wrong people are being punished.

The evictions in Zimbabwe were wrong, and certainly not the best
strategy and/or plan for dealing with some of the issues at hand such
as the informal settlements of the black market situation that was
throwing the economy up-side-down. the effects on the people there
has been horrendous. yet no one reporting on it is actually looking
into the other side of the picture, that, given what has happened,
what has been the other effect...? the black market activity has
dropped, that the exchange rate that was going out of control has
stabilized. coincidence? that some of the shortages have ceased. that
there are efforts to rebuild. that the UN sent a high level envoy to
check it out and zimbabwe complied and the UN will issue a report on
it soon. that crime in Harare and other cities has decreased. the
ends do not justify the means. but do they justify horrible, biased,
politicized journalism?

the same people crying about human rights abuses of those people were
silent about the state and living conditions of those people 6 weeks
ago. disease and other potential problems caused by those settlements
were rife. criminal activity was huge. the act of dealing with it was
like swotting a fly with a sledge hammer, i agree. but where were
those lovers of human rights then? they were busy screaming about a
white member of the opposition party and former MP who was href="http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/
0,,2-11-1662_1728501,00.html" target="new" class="bodytxt">released
from jail in Zimbabwe. Who defines what counts as human rights?
why is it that african government's approaches to dealing with their
issues, if they do not work in the interests of the western countries
are therefore not legitimate. i have not seen stories showing surveys
and polls of the zimbabwean public in general and their response to
the recent activities by the government recently. but certainly
people in london and Canberra have mouthfuls to say! why are the
same people not making noise about the human rights issue of peoples'
livelihoods. no one talks about poverty as a human right issue. it's
a moral issue. it's morally wrong that people are dying of curable
diseases. it's not a human rights issue to have access to health
care? or to have access to having a way to create a livelihood...
land? a job? etc... it's not a human rights issue to have the
injustices of colonialism reversed? i don't see the cover page of
magazines or the home page of Amnesty International talking about the
rights of these people from their perspective. the people in the
slums in harare have a right and have always had the right to proper
habitation as much as they do now since they were left homeless. but
why is their habitation only an issue now? living in shanty towns
with no sanitation or services is ok and acceptable, as long as
people can criticize the president in a newspaper the next day?

a lot of the media talks about the situation in zimbabwe in two
dichotomies. they are quick to say the evictions in the cities were
pay back to people for voting against the government. or that it was
about sending people to rural areas so that they can learn to vote
for the opposition. i think that's just simplifying things once
again. there is no political logic to doing things that way. the
government gains nothing politically from such an action, unless of
course it fulfills its pledges to rebuild, which i am keen to see and
which i will write about in this very space if they do not deliver.
but there is more than just petty politics at play here and i think
we need to see things beyond political party divides in zimbabwe and
in africa in general. we need to gain an understanding of the
complexity of the whole african picture. that way, our news media can
say some things more intelligent that calling everything a black and
white issue.

Perhaps the clearest sign that the west in general still does not
understand africa can be seen in their calls for the African Union to
'speak out' or condemn zimbabwe for this, that and the next. you have
an institution that
1. is low on resources, attempting to stop genocide [AU troops are
the only forces on the ground in Darfur] and other crises on the
continent and you want them to spend energy on zimbabwe?
2. was created to promote african solidarity and you expect them to
jump when an external voice dictates what they must do? that would
certainly, on a political and diplomatic level be the end of any
significance of such a political union. what else will you tell them
how to do? how to run their countries and who to trade with...?

the challenges in zimbabwe would be so much easier to fix if those
externally found more intelligent ways to engage, and not to polarize
and to divide and rule, which has been used as a tactic for decades.
it is important for people to understand that the issues in zimbabwe
are for real and must be dealt with. the manner in which this has
been done, however can be challenged and i'm open to that and i
challenge it too. but to say it's all bad and to always simplify it
to politics is so unhelpful. other african countries have the same
issues as zimbabwe. i think that the difference is that they choose
to not deal with them in any way and hope that they will go away, or
that the illusion of economic growth will deal with underlying racial
and economic tensions. time will tell. in zimbabwe, there is hope for
this chaos giving birth to long term order. i hope to be a part of
that difficult and trying process of dealing with these issues and
tension, creating dialogue, working out sustainable solution to these
challenges and initiating projects that actually respond to these
needs. endless campaigns by the media focused on making zimbabwe look
bad because of a deep held hatred of one man hurt the rest of us
more. zimbabwe will emerge healthy in all of this. maybe not this
year, or the next... but soon. you watch. we are working on it. if we
don't work on it an zimbabweans, it is us who suffer. these
challenges and difficulties are not forever. sometimes, roses do grow
in cow dung, though the dung can smell really bad, the roses always
look pretty in the end.

