HEY, WAIT, THAT DOESN'T FIT THE STEREOTYPE:

Democracy for Sudan (Chris Ingram, 3/15/04, Washington Times)

The people of Sudan have endured decades of civil war between various regimes in the North and those seeking liberty both in the South and in the western and eastern peripheries. Today, peace between the two main warring factions is closer than ever with a peace deal all but certain.

Signing a peace deal between North and South isn't the end of the process — it's merely the beginning. Indeed, this is where the hard work begins — building a democratic state and a functional government.

This means the terms "democratic" and "functional" will not just be for the government that is to emerge from the South, it will cover all of Sudan, as the opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) is expected to participate in Sudan's national government.

Thanks to the foreign policy established by President Bush, America is committed to helping expand democracy in Sudan.

America's greatest export is democracy. Around the world, people who have lived under repressive regimes are being freed because of the foreign policy of the United States. "Thank you America" was frequently heard in Sudan. In East Africa, U.S. involvement is not only needed — it is wanted and appreciated.

Bill Clinton may have been the first African-American president, but George W. Bush is the first to be meaningfully pro-African.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 15, 2004 7:06 PM