Must Read "Slate" Article on "Africa's Worst Dictator"

I found a very interesting article on Slate.com today (it was posted nearly a week ago) that argues that the (now) infamous Robert Mugabe is not the worst African dictator. Check out the article here.

While the article is quite persuasive, especially as to the American role in propping up Obiang, it raises the more important question: What is our Africa policy? And, why are we allowing Africa to be overrun and controlled by such vicious dictators? I thought that our policy under Bush was that we were going to promote democracy . . . across the globe.

I am not arguing that we should inculcate ourself in every single mess throughout the world. And perhaps it is perfectly rationale to only pick the fights where we have a sustained economic interest. It just seems that, with everything that is going on in Africa today--Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda (yes, still), we ought to be doing something more. If only to protect our investment in providing drugs for the treatment of malaria and HIV. If only to make those efforts a little more worthwhile. Isn't there SOMETHING we can do? Because Africa is not just a democracy crisis. We are not just dealing with these disgusting dictators. We are dealing with a public health crisis with its heart on the African continent.

Maybe we are doing all that we can do. But something tells me that is not quite right. Something tells me that there is something else we can do, and that we ought to do it--sooner rather than later.