Bush's Iraq Speech: Long On Assertion, Short On Facts
Bush says "progress is uneven" in Iraq, but accentuates positive
evidence and mostly ignores the negative.
June 30, 2005



Summary
Standing before a crowd of uniformed soldiers, President Bush
addressed the nation on June 27 to reaffirm America's commitment to
the global war on terrorism. But throughout the speech Bush
continually stated his opinions and conclusions as though they were
facts, and he offered little specific evidence to support his
assertions.

Here we provide some additional context, both facts that support
Bush's case that "we have made significant progress" in Iraq, as well
as some of the negative evidence he omitted.

Analysis

Bush's prime-time speech at Fort Bragg, NC coincided with the one-
year anniversary of the handover of soverignty to Iraqi authorities.
It was designed to lay out America's role in Iraq amid sinking public
support for the war and calls by some lawmakers to withdraw troops.



The Bloodshed

Bush acknowledged the high level of violence in Iraq as he sought to
reassure the public.



Bush: The work in Iraq is difficult and dangerous. Like most
Americans, I see the images of violence and bloodshed. Every picture
is horrifying and the suffering is real. Amid all this violence, I
know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice worth it?



What Bush did not mention is that by most measures the violence is
getting worse. Both April and May were record months in Iraq for car
bombings, for example, with more than 135 of them being set off each
month. And the bombings are getting more deadly. May was a record
month for deaths from bombings, with 381 persons killed in "multiple
casualty" bombings that took two or more lives, according to figures
collected by the Brookings Institution in its "Iraq Index." The
Brookings index is compiled from a variety of sources including
official government statistics, where those are available, and other
public sources such as news accounts and statements of Iraqi
government officials.

The number of Iraqi police and military who have been killed is also
rising, reaching 296 so far in June, nearly triple the 109 recorded
in January and 103 in Febrary, according to a tally of public
information by the website Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, a private
group that documents each fatality from public statements and news
reports. Estimates of the total number of Iraqi civilians killed each
month as a result of "acts of war" have been rising as well,
according to the Brookings index.

The trend is also evident in year-to-year figures. In the past twelve
months, there have been 25% more U.S. troop fatalities and nearly
double the average number of insurgent attacks per day as there were
in the preceeding 12 months.



Reconstruction Progress

In talking about Iraqi reconstruction, Bush highlighted the positive
and omitted the negative:

Bush>: We continued our efforts to help them rebuild their
country. . . . Our progress has been uneven but progress is being
made. We are improving roads and schools and health clinics and
working to improve basic services like sanitation, electricity and
water. And together with our allies, we will help the new Iraqi
government deliver a better life for its citizens.



Indeed, the State Department's most recent "Iraq Weekly Status
Report" shows progress is uneven. Education is a positive; official
figures show 3,056 schools have been rehabilitated and millions of
"student kits" have been distributed to primary and secondary
schools. School enrollments are increasing. And there are also 145
new primary healthcare centers currently under construction. The
official figures show 78 water treatment projects underway, nearly
half of them completed, and water utility operators are regularly
trained in two-week courses.

On the negative side, however, State Department figures show overall
electricity production is barely above pre-war levels. Iraqis still
have power only 12 hours daily on average.

Iraqis are almost universally unhappy about that. Fully 96 percent of
urban Iraqis said they were dissatisfied when asked about "the
availability of electricity in your neighborhood." That poll was
conducted in February for the U.S. military, and results are reported
in Brookings' "Iraq Index." The same poll also showed that 20 percent
of Iraqi city- dwellers still report being without water to their homes.



Conclusions or Facts?

The President repeatedly stated his upbeat conclusions as though they
were facts. For example, he said of "the terrorists:"

Bush: They failed to break our coalition and force a mass
withdrawal by our allies. They failed to incite an Iraqi civil war..

