Flash Gordon Left Me The Keys

Transcript: White House Daily Briefing, July 9, 2003

President's schedule, Liberia, Israel/Palestinians, Iraq/uranium from
Africa, Bush/State of the Union speech, AIDS) (2090)

White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer briefed the media July 9 in
Pretoria as they accompanied President Bush on the second day of a
five-country African tour.

Following is the White House transcript:

(begin transcript)

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Pretoria, South Africa)
July 9, 2003

PRESS GAGGLE WITH ARI FLEISCHER TO THE TRAVEL POOL

Union House
Pretoria, South Africa

QUESTION: So what's happening this morning?

MR. FLEISCHER: So far, all quiet on the Western front. The President
will do the avail. Is this the same pool that is going to be at the
avail?

Q: Yes.

MR. FLEISCHER: Looks like it's two and two.

Q: Will we get a readout of the bilat?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes. What we're going to do is ask Jendayi to come to
the filing center I think between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. for the
entire press contingent. I think that's the plan right now. I'm not
sure Jendayi can do it, but that's what we intended on the schedule.

Q: Anything new on Liberia?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, it's like I said yesterday, it's going to take some
time for the assessments to come in, and they've got some thorough
work ahead of them.

Q: The assessment team has run into difficulties in getting access to
what they would need, is that a problem?

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, I'll let DOD go through that. I think it turned
out to be less than met the eye and they dealt with it. But DOD can
tell you.

Q: Any discussions on the Middle East, Abbas and Sharon? Has there
been any --

MR. FLEISCHER: (Inaudible) -- I think I just want to see if there's an
update I can get you from either Powell or Condi on it. The President
has not made any calls in the last day or two on it. No, it's just --
the Palestinian Authority still has some responsibilities and Abbas is
working hard to meet those responsibilities -- internal issues with
the Palestinian Authority that he's diligently working his way
through.

Q: The fact that Abbas is talking about resigning, is that a cause for
concern at this point?

MR. FLEISCHER: Internal policy and politics is complicated for the
Palestinians, let alone for outside observers. The President is
confident in his leadership and looks forward to continuing to work
with him.

Q: So we don't think this is serious, or whether there's a serious
possibility --

* * * * *

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me say this on background. It is
not an atypical way of internal Palestinian machinations.

Q: Kind of like the White House? (Laughter.) Are you always
threatening to quit?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: -- with the President. (Laughter.) The
President tells Harriet -- I don't think that's -- (laughter.) It is
-- it's just sometimes their way of doing business.

* * * * *

Q: What's the final language, Ari, your final position on the State of
the Union speech and the uranium -- I know they were working on stuff
last night, but I never got a chance to read it.

Q: Is this on the record?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, we're back on the record. After the speech,
information was learned about the forged documents. With the advantage
of hindsight, it's known now what was not known by the White House
prior to the speech. This information should not have risen to the
level of a presidential speech. There was reporting, although it
wasn't very specific, about Iraq's seeking to obtain uranium from
Africa. It's a classic issue of how hindsight is 20-20. The process
was followed that led to the information going into the State of the
Union; information about the yellow cake was only brought to the White
House's attention later.

But there's a bigger picture here, and this is what's fundamental --
the case for war against Iraq was based on the threat that Saddam
Hussein posed because of his possession of weapons of mass
destruction, chemical and biological, and his efforts to reconstitute
a nuclear program. In 1991, everybody in the world underestimated how
close he was to getting a nuclear weapon. The case for going to war
against Saddam is as just today as it was the day the President gave
that speech.

Q: Ambassador Wilson said he made a case months before that there was
no basis to the belief --

MR. FLEISCHER: No, he reported that Niger denied the allegation.
That's what Ambassador Wilson reported.

Q: Was that report weighed against other --

MR. FLEISCHER: And of course they would deny the allegation. That
doesn't make it untrue. It was only later -- you can ask Ambassador
Wilson if he reported that the yellow cake documents were forged. He
did not. His report did not address whether the documents were forged
or not. His report stated that Niger denied the accusation. He spent
eight days in Niger and concluded that Niger denied the allegation.
Well, typically, nations don't admit to going around nuclear
nonproliferation.

Q: But he said there was a basis to believe their denials.

