Wednesday, April 1, 1998 | 10:29 a.m.
You really have to be there to understand.
There are a hundred variations of that theme but they all wind up in the same place. If you haven't seen it and heard it with your own eyes and ears, there is much to be lost in the translation.
That was the case in the 1970s when American lawmakers tried to impose a "peace" settlement between Israel and her neighbors that looked good on paper, and perhaps on an out-of-scale map, but failed miserably to pass the reality test on the ground. It took years and numerous fact-finding trips to the Holy Land for U.S. lawmakers and others to realize that the boundaries in that part of the world looked more like dividing lines of neighborhoods than borders designed to protect the security of those who lived on either side.
Once done, however, everyone was working from the same playbook and the realities of making peace took on a different, albeit more difficult, perspective.
The same is true for President Clinton's historic mission to Africa which ends tomorrow. His 11-day, record-setting visit to the continent that time and man have forgotten or, at least, ignored has created a whole new sense of priorities for our country. Whether they are social, political or security driven initiatives, the fact that the United States has been there to understand firsthand the nature of the problems faced in Africa will mean a better chance for long-term success for the people of that continent.
In 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was signed. In 1996, President Clinton forwarded that effort to the U.S. Senate for ratification, as must happen with all treaties. It has languished in those hallowed halls ever since. That should come as no surprise. The Senate has managed to hold up action on a wide variety of important matters so it shouldn't upset anyone to learn that a plan to prevent the desert from encroaching on farmland around the world would be relegated to some back burner deep in the bowels of the Capitol.
Stopping the unquenchable desert from making uninhabitable that which is currently quite livable and productive is akin to efforts to prevent third-world countries from selfishly destroying life-sustaining rain forests. They just don't happen without a good and sustainable push from those in a position to lead. Fortunately, there is some very modest progress on the rain forest issue but it has taken years to overcome political inertia.
There has been little or no progress, though, in preventing the problem of farmlands becoming desert almost overnight, but as a result of the President's trip to Africa, there are signs of a successful beginning. He has now been there, as have a number of Congressional leaders who went along for the ride. And so have the White House Press Corps and other members of the media. And they have seen for themselves the ravages that occur when arable land becomes arid and incapable of sustaining any but the most rudimentary of life.
And if you thought my use of the Israeli peace initiative was from left field, here's the catch. When former Prime Minister Shimon Peres envisioned the plan for peace with the Arabs that underscored the Oslo Accords, it was based on the vision that one day the entire African continent would benefit from the cooperation that would ensue between Israel and her neighbors. There was no telling, Peres would argue, how far the combined technological and human resources of a Middle East at peace could move that part of the world. Of one thing he was certain, though.
With peace at hand and progress the certain winner, the arability and re-invigoration of Africa's desert lands was high up on the list. If ever there was to be a Garden of Eden, went the thinking, the African continent would claim it.
And now with the United States committed to help it happen, the future for that part of the world appears not only brighter but wetter. That is good news for Africa, its people and all those wonderful animals that manage to humble us when we see, firsthand, the wonders of nature at its best.
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