In fact, there have been withdrawals by allies. Spain pulled out its
1,300 soldiers in April, and Honduras brought home its 370 troops at
the same time. The Philippines withdrew its 51 troops last summer to
save the life of a Filipino hostage held captive for eight months in
Iraq. Ukraine has already begun a phased pullout of its 1,650-person
contingent, which the Defense Ministry intends to complete by the end
of the year. Both the Netherlands and Italy have announced plans to
withdraw their troops, and the Bulgarian parliament recently granted
approval to bring home its 450 soldiers. Poland, supplying the third-
largest contingent in the coalition after Italy's departure, has
backed off a plan for full withdrawal of troops due to the success of
Iraqi elections and talks with Condoleezza Rice, but the Polish Press
Agency announced in June that the next troop rotation will have 200
fewer soldiers.

Bush is of course entitled to argue that these withdrawals don't
constitute a "mass" withdrawal, but an argument isn't equivalent to a
fact.

The same goes for Bush's statement there's no "civil war" going on.
In fact, some believe that what's commonly called the "insurgency"
already is a "civil war" or something very close to it. For example,
in an April 30 piece, the Times of London quotes Colonel Salem Zajay,
a police commander in Southern Baghdad, as saying, "The war is not
between the Iraqis and the Americans. It is between the Shia and the
Sunni." Again, Bush is entitled to state his opinion to the contrary,
but stating a thing doesn't make it so.



Terrorism

Similarly, Bush equated Iraqi insurgents with terrorists who would
attack the US if they could.



Bush: There is only one course of action against them: to
defeat them abroad before they attack us at home. . . . Our mission
in Iraq is clear. We are hunting down the terrorists.

Despite a few public claims to the contrary, however, no solid
evidence has surfaced linking Iraq to attacks on the United States,
and Bush offered none in his speech. The 9/11 Commission issued a
staff report more than a year ago saying "so far we have no credible
evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the
United States." It said Osama bin Laden made a request in 1994 to
establish training camps in Iraq, but "but Iraq apparently never
responded." That was before bin Laden was ejected from Sudan and
moved his operation to Afghanistan.

Bush laid stress on the "foreign" or non-Iraqi elements in the
insurgency as evidence that fighting in Iraq might prevent future
attacks on the US:

Bush: I know Americans ask the question: Is the sacrifice
worth it? It is worth it, and it is vital to the future security of
our country. And tonight I will explain the reasons why. Some of
the violence you see in Iraq is being carried out by ruthless killers
who are converging on Iraq to fight the advance of peace and freedom.
Our military reports that we have killed or captured hundreds of
foreign fighters in Iraq who have come from Saudi Arabia, Syria,
Iran, Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Libya and other nations.

But Bush didn't mention that the large majority of insurgents are
Iraqis, not foreigners. The overall strength of the insurgency has
been estimated at about 16,000 persons. The number of foreign
fighters in Iraq is only about 1,000, according to estimates reported
by the Brookings Institution. The exact number is of course
impossible to know. However, over the course of one week during the
major battle for Fallujah in November of 2004, a Marine official said
that only about 2% of those detained were foreigners. To be sure,
Brookings notes that "U.S. military believe foreign fighters are
responsible for the majority of suicide bombings in Iraq," with
perhaps as many as 70 percent of bombers coming from Saudi Arabia
alone. It is anyone's guess how many of those Saudi suicide bombers
might have attempted attacks on US soil, but a look at the map shows
that a Saudi jihadist can drive across the border to Baghdad much
more easily than getting nearly halfway around the world to to the US.



Osama bin Laden

Bush quoted a recent tape-recorded message by bin Laden as evidence
that the Iraq conflict is "a central front in the war on terror:"

Bush: Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: "This Third World War
is raging" in Iraq..."The whole world is watching this war." He says
it will end in "victory and glory or misery and humiliation."



However, Bush passed over the fact that the relationship between bin
Laden and the Iraqi insurgents - to the extent one existed at all
before - grew much closer after the US invaded Iraq. Insurgent leader
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi did not announce his formal allegiance with bin
Laden until October, 2004. It was only then that Zarqawi changed the
name of his group from "Unification and Holy War Group" to "al Qaeda
in Iraq."

In summary, we found nothing false in what Bush said, only that his
facts were few and selective.

--by Brooks Jackson & Jennifer L. Ernst

Researched by Matthew Barge, Kevin Collins & Jordan Grossman



Sources

Paul Richter, "No 'T imetables' for Iraq Pullout, Bush Promises
Visiting Premier," Los Angeles Times, 25 June 2005: A1.

