U.S. Africa policy and oil

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Africa policy outlook 2003: By Salih Booker, William Minter, and Ann-Louise Colgan, The Progressive Response, 17 March 2002. In 2003 U.S. policy toward Africa will be driven almost exclusively by geopolitical considerations related to Washington’s war plans against Iraq, and by its geostrategic interests in African oil.
Africa and the Bush doctrine: By Monica Moorehead, Workers World, 3 October 2002. U.S. special forces being quietly deployed to various places in Africa, and the New York Times says the reason is oil. Ever since Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration has sought venues other than the Middle East for getting oil reserves. The aim is not only to get their hands on more oil but to expand their oil-importing markets.
External interest and internal insecurity: The new Gulf oil states: By Jean-Chistophe Servant, Le Monde diplomatique, January 2003. The U.S. calm offensive targets oil reserves south of the Sahara and is designed to avoid antagonising its Middle Eastern allies and generating a perception that it cares only about Africa’s resources. Implicit policy that African oil should be treated as a priority for US national security post 9-11.
Bush’s Africa Trip Really an Oil Safari: By Hopewell Radebe, Chief Political Correspondent, Business Day (Johannesburg), 20 June 2003. The official line on the US presidential visit to Africa is that it is aimed at strengthening diplomatic relations and showing solidarity with the continent’s renaissance spirit as embodied by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad). However, analysts suspect that there is more to Bush’s safari than meets the eye, for Bush is reaching out to Africa in a desperate search for alternative oil suppliers for his country.