http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/g8-over-but-its-the-same-old- song/2005/07/10/1120934128795.html
G8 over, but it's the same old song By Larry Elliott July 11, 2005 Bono accused of cosying up to the authorities. Photo: AP Seismic shift or sell-out? A moment of history or yet more Group of Eight hot air? After six months of cajoling, nagging and haggling, the Gleneagles summit finally came up with its blueprint for Africa. Predictably, the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, hailed it as "real and achievable progress". Equally predictably, many of the campaign groups said it was not the giant leap that had been promised, but rather more of a faltering first step. The nature of the agreement meant it was possible to argue that the glass was both half empty and half full. The G8 endorsed the debt forgiveness measures signed by finance ministers last month; as a result, a number of poor countries will be helped, rather than all of them. Rich countries also said they would provide more financial help to poor countries, increasing their development assistance by $US48 billion ($65 billion). Forget the big number, said the development charities, and look at the small print. The $US48 billion is needed now but will not happen until 2010. Hang on a minute, the authorities say. You asked for $US50 billion and we have come up with $US48 billion. Relations between government and the non-government organisations have become spikier in recent weeks, with the campaigners accusing ministers of overselling their achievements and ministers convinced that campaigners have set targets that are impossible to achieve. This tension has emerged within the Make Poverty History coalition itself. It is fair to say that Bono and Bob Geldof were not exactly flavour of the month with non-government organisations last week, with the footsoldiers of the Make Poverty History campaign furious at the way the celebrities were cosying up to the authorities. The reason tempers became a tad frayed is that Gleneagles mattered. It marked the high point of Britain's G8 presidency, and it was vital that deals on aid and debt relief - two of the three legs of the Africa initiative - were agreed. The next meeting of the G8 will not take place for a year, in St Petersburg, and when it meets there the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, will have a totally different agenda. The Guardian -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
