Last year a friend told me about a theory that lame duck presidents, knowing the have squat power to forge policy at home, have a habit of turning their attention abroad in their final year, where they can still make things happen.

Oh crud, I thought - that means for sure Bush is going to do drop the bomb on Iran. Knowing him, he'd think he was saving the world from an Islamo-fascist threat - but he'd really just be leaving another Mideast mess on our hands.

Well, ten months from the end of his presidency, it's looking like an Iran disaster could be averted.

What's saving Iran? Africa.

The president is on a mission to save Africa from probably its greatest scourge - the AIDS virus. And thank god. The disease is crippling the continent, which wasn't exactly standing on sturdy legs beforehand - and African nations need all the help they can get to get the disease under control. An agreement with the House this week, to triple funds for AIDS relief in Africa - to $50 billion over five years - is an enormous windfall by US foreign aid standards and should go far to give Africa a leg up.

But just as fortunate for the cause of world stability and security, hopefully the president's new passion for Africa will fulfill that lame-duck need to leave a lasting impression on the world - and we all can be spared post-bombing mayhem in Iran.