Return to Why Africa Is Finally Getting Attention
RE: The hubbub, bub is trading one set of satrapies for another
(#24228)
by NYGuy on November 25, 2003 at 10:26 PM
by NYGuy on November 25, 2003 at 10:26 PM
Derek
The time is ripe for Americans to start getting to know Africa as more than the sum of its grisly events. Many experts believe that the United States will get 15-20 percent of its oil exports from West Africa in the next decade. Large parts of the continent are vulnerable to exploitation by radical fundamentalist terrorists, some of which already have a foothold on the continent. Whether we like it or not, American attention will focus increasingly on what many still patronizingly see as the Dark Continent, a seemingly mysterious and dangerous land of poverty and violence and malarial infestations. But America must act now. We cannot afford to sit aside and wait for Africa to open its doors to us, nor can we assume that those doors will open simply because we are the United States.
NYGuy
You claim you are a thinker, but you are only a commentator. How can you say Americans should start getting to know Africa and then say that experts say over the next 10 years large amount of capital investment is going into Africa and will generate 15-20% of the U. S. oil needs in 2020. Since Africa’s entire oil output would not be just dedicated to the U. S., then we have to assume that the actual oil output of Africa over the next 10 years is probably double the U. S. number or about 30-40% of the world output. You are suggesting then that huge amounts of capital investment is already being committed to expand Africa’s oil capacity.
Then the rest of you article losses it meaning. The investment you seek is already being committed, unless there is something wrong with your analysis of the world oil output by sector in the year 2020. On balance, this is a weak argument since it is unclear what the author is talking about.
The time is ripe for Americans to start getting to know Africa as more than the sum of its grisly events. Many experts believe that the United States will get 15-20 percent of its oil exports from West Africa in the next decade. Large parts of the continent are vulnerable to exploitation by radical fundamentalist terrorists, some of which already have a foothold on the continent. Whether we like it or not, American attention will focus increasingly on what many still patronizingly see as the Dark Continent, a seemingly mysterious and dangerous land of poverty and violence and malarial infestations. But America must act now. We cannot afford to sit aside and wait for Africa to open its doors to us, nor can we assume that those doors will open simply because we are the United States.
NYGuy
You claim you are a thinker, but you are only a commentator. How can you say Americans should start getting to know Africa and then say that experts say over the next 10 years large amount of capital investment is going into Africa and will generate 15-20% of the U. S. oil needs in 2020. Since Africa’s entire oil output would not be just dedicated to the U. S., then we have to assume that the actual oil output of Africa over the next 10 years is probably double the U. S. number or about 30-40% of the world output. You are suggesting then that huge amounts of capital investment is already being committed to expand Africa’s oil capacity.
Then the rest of you article losses it meaning. The investment you seek is already being committed, unless there is something wrong with your analysis of the world oil output by sector in the year 2020. On balance, this is a weak argument since it is unclear what the author is talking about.
RE: The hubbub, bub is trading one set of satrapies for another
(#24285)
by Derek Catsam on November 26, 2003 at 12:17 PM
by Derek Catsam on November 26, 2003 at 12:17 PM
Although I never "claim to be a thinker" I am rather irked by your then asserting that I am not one -- I find it amazing that you would levy that sort of criticism when it is so unbvlievably clear that you have no idea what you are talking about. Most experts do believe that wer will be gwtting that % of oil, and that an expansion of capacity of Africa's oil reserves will help to do this. What Africa produces now and what most authorities believe to be the case are two different things. Aside from your personalization of the issue I am not sure how the rest of my article "losses" its meaning, inasmuch as oil still is important even if you disagree with the assessments of experts and even if you ignore the terrorism question and others that I bring up. It must be nice to insult other people while remaining anonymous. I can't wait for your own piece on HNN to appear. I have the feeling it will take a while . . .
Return to Why Africa Is Finally Getting Attention
by Derek catsam on November 25, 2003 at 1:55 PM