Michael E. O'Hanlon, Adriana Lins de Albuquerque, "Iraq Index;
Tracking Variables of Reconstruction & Security in Post-Saddam Iraq,"
Brookings Institution, 27 June 2005.

US Department of State, " Iraq Weekly Status Report," 22 June 2005.

National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon The United States, "
Overview of the Enemy ," staff statement No. 15 released at Twelfth
Public Hearing, Wednesday, June 16, 2004.

BBC News, "US chides Spain for Iraq pull-out," 20 April 2005.

Robin Wright, "European Bitterness Over Iraq Dissipates," Washington
Post 5 Feb. 2005: A21.

PAP Polish Press Agency, "Next Rotation of Polish Soldiers In Iraq
Smaller," 25 May 2005.

"Ukraine 's Defence Minister Says His Troops Will Be Out Of Iraq By
Year End," BBC Monitoring International Reports 17 June 2005.

Nick Childs, "Iraq 's Strained Coalition," BBC News World Edition 16
March 2005.

Sara Toms, "Manila 's Difficult Dilemna," BBC News World Edition 20
July 2004.

"Poll shows dissatisfaction with Iraq War," CNN.com, 21 June 2005.
Donna Miles, "Military Tops Public Confidence List in New Gallup
Poll," American Forces Press Service, 3 June 2005.

"Few foreigners among rebels captured in Fallujah," Associated Press/
USA Today, 15 November 2004.

Susan B. Glasser, "'Martyrs' in Iraq Mostly Saudis," Washington Post,
15 May 2005.

"President Addresses Nation, Discusses Iraq , War on Terror,"
Transcript, The White House 28 June 2005.



Bush's Iraq Speech: Long On Assertion, Short On Facts

New York City, July 6 2004<

There is so much news coverage right now of the G8 and Africa. It's
almost as if people think that the G8 was formed to deal with Africa,
which i think is a huge mistake. the Media plays along to it too, and
whether intentional or not, it ends up painting the G8 as the "Great
Eight--Group of African Problem Solvers." This is very much not true.
I think it is important to remember the purpose of the G8 and it's
main function. i do accept that the countries in the G8 do make up an
immense global force and represent a large part of the global economy
and hence if they change their countries policies the global impact
could be huge.

But let us not lose sight of the fact that they exist to make deals
on behalf of their individual countries and on behalf of themselves
as a collective [group]. They do not gather every year and say "ok,
gentleman, now what are we going to do about the problems in Burkina
Faso and Surinam...?" They have their economies to worry about. Their
trade, the extension of markets for their countries. It's good for
the G8 to have people reading about its connection with issues like
poverty and global warming. Those stories take up press space and
what they really spend their time discussing never makes it to the
newspapers. it's like it's a grand bull fight, the G8 is the matador
and we are all one huge, dumb bull charging for a piece of cloth
really believing that we will knock over something substantial.

Some may say, "Oh, oh oh, but dumi--the protests and press coverage
to actually lead to something constructive. Millions of dollars have
been announced by the G8 in response to the issues that campaigners,
protesters and the press have highlighted over the years!" If we look
at the numbers and the details beneath the numbers, we'll see that
this is in fact, not true. the Financial Times, US edition of July 5,
2005 carried a great story shedding light on the so called pledges
made by the G8. This information in a table entitled "How Assistance
was Spun" was sadly not on the online version, but i'll quote some of
the examples it included. It spoke of how the announcements of aid
pledged are often spun by the marketing people in the G8 governments.

In 2000, when Japan was President of the G8 -- Issue: Aid

Statement : Ahead of the G8 SUmmit it is hosting in Okinawa,
Japan announces $18bn aid programme for poor countries to bridge the
"digital divide."
Check : Japanese government declines to say whether the
money is additional or cut from other aid programmes, and the
japanese aid budget declines in future years.

In 2000 when the UK held the Presidency of the G8 -- Issue:
Debt

Statement : UK says it will no longer take debt payments
from those HIPCs eligible for, but yet to benefit from, the
international debt relief scheme, announcing the creation of a trust
fund for the money.
Check : The amounts of money involved are tiny and the UK
subsequently admits it will continue to collect the money and replay
later rather than set up a trust fund. The announcement is treated
with scorn by other G7 governments.