MR. FLEISCHER: That's different from what he reported. The issue here
is whether the documents on yellow cake were forged. He didn't address
that issue. That's the information that subsequently came to light,
not prior to the speech.

Q: Walk us through how much, if any of this --

MR. FLEISCHER: It was based on the national intelligence estimate; it
was based on contemporaneous reporting leading up to the speech, which
with the advantage of hindsight we now know that the yellow cake ties
to Niger were not accurate. But again, in 1991, the world
underestimated how close Iraq was to obtaining nuclear weapons. There
is a bigger picture here that is just as valid today as it was the day
of the speech.

Q: Are we going the other way now in overestimating their ability to
reconstitute --

MR. FLEISCHER: Well, obviously the regime is gone, they're not
reconstituting anything anymore.

Q: But that really wasn't the question. Did we overestimate his
capacity for doing this before the regime was --

MR. FLEISCHER: It remains clear from the United Nations and others
that Saddam had biological weapons, chemical weapons that he had not
accounted for. Those are weapons of mass destruction. We continue to
learn about the Iraqi nuclear program, information such as the
scientist who had buried material in his garden for the purpose of
bringing it out after the sanctions were imposed. The concerns are
valid. The yellow cake report may have turned out to be inaccurate,
but the broader concerns remain valid.

So it's important to get this in context. It's important to understand
whether one specific sentence based on yellow cake was wrong, that
does not change the fundamental case from being right.

Q: Does this increase the onus or the need to come up with significant
discoveries of WMD that so far haven't been found?

MR. FLEISCHER: I think the American people continue to express their
support for ridding the world of Saddam Hussein based on just cause,
knowing that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons that
were unaccounted for that we're still confident we'll find. I think
the burden is on those people who think he didn't have weapons of mass
destruction to tell the world where they are. We know he had them in
the '90s, he used them. So just because they haven't yet been found
doesn't mean they didn't exist. The burden is on the critics to
explain where the weapons of mass destruction are. If they think they
were destroyed, the burden is on them to explain when he destroyed
them and where he destroyed them.

Q: What's the estimate on how long it will take, and what more access,
if any, they need --

MR. FLEISCHER: It will take as long as it takes until they're
discovered. The world is safer.

Q: Ari, back on the State of the Union, is there anything that the
White House, that the administration is going to do differently to
prevent something like that from happening, like how a piece of
information that does not rise to the level that should be included in
a speech, that ends up being inaccurate --

MR. FLEISCHER: There's always a thorough vetting process. We'll
continue to follow the vetting process. But it is the nature of events
that information can later be discovered after a speech -- and when
that happens, as is in this case, it's important to be forthright,
which is what this administration has done -- to discuss it openly,
and that's what this administration has done.

Q: When you talked about the contemporaneous reporting right before
the speech, what exactly do you mean?

MR. FLEISCHER: There was the national intelligence estimate,
intelligence community.

Q: So you had other reports about Niger and about the yellow cake from
Niger.

MR. FLEISCHER: -- part of the intelligence community's reporting
leading up to the speech --

Q: There wasn't a lot --

Q: Some British --

MR. FLEISCHER: -- which subsequently -- no, the President in the State
of the Union cited the British report. But there had been an
independent American report which in the instance of yellow cake,
subsequently turned out not to be valid. But keep in mind, again,
we've said that about the yellow cake for an extended period of time.
This administration has been forthright.

* * * * *

MR. FLEISCHER: Glad you guys made it in there. I was worried sick
about you for awhile.

Q: Ari, Prime Minister Blair is coming next week, is that correct?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't think that's correct.

Q: I've heard -- I thought I heard from somebody at the White House --

MR. FLEISCHER: -- saying I'm paying a little less attention to events
after Monday than I used to, but I don't --

Q: I heard he's giving a joint address to Congress --

MR. FLEISCHER: I'll have to look. I don't know. I know there's another
head of state visit that you guys know about.

Q: Right, to the ranch.

MR. FLEISCHER: But I'll have to ask.

Q: If you are able to get something on that I'd like to know.

MR. FLEISCHER: Okay.

Q: Is there anything else to link Saddam Hussein's attempt to acquire
weapons to Africa, now that this yellow case -- Niger thing has been
discussed?

