Harish Palaniappan's

Going through newspapers searching for good news might get to become a good business model for a search engine company. That is the status of things in the world. Especially with the world politics and terrorism, and the war that they exchange.

With "dont-know-how-many" DKHM, number of people being killed in war and terror attacks everyday, all we have in the developed world is guilt whether we are living at the cost of the poor world. And what the developing world has is advice.

There are many people,
who pity the consequences of war,
who try-to-do something to put right the mess soldiers create while cooking war,
many kind hearted who make sure they donate,
many who care to get the donations to the needy...

and those few brave hearted, politicians, who take up distant 3rd world problems in their country's parliament and brave odds to allocate funds and resources for them.

In that sense, there has been a strange but brave link between the British and the African continent.

The britons seem to consider problems in Africa nothing less important, though the britons are not the people who most benefit out of african outsourcing or resources, and though they don't seem to have any strategic interests in defence, or resources, or oil, or any men and material..(neither british or americans will fall short of any of that for the kind of number of immigrants they have even with such stricter immigrant laws compared to the rest of the world).

From my observations of news, I always have a feeling that the british are the first who voice African problems in world stage. BBC seems to have a committment with Africa, in doing special programs on African issues, their lifestyles, their infrastructure, etc., braving commercial pressure. Being one of the top 5 news channels on air, BBC World never seems to close a day without news on Africa.

There are many channels who are talking Africa.. newspapers and magazines writing Africa... but, nothing close to the air time, value and the impact that BBC World has created for African issues.

I even have wondered whether BBC World have a committment with the United Nations to have Africa on air so many hours a week.

Investments of troops, and resources by British government in different locations in Africa have been praised by Africans nothing less of a god's gift to them for surviving longer.

Recently, yesterday, Tony Blair the british premier who has announced his retirement in June 07, has been given a very warm welcome in Sierra Leone in West Africa. The people of Sierra Leone have all hands up in praise for Tony Blair's actions in deploying troops there to check civil problems, and to ensure release of 100's of UN soldiers who where held hostage.

This one exercise, the people of Sierra Leone claim, overturned the climate of the country overnight changing it from a disturbed civil war-torn country to a nation building-up gradually.

Like they say in proverbs, "you never know.. small actions of yours might make big differences to someone". Of all the troop deployments, UN committments, and committments in Iraq and Afganisthan, this act of a comparatively small deployment of troops of british soldiers in sierra leone have had a big impact in that country as a whole... which the british even wouldn't have understood immediately. Read about it here.

Tony Blair didn't stop there: On his visit there yesterday, he has suggested a model of working together with people of sierra leone, to strengthen the African Union that is trying hard to make itself credible enough to solve problems in Africa by itself. This, Tony Blair has said, can be done by trianing and equipping more soldiers for them and enabling them to defending themselves and securing their future.

By this model, the African union will have to make available more troops, and britain will train them and equip them for warfare and defence. Collectively, Tony Blair hints, the African union should be made strong enough to help themselves in solving all problems in Africa, without running behind the UN or any other foriegn nation for help with troops and other resources.

That soungs a good plan, and having that committment from Tony Blair should itself start the Africa Dream slowly.

And such suggestions, like what Tony Blair has given, from his position as a British Premier, can come only from hearts that really have some interest in caring for the issues in Africa.

For that, the Africa continent is probably the Briton's own country.

While all this stays my opinion, you sure should find your perceptions based on the following articles, some of which suggest indirect strategic interests or reasons for british committments in Africa.

1. Britain and the scramble for Africa
2. Imperialism in Africa: Britain
3. Britain and Africa: The new propaganda
4. CNN: Africa losing nurses to Britain
5. The Anti-Apartheid Movement, Britain and South Africa
6. Guardian unlimited: If Britain wants to help Africa's poor, it must stop acting like an emperor