In 2001, when Italy held the Presidency of the G8 -- Issue:
Health

Statement : italy, due to host that summer's G8 summit in
Genoa, proposes a new $1billion fund to fix health systems and buy
drugs for developing countries.
Check : Other G8 countries point out that far more aid that
this is already spent every year on healthcare in the developing
world, and has nonetheless failed to stop the spread of disease.

February 2002, Announcement by the US -- Issue: Aid

Statement : the White House announces a plan to make part of
the US contribution to the World Bank conditional on performance
targets, and calls on other donor countries to follow suit.
Check : Not one other donor does, and the following year
congressional committees undercut the scheme by redirecting the
reward money to fund other aid programmes.

September 2004, Announcement by the UK -- Issue: Debt

Statement : UK announces it will cover 10% of the debt
payments to the World Bank and African Development Bank by various
indebted countries.
Check : Rather than being new aid, the money will come from
a provision in the Department of International Development's [DFID]
existing budget.

January 2005, Announcement by the UK -- Issue: health

Statement : Appearing at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, Tony Blair announces 45 million pound spending on
bednets to fight malaria in the developing world.
Check : The money is once more out of DfID's existing
budget. The UK has already been supporting bednet programmes for years.


i thought those 'facts' were worth reproducing so people can begin to
get a better sense of how these dollars are apparently spent and for
people to be more critical when reading about debt pledges or in
holding pledgers more accountable.

again--i just want to point out that the G8 isn't there to help the
rest of the world. it's to figure out what is best for it's countries
and the people they represent. if they were doing what is good for
the rest of us, it would be unacceptable for them to accept George
Bush saying the kyoto protocols or any climate change/global warming
treaties are "bad deal[s]" for the US. If they existed to do good for
the rest of us, they'd push the US around into accepting some
compromise at the very least. but they are not there for that
purpose. they exist to push trade agreements and protocols that work
in their favor. they bring in leaders of countries like Nigeria,
Brazil, South Africa and India to make it seem like they are being
more inclusive. whatever deals they make with those countries
probably benefit the MNCs from the G8 operating in the third world.
Very little actually affects the billions of the world's poor in real
terms.

There was an article in the BBC
yesterday mentioning how African business leaders were calling on the
G8 to help them to stop corruption. I understand that there are two
sides to corruption. Those that pay the brides, usually from richer
countries and those that receive them. but these African business
people should be asking their OWN leaders to make tougher corruption
legislation and enforcement, and they should be investing their
collective monies into education programmes and initiatives to change
cultures around corruption. This perpetuation of the idea that the G8
will save our souls is sickening. It doesn't exist to end African
corruption. It exists to look out for the best interests of their
constituents. if ending African corruption was a major priority for
them and those they represent, we wouldn't even be talking about it.

it's important to understand how these organizations and bodies work
and where the rest of us fit in this picture so that our efforts can
be more strategic and bring out returns closer to what we hope to
achieve from our investments, energies and efforts.

i agree that african countries need to reduce their dependence on
foreign aid... as much as the US wants to and needs to reduce its
depence on foreign oil. this, for africa, is a 'national' security
issue. these political leaders need to develop a strategy for
decreasing the amount of aid over the long term... say, to have
targets for reduced aid by the magical year of 2015 and at the same
time, create a unified strategy for increasing trade.

i think that aid may be necessary in addressing issues such as
disasters and the development of infrastructure like hospitals and
roads in the next few years--as long there is not string attached to
what the schools teach or how the hospitals deal with disease.

africa needs to generate its own wealth, create employment and revenue
for its tax base. this means investing in systems to make this
efficient. aid will not necessarily create a useful tax code for
zimbabwe, or an efficient revenue collection agency for mali. it's not
in the interest of the european, japanese or american tax payers to
finance that. this is where africans need to step in.

the AU should be making calls for less aid and negotiating better
trade deals. as is, people are strutting onto the continent and
walking of with natural resources at massive bargains as if the whole
continent was wal-mart of ikea. that is anti-developmental for our
economies.

so i agree with the article below that points to Gaddafi, the
controversial leader of libya who is saying we should stop begging. i
don't understand why people like obasanjo are always singing the tune
that the west WANTS to hear them sing...? why? disappointing! and to
think he is considered to speak for africa!