MR. FLEISCHER: Yes, there was other reporting. But as I said, it
didn't rise to the level of sufficient specificity. But there was
other reports, yes.

Q: Is the President still concerned about Africa being a source --
potential source for these weapons?

MR. FLEISCHER: No, because the regime is gone. The regime is gone. You
know, just because something didn't make it to the level where it
should have been included in a presidential speech, in hindsight,
doesn't mean the information was necessarily inaccurate. It means it
should not have risen to his level.

This is the nature of some intelligence information. But, again, this
is why I go right back to the bigger point, why did we go to war. We
went to war because of chemical weapons, biological weapons. And as
you know, in the case of nuclear, there are other issues that go into
nuclear, not just yellow cake. So, again, that's why I urge you all to
just keep this in perspective about what this one sentence means. And
we have been honest about discussing the one sentence -- and I think
that it's a case to be fair to the administration.

Q: Apparently, the Iraqi intelligence agent who had met with Atta in
Prague, has there been help -- been apprehended, any information on
that?

MR. FLEISCHER: I saw a report on it in the media. I don't have
anything beyond that.

Q: Can I ask you one thing about AIDS? You know, here is the largest
percentage of AIDS in the world, and yet it's not really on the agenda
in southern Africa. I know you will be dealing with it in Uganda --

MR. FLEISCHER: It's on the President's agenda.

Q: Well, tell me about it. What is he going to be doing?

MR. FLEISCHER: He's in the meetings now, so we'll have a background
briefing later today, and then you'll find out what the President
said.

Q: So that's going to be at 3:00 p.m. at the filing center?

MR. FLEISCHER: I don't know what time. Somewhere between 1:00 p.m. and
3:00 p.m.

CIA: Saddam's Audio Tape 'Appears to be Authentic'
The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency says an audio tape aired last week claiming to be deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein appears to be authentic.

The CIA says it conducted a technical analysis of the tape, which originally aired last Friday over the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera network. Monday, a CIA spokesman said the agency has concluded the tape is most likely Saddam's voice. The spokesman added, however, that the poor quality of the recording precludes an absolute determination of authenticity, and that the date of the recording cannot be verified.

The man purporting to be Saddam identified the date as June 14. He said he remains in Iraq and is orchestrating attacks on U.S. forces in the country. He exhorted Iraqis to resist foreign occupation.

The fate and whereabouts of Saddam Hussein have been a mystery since March, when U.S. forces bombed a palace where the one-time Iraqi leader was believed to be staying at the onset of hostilities. The United States is offering a $25 million reward for information leading to Saddam's capture.

CIA Says Purported Audiotape Of Hussein Probably Is Authentic

CIA officials said in Washington today that they think a recently released audiotape, purportedly containing the voice of Saddam Hussein, is probably authentic.

The Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera broadcast the audiotape on 4 July. The recording, which allegedly was made on 14 June, warns of more bloodshed in Iraq. The voice on the tape says that "cells and brigades of jihad" had been "formed on a large scale" throughout Iraq to fight troops of the U.S.-led coalition.

CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said that although the voice on the tape most likely is that of Hussein, the exact date of the recording could not be determined.

Hussein's whereabouts have been unknown since before the collapse of his regime on 9 April. The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to Hussein's arrest or the recovery of his body.

Operation Shining Express

As violence in Liberia increased in mid June 2003 the US Ambassador to Liberia requested military aid in the event that embassy personnel and American citizens had to be evacuated from the country. At the direction of the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. European Command sent military support to the region to provide the ambassador an enhanced capability to monitor the situation in Liberia and to be pre-positioned to aid in any evacuation of U.S. citizens. This deployment was given the name Shining Express.

International staff of the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)were forced to evacuate from Monrovia on 11 June 2003, when intense fighting in the western suburbs threatened to spread into the city. However, some international staff of ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) remained, as well as significant number of local staff of the UN and NGOs. There were approximately 30 UN international staff in Monrovia, some of whom returned to the capital after being evacuated in early June 2003, but most were confined to the UN compound.

Foreign Minister De Villepin stated that everyone must meet their responsibilities in the crises in Western Africa, as France did in Côte d'Ivoire and the UK did in Sierra Leone. Clearly, in the case of Liberia, the US has a special tradition.

