It's a shame President Bush has to go overseas to feel the love. But in sub-Saharan Africa, where 22.5 million people are living with HIV, residents have been so thrilled to see him that thousands have lined the roads, many wearing shirts and sarongs bearing his photo.
They love him for a good reason. The President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief has provided $18 billion for treatment and prevention of AIDS in developing countries - the largest-ever international health initiative devoted to one disease.
Since 2003, 1.4 million Africans have received lifesaving AIDS drugs, according to a Los Angeles Times report. In Kenya alone, where AIDS is the No. 1 killer, the relief program is credited with saving more than 57,000 lives.
In 2002, 38 percent of the population in one district in Kenya were HIV-positive; now only 8 percent have the virus that causes AIDS. Help from America, in the form of drugs, medical care, support groups, prevention counseling and condoms, has given Africans hope.
The program is set to expire in September, and although it's likely to be extended with an additional $30 billion over the next five years, Bush has spent the past six days in Africa's midsection, highlighting the fight against AIDS and malaria.
He has been criticized for including premarital sexual abstinence in the program, but he correctly argues that it has worked. "It is an ABC program: abstinence, be faithful and condoms," Bush said. "I would ask Congress to listen to leaders on the continent of Africa... analyze what works, stop the squabbling and get the program reauthorized."
Bush is counting on this visit to remind folks at home that he has done more in his eight years than fight a war with Iraq.
In fact, his popularity in Africa underscores that good deeds are also good politics. The lesson in Africa is that more humanitarian aid, not more bombs, can lift America's sagging international image.
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