[WillowTheWhisp]

I was going to respond earlier to the "blanket bombing" idea and the happy thought that some of it reaches the people it intends to help. (I got waylaid with Mimi nailing something to the wall.)

Obviously some of the past aid reached someone as Bob Geldof showed us the young woman who would have starved to death as a baby but for Band Aid/Live Aid.

Unfortunately for every little that does reach the intended target more reaches the corrupt leaders who cause the problems in their countries which lead to poverty and although on the surface it may appear that we have helped the people we have actually done them more harm than good.

I think perhaps Sir Bob may have realised this to some extent and so we now have Live 8 designed to raise awareness rather than money. Yes he wanted third world debt to be cancelled and that I think was agreed before the concerts let alone before the G8 summit but that itself will not solve the problems.

Africa is a continent of many countries whose borders were created by foreigners who had no understanding of the tribal culture of the people. When the countries were run by the colonisers things ran smoothly but when they pulled out and "gave Africa its freedom" the real problems started.

If Live 8 has succeeded in something perhaps it is that more people are now aware if some of the underlying causes of the situations. And as Gayle so rightly said, before this there were many people who didn't even know there was a meeting in Edinburgh on Wednesday. In fact there were many people who hadn't a clue what G8 is. Perhaps they do now.