Operation Shining Express includes special operations forces, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and Reserve components. Operation Shining Express personnel are augmented security forces at the Embassy in Monrovia and supported State Department officials who were conducting an orderly departure of US citizens wishing to leave the country.

USS Kearsarge (LHD 3), then returning to the United States after serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom, was directed to join forces in support of Operation Shining Express, to aid in the potential evacuation of U.S. citizens from the country of Liberia.

With fighting gaining in intensity, pressure increased on the United States to take an more active role in the Liberian conflict. On June 30, 2003, the United Nations Security Council held closed-door consultations to discuss the possibile deployment of a multi-national force to Liberia, following a request by Kofi Annan, the United Nations' Secretary-General. Annan raised the prospect of US involvement, under the logic that such an intervention to prevent a major tragedy should be led by a Member State and be authorized under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. West African mediators were also among those calling for a US military intervention.

With pressure increasing for President Bush to send troops to Liberia, the US administration was reported to be weighing the options available to it. Bush, once again called on the Charles Taylor to step down from power.

According to a July 2, 2003, VOA story, several dozen Marines were on stand-by at a base in Spain ready to go to Liberia in the eventuality that security around the U.S. embassy there was to deteriorate further; these soldiers being part of a special rapid, anti-terrorism force. Contingency plans had also reportedly been drawn up which would call for the deployment of up to 2,000 US soldiers to Liberia.

Military chiefs of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) pledged on 04 July 2003 to raise 3,000 troops from member countries for an intervention force to restore peace in Liberia. Ghana's Lieutenant-General Seth Obeng, Chairman of the ECOWAS Defence and Security Commission, said the ability of West African countries to send enough troops to Liberia was plagued by financial and logistical constraints. "ECOWAS and the African Union should intensify their initiatives to get an advanced country, possibly the United States, to spearhead peace efforts in Liberia, just as Britain and France did for Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire," he suggested.

On July 7, 2003, two U.S helicopters brought a 32 man military civil affairs assessment team to the U.S embassy compound in Monrovia. The team was tasked with evaluating conditions for deployment of peacekeepers to Liberia.

Forces loyal to Liberian President Charles Taylor have prevented a team of U.S. experts assessing humanitarian and security needs from entering a refugee camp near Monrovia, the capital

Trees grow larger in Big Apple

Pollution in New York City is having an unexpected effect on trees.

A cocktail of chemicals in the air is making saplings grow bigger than their country cousins.

Identical trees planted 100 kilometres out of the Big Apple only reached half the size of city dwellers in a study.

Ecologists in the United States say the airborne chemical "footprint" seems to favour trees growing in cities.

"City-grown pollution, and ozone in particular, is tougher on country trees," says Cornell University ecologist Jillian Gregg.

Chemical scavengers

Ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant created by the action of sunlight on primary pollutants created in cities.

Ozone levels can build up rapidly in conurbations. But other chemicals can act as "scavengers", reacting with the ozone and causing levels to drop to almost zero at night and in the winter.

But when ozone is blown into rural areas, cumulative exposure can be greater than in the city centre.

This is because the scavengers, such as nitric oxide churned out by cars, are less abundant outside the urban setting. These higher ozone levels have a detrimental effect on rural trees, leading to stunted growth.

"This [study] looked at one species in one city," Dr Gregg told BBC News Online. "But the species is mid-range in terms of ozone sensitivity. We expect that all ozone species should show the same response."

Town vs country

The research looked at a native North American tree, the Eastern cottonwood or poplar (Populus deltoides), which grows mainly in mid-western states on flood plains.

Once established, it shoots up rapidly, reaching three metres (10 feet) in 20 years.

Dr Gregg and colleagues took identical root cuttings of the tree and grew them in urban and rural sites in and around New York City.

They wanted to see how the strains of city life affected plants. A big surprise was in store, however.

After three seasons, the urban cottonwoods had thrived, weighing twice as much as rural ones.

The researchers were able to rule out the influence on growth rates of factors other than ozone such as soil composition, temperature, and carbon dioxide.

Writing in the journal Nature, they say the results do not negate the known detrimental effects of urban pollutants.

Rather, they highlight the effects of secondary reactions that can create high ozone levels beyond the urban core.

