Trump's Important New Africa Strategy

President Donald Trump continues to take bold steps, recapturing America's exceptionalism at home and leadership abroad.

These important developments are too often getting drowned out by relentless noise in Washington, where the media obsess over many issues concerning this president except those most relevant to his job -- his performance leading the nation to excellence.

A good example is the superlative new initiative just announced by National Security Advisor John Bolton establishing a new Africa strategy.

The initiative echoes the foreign policy vision Donald Trump articulated in his inaugural address.

That is, that America's relationship with the nations of the world should be defined first by our national interests. "We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone," he said, "but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow."

The Africa initiative is driven by three components: expanding and building new trade and commercial ties; containing radical Islamic terrorism and violent conflict; and assuring that American aid dollars are used effectively.

Among the concerns of the administration are aggressive moves by Russia and China into Africa, whose approach is far different than ours.

Corrupt regimes are an enormous problem in Africa. Both Russia and China see corruption as an opportunity for commercial gain by buying off regimes and building debt dependence through loans.

For instance, China, according to Bolton, is moving to take over the national power and utility company of Zambia to cover billions of dollars of debt.

The best-known public measure of corruption is the Corruption Perceptions Index published annually by Transparency International.

Countries are graded 1 to 100, 100 being corruption free -- which, unfortunately, is nonexistent. The average global score is 43. The U.S. score is 75. The average score in Africa is 32.

China's scores is 41 and Russia is 29. It's clear that neither is motivated to further African development by cleaning up corruption. Quite the opposite.

However, disinfectant is not just the morally right thing to interject into African politics; it's also the economically right thing to do.

Plenty of research and experience point to the single most powerful potion for economic development and prosperity -- economic freedom.

Economic freedom means limiting the size and scope of government, maintaining a reliable system of law and courts that protect property and contracts, keeping regulation to a necessary minimum, allowing citizens to trade freely abroad and keeping the nation's currency stable.

Average per capita income in nations that rank in the top 25 percent of economic freedom is $40,376. Average income in the bottom 25 percent is $5,649.

According to the World Bank, average per capita income in the 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa was $1,464 in 2016.

It's no accident that African nations that are the most economically free also have the highest per capita incomes, such as Botswana, $7,596, and Seychelles, $15,505. These also are among the least corrupt countries in Africa according to Transparency International scores. It stands to reason that corruption is minimized when citizens have more freedom to do their own business and politicians have less power to interfere.

However, most African nations woefully lack economic freedom, which is why there is so much corruption and incomes are so low.

The Trump administration is right on target in advancing both American and African interests by moving "nations toward self-reliance and away from long-term dependency."

As is generally the case with welfare, foreign aid is notoriously ineffective and counterproductive, undermining self-reliance and fostering dependency.

The new Africa strategy, by bringing to bear American ideals, will efficiently use our taxpayer funds and bring forth the great, unrealized potential of the African continent.

HERE'S HOW THE CLINTONS SCREWED AFRICA OUT OF ITS VALUABLE MINING RESOURCES: The head of a Canadian company with an enormous interest in Africa....in the Congo's mining and oil sector.....Lukas Lundin of Lundin Mining.....announced a $100 million donation to the Clinton Foundation on the heels of Hillary/s first presidential campaign....as she became Secy of State.

After the Congolese government attempted to regain control of its own mines, the State Department intervened on behalf of Lundin Mining and another mining company, Freeport Mines, also a Clinton foundation donor.

A round of talks in 2010, thought to be aided by the Clinton State Department, concluded with the pair of well- connected companies (Clinton Foundation donors) retaining their stakes in the mines and with the Congolese government being shut out of its own resources. (hat tip Schweizer book---Clinton Cash)

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THE STATE DEPT PAPER TRAIL---- Hillary/s State Dept Aide Shared Classified state Dept Info With Clinton Foundation
2012 Email Shows Hillary Aide Cheryl Mills sent info marked confidential to Clinton Foundation
Reported By Alana Goodman, Free Beacon September 28, 2015

A key aide of Hillary Clinton emailed classified information about the government in Congo to a staffer at the Clinton Foundation in 2012, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Cheryl Mills, Clinton/s chief of staff at the State Department, sent the email to the Clinton Foundation’s foreign policy director, Amitabh Desai, on July 12, 2012.

The message, which was originally obtained by the group Citizens United through a public records request, is partially redacted because it includes foreign government information that has been classified Confidential by the State Department......but was not marked classified by the State Department until this past summer. Intelligence sources tell the Free Beacon that it would have been classified at the time Mills sent it because foreign government information is considered classified from inception. The message could add to concerns from congressional and FBI investigators about whether former Secretary Clinton and her aides mishandled classified information while at the State Department.

About half of the forwarded message was redacted due to its classified nature before the State Department released it to Citizens United last month. Although it is not clear what the redacted section includes, the State Department said in a court motion filed last week that it concerns both foreign government information and critical aspects of U.S. foreign relations, including U.S. foreign activities carried out by officials of the U.S. Government. The State Department added that the disclosure of this information has the potential to damage and inject friction into our bilateral relationship with African countries whose cooperation is important to U.S. national security.

The Clinton Foundation and the State Department did not respond to request for comment about the email, or say whether Desai...a non-government employee who has worked at the foundation since 2007....would have been authorized to view Confidential information.

---SNIP---

REST AT

http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-aide-shared-classified-information-with-foundation-email-shows/

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