(FinalCall.com) --As the U.S. bombing campaign in Afghanistan continues, and even after the meeting between President Bush and Nigeria�s President Olusegun Obasanjo, Washington is gradually coming to grips with its need of Africa, in spite of its continued disregard of African opinion.

From the killing fields of Algeria and the El Gama�a el Islamiya bases in Egypt to Sudan, Somalia and the blood diamond business of Sierra Leone, Washington has reportedly identified a range of strategic interests in Africa. In an October 17 meeting with journalists in London, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter H. Kansteiner III called the counter-terrorism campaign "the topic I deal with most." Washington�s new internationalism, he said, will be pragmatic.

This pragmatism is based on trade and traditional State Department diplomacy, on a country-by-country basis, as well as the "war on terrorism." The Clinton administration had a broad-based African agenda, which, like the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, and World Bank, emphasized economic reform and democratization. The Bush administration, to date, has no record of interest and has made no special appeal to the African American lobby. Where the Clinton administration appointed special envoys, Secretary of State Colin Powell has appointed only one special envoy�in the case of Sudan.

The State Department�s Bureaus and embassies are now placed at the center of diplomacy. The new pragmatism also concentrates on countries Washington considers to be key regional partners�Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya.

In its "war on terrorism," Washington is employing money, arms and diplomatic muscle to undermine suspected terrorist groups across Africa, especially in the north. Washington�s interest in conflicts, however (such as those of Congo-Kinshasa or Sierra Leone-Liberia), was seen as less strategic until the recent allegations of Al-Qaida dealing in Sierra Leone blood diamonds. States regarded as at risk from subversion such as Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and Kenya will move to the top of Washington�s watch-list, along with Algeria, Morocco and Egypt.

Washington believes Al-Qaida may have used bases of Somalia�s Al Itahaad as operational staging posts. Of particular interest is the claim that Al Itahaad operatives played a key role in ferrying money and material for Al Qaida�s 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

U.S. investigators on Nov. 7 raided several Somali-run foreign exchange bureaus in major American cities suspected of links to a financial network in Dubai. There is talk of U.S. military action or U.S. support for Ethiopian operations against Al Itahaad bases inside Somalia.

In 1990 when President Saddam Hussein�s troops invaded Kuwait, Mr. Mubarak bartered Egyptian participation in the U.S.-led coalition for $14 billion in debt write-offs from Saudi Arabia and the U.S., plus extra help with economic reform. Then the Ministry of Information ran an anti-Iraq propaganda campaign. This time, however, Mr. Mubarak could not alter public opinion even if he wanted to.

On Oct. 4, when U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Cairo, Mr. Mubarak declared "the Egyptian army is for the defense of Egyptian land." Mr. Mubarak cautioned the U.S. not to further inflame Arab frustrations with Washington. He particularly asserted that Baghdad, a possible U.S. target, had nothing to do with the attack. There had been efforts to link the anthrax attacks with Iraq. This claim has so far not been substantiated and scientific evidence so far indicates a possibility of a local origin.

Popular anger at Israel and indignation with the United States prevents Mr. Mubarak from joining Mr. Bush�s campaign against Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan. Egyptians offer foreign journalists condolences and condemnations of the September attacks but tell Egyptian journalists that the U.S. brought the attacks upon itself. Ibrahim Nafie, editor of the flagship newspaper Al Ahram, wrote that "The double standards and absence of justice" helped to explain the attacks on the U.S. Another paper, Al Midan, ran its main headline: "America is great but God is greater." A later article fantasized about airplanes crashing in Tel Aviv.

Egyptian political observers say such anger with Israel and the U.S. was not expressed even during the U.S. invasion of Beirut nor during the first Palestinian intifada or during the Gulf War. The violence in Palestine and sanctions against Iraq is generating horrific images on Arab satellite television and the Internet. People of all political opinions say Washington applies double standards in the Middle East and will not impose a just settlement.

Egypt would like to see Syria, Sudan, and in particular Libya, which are all accused of sponsoring terrorism, removed from U.S. list of pariah states. Mr. Mubarak praised the cooperation of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi�s government with the campaign against terrorism. In 1997, after the massacre of 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at Luxor, Mr. Mubarak called for an international conference of terrorism, with binding resolutions. The resolutions would refer to Egyptian suspected terrorists exiled in Europe, particularly those enjoying political asylum. Samir Ragab, a state journalist close to President Mubarak, reminded readers that London is home to at least 14 persons Egypt wants to be deported for terrorist acts. He wondered whether a real war on terrorism might not therefore mean air strikes on London.

In the face of the cold feet from its traditional allies, Washington is belatedly looking for ways to gain Nigerian support, because of its large Muslim population, while at the same time depriving the country of a share of the billions of dollars being pumped into the U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence services since Sept. 11. Incidentally, Nigeria�s President Obasanjo, after years of Nigerian isolation and eager for Wash-ington�s attention, seems to be seizing the opportunity in hopes of some future gains. Time will tell if such gains will ever be attained by Africa�s most populous nation.