--
From: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4647579.stm

Stop begging, Africa leaders told
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has told other African leaders to "stop
begging" for Western charity.

He was speaking at the start of an African Union summit ahead of the
G8 summit of the world's rich and powerful nations in Scotland.

Africa's leaders are expected to set out their views on trade and aid.

Colonel Gaddafi thanked British PM Tony Blair for his "enthusiasm" for
Africa. But he told him "we are not beggars at the doorsteps of the
rich".

Africans did not like all the conditions the West attached to aid,
Colonel Gaddafi said in a 30-minute speech which received muted
applause from African leaders.

"If you give a poor man money, you don't ask him to change his clothes
or the way he prays."

Praising African leaders for making progress on democracy, UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan announced the creation of a UN Democracy
Fund to help poor countries prepare and hold elections.

He said that "almost all" of the countries represented at the summit
in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte were committed to holding
elections.

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has criticised African
heads of state for failing to condemn President Robert Mugabe saying
it is damaging their "credibility" with G8 leaders.

US President George W Bush insists that Africa must improve its
governance and democratic accountability if it is to benefit from debt
relief and more aid.

Fighting poverty

The 53-nation African Union has already reached a consensus agreement
to press for two permanent seats on an expanded UN Security Council.

It is a lifetime's work where we empower the people of Africa and the
developing countries to make decisions for themselves
Gordon Brown
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer
Trade and debt relief for Africa will be discussed by Western leaders
at the G8 summit at Gleneagles, starting on Wednesday.

There is a real sense that the three-year-old union - which succeeded
the Organisation of African Unity - is finally coming of age, says the
BBC's Mike Donkin.

The AU is looking to have its own ministries of foreign affairs,
defence, trade and others.

There has also been discussion of opening up borders between states
with the creation of an African passport, but this is far from agreed.

Africa is also keen to have its own standing army ready to go to
trouble spots at a moment's notice.

And it wants to set up its own financial fund so that aid and grants
allocated by organisations like the World Bank or the European Union
can be spent faster and not just sit in Western coffers, our
correspondent says.

Madonna said it "music/ makes the people/ come together!"

See http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=244383&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

(i have pasted the story below)

The Live 8 Concerts are proving that arts and culture, mixed with
technologies such as the internet and cellphones can help to increase
awareness to important issues. the SMT [www.sweetmother.org], which is
really about a "tour" doing just that is a dynamic tool for achieving
this for african people using african music and connecting with
pan-african youth!

i'm getting excited about the Tour... Mayibuye! [Let it come!]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Live8 rocks Joburg
Johannesburg, London
02 July 2005 07:15
United Kingdom university student Eleanor de Kanter gave up seeing pop
singers U2 and Madonna to visit a South African township and be part
of the Africa Standing Tall Against Poverty concert in conjunction
with Live8 in Newtown, Johannesburg, on Saturday.

"It's amazing to be here in Africa, listening to African music and
supporting the cause," she said. "As people we are coming together."

De Kanter, an international political economics master's degree
student from Birmingham, is staying in Vosloorus township on the East
Rand.

She described the event in Mary FitzGerald Square in Newtown,
Johannesburg, as "magical".

"If this is going to work there will have to be a lot more pressure
(on world leaders). This has to be the start of a long process."

The concert, organised by Global Call to Action Against Poverty
(GCAAP), is one of 10 international music concerts being held towards
eliminating poverty and has been dubbed the biggest music event on
earth.

It is estimated that over five million people will be tuning in to
watch the concert, just a few days before the G8 meeting of wealthy
countries takes place in Scotland, with African aid issues the focus.

According to the GCAAP, there is around 15 000 people at the event at
Mary Fitzgerald Square.

"The attendance is growing," said Hassen Lorgat, spokesperson for GCAAP.

International media descended on the event as thousands of people
danced to the tunes of reggae legend Lucky Dube.

Nizah Letsholo (38) a reggae musician from Yeoville, said he was there
for the music and to support the drive against poverty.

"I don't think this concert will be successful because the people who
attend are people with no money. The people with money are not here."

But Letsholo said he was enjoying himself.

Sarah Crowe, who works for the United Nations was among the crowds.

"It's important that the world knows Africans are doing things for
themselves," she said.

"We have to break the image of Africans as beggars with their hands
cupped. The concert can't work on it's own. Africans must feel they
are not alone."

