Letters to the Editor

Africa’s internal woes

In the run-up to the Group of Eight summit, it is true that foreign aid on its own is unlikely to succeed in remedying Africa’s poverty because most of Africa’s problems are internal, as Marian L. Tupy’s June 19 Commentary column, “Poverty that defies aid,” points out.

The respected global corruption watchdog Transparency International continually ranks most African countries at the bottom of its lists. Even some of the purported African success stories, such as Uganda, have consistently ranked at the bottom of these lists.

The World Bank also has continually found that corruption is the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development and estimates that the cost of bribes is equivalent to a 20 percent tax.

Respected academic Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University hones in on the need for Western countries to commit themselves to transferring some $1.5 trillion over the next decade to the poorest nations indeed misses the point.

Sinking more money into Africa is not the answer, and Mr. Tupy puts his finger on it by showing that despite the massive sums that poured into Africa between 1960 and 2005, gross domestic product per capita declined substantially.

True also is the point that foreign aid to Africa has enabled government officials to embezzle large amounts of money and misspend much on loss-making projects, as Mr. Tupy states — a fact supported by the Commission for Africa Report.

“Africa has suffered from governments that have looted the resources of the state; that could not or would not deliver services to their people; that maintained control through violence and bribery; and that squandered or stole aid,” the report reads. This continues to be the case.

Take Suharto, president of Indonesia, who tops the table of corrupt politicians. During his misrule, from 1967 to ’98, he is said to have stolen $15 billion to $35 billion in a country where the GDP per capita hovers at around $700, according to Transparency International.

Nigeria is a perfect example of how corruption can cripple a country, as the article points out. It is a country fabulously rich in oil resources and has been a major producer for more than four decades.

Yet until recently, most of its oil wealth was confiscated by a series of military dictators and used to fatten their offshore bank accounts or reward cronies.

Sani Abacha’s administration embezzled massive amounts of money in a five-year period from 1993, from which the country is still recovering. Meantime, the people of the Niger delta, where most of the oil was found, live in abject poverty.

Corruption continues to be the rule rather than the exception, and the evidence of systemic corruption with little or no public accountability is very strong.

Yet Mr. Sachs seems to dismiss internal reform as a prerequisite for African economic growth despite the overwhelming evidence. Pouring money into Africa is of no value unless corrupt regimes are first replaced by honest administrations.

Bribe-paying and corruption are crimes against humanity, a fact made clear by the legacy of poverty and distrust left behind by corrupt politicians.

Until there is a commitment on the part of African governments to tackle corruption, the level of aid the West sinks into the continent is irrelevant, as it is likely to end up in Swiss bank accounts.

JOHN O’SHEA

GOAL USA

New York

Amnesty’s credibility

In a letter to the editor published Tuesday, “Amnesty on the death penalty,” Anne Snouck-Hurgronje of Amnesty International points to two recent articles in The Washington Times that reported on opposition to the death penalty in the United States and abroad. She goes on to exclaim: “Such coveragehighlightsthe groundswell of public support for abolition of this ultimate violation of human rights.”

Now for some facts. According to the Clark County, Ind., prosecuting attorney’s Web site (www.clarkprosecutor.org), Gallup has conducted public-opinion polls on how Americans view the death penalty since 1937. The most recent poll, conducted May 2-4, 2004, found that 71 percent of Americans favored the death penalty for convicted murderers, 26 percent were against it and 3 percent had no opinion.

Apparently, the Amnesty International spokesperson wants you to believe that public opinion is turning against the death penalty, but that simply is not true. Amnesty International is on a campaign to abolish the death penalty, but calling 26 percent opposition to it a “groundswell of public support” is dishonest. In fact, the trend of polling data suggests that more and more Americans favor the death penalty.

Amnesty International is losing credibility with each passing day. First, it engaged in a sensationalized public campaign of disinformation on the treatment of detainees held by the United States in the war on terror, and now it claims there is growing opposition to the death penalty when quite the opposite is true.

Amnesty International has become a propaganda machine in an attempt to call attention to and promote its various causes. An organization that claims to hold the high moral ground on issues of human rights shouldn’t stoop so low to achieve them.

RICHARD W. RESSLER

North Olmsted, Ohio

An identity crisis for Duncan

Maryland gubernatorial hopeful Douglas M. Duncan’s attempt to woo Hispanic voters (“Duncan seeking Hispanic voters,” Metropolitan, Wednesday) is another sad chapter in an ill-advised guide to politics. Separating the electorate into so-called “voting blocs” is not only ineffective, but it runs counter to the unity upon which our nation was built.

Thankfully, there are still a few public servants who see no need to resort to these cheap tactics. This spring in Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa won a landslide mayoral victory not by catering to specific voting groups, but by appealing to all Los Angelinos. Dodging labels and identities tied to his heritage, the English-speaking mayor-elect told the crowd, “I’m an American of Mexican descent, and I’m proud of that. But I intend to be the mayor of all of Los Angeles. As the mayor of the most diverse city in the world, that’s the only way it can work.”

Mr. Villaraigosa’s statement derives from our national motto, E Pluribus Unum, or “out of many, one.” Mr. Duncan, the Montgomery County executive, would be best served following this recipe of success rather than his current policy of “to each his own.”

That’s the only way it can work.

MAURO E. MUJICA

Chairman

U.S. English Inc.

Washington

Misunderstanding the Ten Commandments