Will Live 8 Provide Aid?

Although there has been much noise lately about Bob Geldof's Live 8 concerts, and billions of concert-goers and fans turned up to the venues in Philadelphia, Johannesburg, London, Tokyo, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Berlin and Toronto this weekend, the true voice belongs to the world leaders who will convene at the G8 summit this week to discuss Africa's problems. Although Britain's Live 8 received an overwhelming response, the public mood in the remaining countries was quiet. U.S., the country which has the power to make or break the drive to end poverty, barely mentioned Philadelphia's Live 8 concert on Sunday morning talk shows. President Bush has made it clear that he will not give more aid to African countries with corrupt regimes. "I go to the G8 with an agenda that I think is best for our country," the President told ITV's Trevor McDonald. "We're not going to invest in governments that are corrupt." Still, Geldof is optimistic that his plan can work. "Mahatma Gandhi freed a continent, Martin Luther King freed a people, Nelson Mandela freed a country. It does work. They will listen," he said. No doubt the world heard the Live 8 artists and their desperate cries, but the question still remains, did the world leaders listen.