Ntombikanina Malinga said: "The leaders in Africa have to change their ways."

She said she was there because it was a global initiative and was
right on her doorstep.

"We have a role to play as other countries have their own interests."

Teenager Dominick Pettersson said he was there for the reggae and felt
while he couldn't a difference on his own, there was power in numbers.

The majority of the spectators however, were sceptical as to whether
the concert could realistically help eliminate poverty.

They all felt it was more the start of a long process.

"This was never meant to work on its own," said Lorgat.

"The purpose of this is to mobilise political consciousness about
poverty and inequality in Africa," he said.

Two similar concerts will be held in Africa in August and September.

The line-up of artists included Dube, Malaika, Lindiwe -- Project Fame
winner, Vusi Mahlasela and Zola.

Speaking to the crowds Zola said he would love to take Tony Blair in a
car and show him Soweto.

Former president Nelson Mandela is expected to attend and address the
crowds before 7pm.

A string of concerts are taking place around the world -- in Britain,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.

At 3pm, a live linkup between all the countries was initiated.

On the large screen at the concert were messages declaring that a
child dies of hunger every three seconds.

Many people were wearing white bands as a show of support for the
cause of the concerts.

People danced and jumped around to the beat of the music amongst great
festivity in Johannesburg's winter sunshine.

Overseas concerts kick off
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's two o'clock. Welcome to the greatest rock
concert in the world." And thus, a few minutes after 2pm, Live8 began
simultaneously at venues in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin.

Backstage, Bob Geldof said:" Everything that's rock 'n' roll is ever
meant to be is happening now." He admitted that he only finally
relaxed once the concert got underway. "There's nothing more to do now
-- it's either crap or it's great and so far it's great," he told
reporters a couple of hours into the blockbusting event.

First off was Paul McCartney who opened proceedings in Hyde Park with
a rendition of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (opening
line, "It was 20 years ago today"), backed by musicians dressed in the
iconic Sgt Pepper brightly coloured uniforms. Bono and U2 then took
over, performing It's a Beautiful Day with lyrics especially
customised for the event. Overhead, grey clouds gathered, but the
crowd greeted the performers enthusiastically.

Following U2 were Coldplay, who opened with In My Place. Among the
spectators were Chris Martin's wife, Gwyneth Paltrow and their
daughter Apple. Richard Ashcroft sang his best known song, Bitter
Sweet Symphony, backed by Coldplay. Martin sneaked in a small tribute
to Status Quo - who opened Live Aid 20 years previously, singing a few
words from their song Rocking All Over The World.

The singer called Bob Geldof "a hero" and thanked the organiser,
referring to those who were cynical as 'stupid'. Their brief set ended
with Fix You. Elton John performed next, closing with a duet with Pete
Doherty. The two sang Children of the Revolution.

Geldof then made a brief appearance, to introduce Bill Gates as "the
greatest philanthropist of our age." Gates -- the richest man in the
world - and his wife Melinda have given $5-billion towards relieving
poverty. Gates paid tribute to Geldof and the event's other
organisers. "I believe that if you show people the problems and you
show them the solutions they will be moved to act," he said.

"I have learned that success depends on knowing what works and
bringing resources to the problem. We know what to do. The generosity
we are asking for can save millions of lives. Some day in the future
all people no matter where they are born will be able to lead a
healthy life."

Dido was up next. The North Londoner sang White Flag, and then was
joined on stage by Sengalese singer Youssou N'Dour to sing her
breakthrough hit, Thank You. The two then performed N'Dour's 1994
smash hit Seven Seconds.

Both singers will be playing later at the Eden Project in Cornwall,
where over 4 000 people are watching some of Africa's best musicians.
Acts on the bill there include Thomas Mapfumo from Zimbabwe and his
group the Blacks Unlimited, dynamic female vocalist Maryam Mursal from
Somalia, and Senegalese hip hop group Daara J.

Eden's organiser Peter Gabriel spoke earlier of his 'disappointment'
that Geldof could not have made more space for black artists on the
bill at Hyde Park. "I am very happy that we are here today," he said.
"It was important that there was the opportunity for African voices to
be heard." Guest presenters at the Cornwall event include Angelina
Jolie.