Canada to Sell Marijuana for Medical Use

Canada's government will sell marijuana and seeds to sick people and their suppliers to fulfill a court order for it to provide medical cannabis by Wednesday.

The announcement of the interim measure satisfies an Ontario court order while the federal government appeals the ruling.

Under the program announced by Health Minister Anne McLellan, eligible patients can buy just over an ounce of dried marijuana for $112, well below street prices, about once a month. Authorized growers can buy packs of 30 seeds once a year for $15.

Health Canada spokeswoman Cindy Cripps-Prawak said the government-grown weed has a THC content of 10 percent, compared to between 3 percent and 18 percent in most street marijuana. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana.

The Ontario court ruling in January gave the government until Wednesday to broaden access to medical marijuana, saying that current laws made "seriously ill, vulnerable people deal with the criminal underworld to get medicine."

Wednesday's announcement continued Canada's long-running debate on medical marijuana, and came as the government prepares to consider legislation that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot.

The medical marijuana issue involves people with chronic or catastrophic illness who say they need the soothing effects of THC to ease pain and control nausea and other problems.

Canada unveiled plans for medical marijuana in 2000 and began growing a supply in an abandoned mine shaft in Manitoba. New regulations took effect July 30, 2001, that expanded the number of Canadians eligible and allowed people to grow their own or designate someone to grow it for them.

Those regulations also cleared the way for distribution of government-grown pot. Health Canada later announced it needed more tests on the effects of medicinal marijuana and the quality of its pot before making any available.

That brought last year's court ruling ordering the government to offer a legal supply instead of making patients buy off the street. Eligible patients include those with severe arthritis, cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis.

Medical marijuana users complain the Canadian system has been a bureaucratic maze intended to stifle the issue. While hundreds have received federal exemptions to grow and possess marijuana, others complain about the difficulty of getting doctors to approve requests.

In the United States, marijuana is illegal under federal law. State laws in California, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington allow marijuana to be grown and distributed to people with a doctor's recommendation. The Supreme Court ruled last year that people charged with violating federal drug laws cannot use medical necessity as a defense.

President Bush Receives Cool Reception in South Africa and to see DeBeers

President Bush received a cool reception today in the capital of Africa's largest economic power, as opinion leaders across the continent complained about his policies on Iraq, AIDS and the International Criminal Court.

Bush has come with many goodies for this long struggling region: the promise of billions of new dollars for development, disease fighting and counter-terrorism efforts, and the prestige conferred by his making only the third sub-Saharan Africa tour by a U.S. president. But Africans have responded with anti-Bush demonstrations, diplomatic snubs and critical media coverage.

Here in South Africa, the country's revered former president Nelson Mandela, who sharply criticized Bush on Iraq and once said he "cannot think properly," arranged to be out of the country for the three nights Bush is here.

The country's dominant political party, the African National Congress, led a 2,000-person march to the U.S. Embassy here today in protest of Bush's visit. Hundreds more marched in Cape Town.

The current president, Thabo Mbeki, left the country today after a half day with Bush to attend the 52-nation African Union meeting in Mozambique with the rest of Africa's leaders. Bush will not be meeting with the African Union.

The reception for Bush in Africa is not as overtly hostile as those he has received in places such as Germany, where tens of thousands filled the streets to protest what they called his unilateralist and militaristic policies. At the same time, however, the reception contrasts markedly with the large and adoring crowds that greeted former President Bill Clinton five years ago; some still have photos of Clinton in their homes.

In Uganda, which Bush will visit briefly on Friday, ordinary people are proud and happy to have an American president visit. But they see Bush's interest in Africa as simply part of his war against terrorism. Already, intellectuals in newspapers and on the radio in Uganda have characterized him as a "cold fish," who does not really care about Africans.

"Sure, Bush is coming to visit our AIDS clinic -- and he will be here for a whole four hours," said Walfula Oguttu, editor-in-chief and managing director of The Monitor, Uganda's well-regarded independent newspaper. "But we all know it all has to do with fighting terrorism. His AIDS money is trying to buy Africa. That is what everyone is saying." Sitting in the busy newsroom in the capital city of Kampala, Oguttu said Africans are also greeting Bush with suspicion because he ruled "tyrannically" against the international community by going to war in Iraq.

In Nairobi, which was scheduled to be a destination for Bush before his Africa trip was postponed in January, Kenyans are angry that Bush is not including a trip to visit the African victims of terrorist attacks in last year's bombing of a Mombasa hotel or the U.S. Embassy bombing of 1998.

"It is true Bush is going to spend a sum of money . . . surpassing any his predecessors committed to Africa, and yet he will never be liked on this continent," read an editorial in The Nation, Kenya's influential daily. "In Kenya especially, America has become a dirty word. . . . Africans respect power, of course. But there is something they respect more. Wisdom. They are not sure what they are seeing in the White House represents anything close to that."

Bush has avoided public rifts with his hosts in Africa. In a press conference today, Bush and Mbeki emphasized their common ground while avoiding differences on contentious issues such as Zimbabwe's leadership, AIDS and Iraq. Mbeki told Bush in a luncheon toast later today that "we would not but receive you as a friend and an honored guest," adding: "We're greatly strengthened, Mr. President, by the knowledge that we have you as our partner and friend."

When reporters quizzed Bush and Mbeki about their differences over Zimbabwe -- Bush has been highly critical of President Robert Mugabe while Mbeki has sought to negotiate with the authoritarian ruler to end violence there --Bush said the reporters were trying to "create tensions which don't exist."

Bush and his hosts have reason to be cordial. Bush is seeking help in the fight against terrorists. And countries including South Africa and Botswana are in negotiations with the administration over a potentially lucrative free-trade agreement.

But tensions show themselves in other ways. Bush had originally intended to visit a South African military base today, but that was dropped in favor of a visit to a Ford Motor plant. The Star, a South African newspaper, quoted South African government sources as saying the Americans were "too embarrassed" to proceed with the visit, because in recent days the administration cut military aid to South Africa and other countries that did not agree to exempt Americans from prosecution before the International Criminal Court.

An administration official said Bush "simply decided he wanted to go to the Ford plant." Senegal and Botswana agreed to the exemptions, provoking some grumbling here that Bush bought their support with military aid and a presidential visit. "Underpinning this apparent largesse . . . is his uncompromising stick to drop developing countries from his list of military beneficiaries if they do not grant immunity to U.S. military personnel against crimes against humanity," said Na-iem Dollie, a respected on-line journalist in Nigeria.

Despite Mbeki's cordial embrace of Bush, his African National Congress, is protesting Bush's visit. According to the Sowetan, a South African newspaper, a number of members of parliament and other politicians have "snubbed invites" from Mbeki to lunch with Bush today. The paper's editor, John Dludlu, wrote that rising anti-American sentiment in Africa "has everything to do with his behavior in and out of office," on Iraq, trade and AIDS. A cartoon in the paper shows corpses tied to Bush's motorcade labeled "International Justice," "Third World" and "U.N."

Even in Senegal, a peaceful West African country not known for anti-Americanism, about 50 demonstrators objected to his visit before his arrival Monday with signs saying "Bush butcher" and "Receiving Bush is like making a pact with the devil."

Much of the criticism comes with the job of being president in a post 9/11 world when security makes it difficult for Bush to interact with the populace. In Uganda, for example, local farmers are annoyed with Bush because they have been asked to cut their trees for security reasons by municipal authorities in Entebbe.

Other criticism comes from the nature of Bush's fast-paced sprint through the continent. Sitting in a café in downtown Kampala, Agnes Tiisa, a station manager at Mama FM, a popular women's radio station in Uganda, complained that Bush "is going to come here for only four hours, praise AIDS and not help with any of our real problems. People feel he is using us to get re-elected in his own country. We Africans care about spending time."

Even some of the AIDS researchers and doctors in Uganda, people Bush is celebrating, have gripes. That's mostly because he appointed a former executive of a pharmaceutical company to be an adviser on international AIDS. On the world's poorest continent, nothing is demonized more than the drug companies that charge prices that almost no African can dream of affording for life-saving drugs.

"Now there is the problem that everyone is pre-judging the guy and saying he is only here to help us in his own self-interest," said David Serwadda, acting director of the Institute for Public Health at Makerere University and a long time HIV/AIDS researcher.

But Serwadda said he is willing to give Bush and his AIDS policy a chance, as long as they bring in the promised cash quickly. "People are dying right now," he said. "Bush will have to move fast to make an impact and win us over."