Eden's chief executive Tim Smit said: "What is so exciting about
hosting this is that what has been created is a cultural palette and
people can get a chance to hear a wide range of sounds of Africa. It
is very moving and emotional and I hope it catches the mood of the
time."

At Hyde Park, Stereophonics followed Dido, and then Ricky Gervais
introduced REM. Gervais reprised his famous dance routine from BBC TV
series The Office, for "the first and last time only" to the delight
of the crowd.

Thousands of people gathered in city centres in Manchester, Wrexham,
Cardiff, Birmingham, Liverpool, Hull, Leeds, Gateshead, Bournemouth,
Plymouth, Belfast, Inverness and the Channel Islands where screens had
been erected to allow people to watch the event free of charge.

Ms Dynamite was followed by Keane, who played Everybody's Changing and
Somewhere Only We Know, to roars of approval.

Razorlight frontman Johnny Borrell chatted backstage before his band's
set. "I'm not nervous," he told reporters. "I can't wait to get out
there. It's great to be here, taking part in something that needs to
be done," he said. Borrell is too young to remember the original Live
Aid concert of 1985.

"This is not about what happened 20 years ago," he said, "This is
about today. My message to the G8 leaders is that this is their chance
to make a lot of difference in the world and to come back fulfilling
their promises rather than coming back with empty promises. This is
their chance to show the world politics is not just showbusiness for
ugly people."

At 5pm Bob Geldof came on stage to announce that over three billion
people were watching the event. Over in Philadelphia, events were just
beginning, with Will Smith on stage to open the US's Live8 concert.
The actor and singer introduced live link-ups with the crowds in
Berlin, Paris and Canada.

He spoke of a Declaration of 'Interdependence' and urged the crowds to
help end world poverty. "Every three seconds, somebody's son,
somebodys' daughter, somebody's future is gone. Dead" he said. "With a
stroke of a pen eight men can make a difference and end the misery of
millions of people."

Geldof returned to the stage in London, this time to perform. "I know
it's cheeky, but I couldn't resist playing on this stage," he told the
crowd. He sang a powerful version of the Boomtown Rats' hit single, I
Don't Like Mondays. "Thanks for letting me do that," he said, leaving
the stage to huge cheers.

The Live8 Concerts will run for 19 hours around the world. The day's
final note of music will come from Canadian concert venue Molson Park,
Barrie, at 1am tomorrow (British Standard Time); the first concert
kicked off this morning in Tokyo at 6am and finished 2pm.

In the US, Philadelphia's Live8 concert at the Benjamin Franklin
Parkway will feature Live8 performers from 5pm (BST) until 11pm.
Russia's Live 8 Concert in Red Square, Moscow runs from 5pm to 8.30pm,
while South Africa's concert at Mary Fitzgerald Square, Newtown,
Johannesburg, began at 11.45am and will close at 6.30pm.

The world music gig at Cornwall's Eden Project opened an hour before
Hyde Park, and will run until at 11pm.

Billions of television viewers around the world are expected to watch
today's concerts, with other gigs taking place in Philadelphia, Tokyo,
Berlin, Paris, Rome, Johannesburg, Moscow, Barrie (Canada) and the
Eden Project in Cornwall. The Hyde Park concert is being broadcast to
85% of the world's population.

The fans in Hyde Park will see a lineup including Madonna, Coldplay,
Sir Elton John, Joss Stone, Robbie Williams and U2. Special guest
presenters are to include Brad Pitt -- who will be introducing Annie
Lennox, David Beckham, introducing Robbie Williams, Ricky Gervais, and
Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams. Kofi Annan, Cat
Deeley, Davina McCall, Chris Evans, Harvey Weinstein and the BBC's
political editor Andrew Marr were among the onlookers, while Jonathan
Ross was introducing the live television coverage.

The former Beatle will close proceedings with The Long and Winding
Road, urging people to travel to Edinburgh for the Long Walk To
Justice. Surprise guests were also expected to appear on stage, with
George Michael and Sir Mick Jagger rumoured to be among those
participating in the grand finale.

The aim of the concerts is to raise awareness of poverty in developing
nations in the run-up to the G8 summit, which takes place in
Gleneagles on July 6.

"This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can
grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from
the eight world leaders at G8 an end to poverty," the event's
organiser, Bob Geldof, said.

"The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will
only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them
that enough is enough. By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and
delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future
for millions of men, women and children." - Sapa, Guardian Unlimited (c)
Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005