Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Kenya Crisis Highlights Indecision Within the State Department?

Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

By Scott A Morgan
The World has been standing on the Sidelines after the Highly Controversial Presidential Elections in Kenya on the 27th of December. Before that date Most of the Media Outlets around the World held up Kenya as an Example of Democracy in Action in Africa. The Horn of Africa is a very unstable region with Somalia with a “Transitional” Government and Eritrea and Ethiopia once again on the verge of Hostilities.

The United States has had Excellent Relations with Kenya for Decades. It has been a close Ally of the United States in the Current Struggle against Terror. The US Military has assisted with Projects improving the Infrastructure within the Country and when Ethiopian Forces Invaded Somalia in 2006 US Forces assisted in Patrolling the Border with Somalia.

To Monitor the Elections more than 200 Monitors were deployed across the Country by the US Embassy in Nairobi. Also the International Republican Institute which receives Funding from the United States Congress also deployed Monitors to Kenya to observe. On January 7th Undersecretary of State Frazier on a Visit to Kenya in an attempt to resolve the violence stated that there was Fraud in the Elections. Ms. Frazier stopped short of stating which Party she felt was the Party that committed Fraud.

So what steps are the State Department taking in this Crisis? At this time the United States has had to backtrack at least once when it comes to the Elections in Kenya. Immediately after the Elections the US announced that the elections were Free and Fair. That was before statements by other Election Monitors that the Election Fraud was committed. Literally Hours after that the country exploded into the violence which occurred in such a scale that it caught many observers by surprise.
At this time the US has acknowledged that there were “Irregularities”  in the vote tally. But has stopped short of calling for an Independent Review of the count. The USA has not taken a side in the Dispute between the Main Candidates for President. This gives America the Position that endorses the electoral Status Quo while criticizing the Fairness of the Vote. This appears to be a contradiction on the surface.

What will happen if there is not a settlement? There are rumors that there are already Interdictions in the Oil Supplies going into Rwanda,Burundi,Uganda and the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. this does not bode well for the Internal Security of any of these Countries. Currently there are reports that Ugandan Forces have been deployed to the Border to prevent the violence from Spilling over across the Border. There are no reports regarding and Deployment of Ethiopian Forces to their border.

The reestablishing of a stable Government in Kenya is of a Paramount Interest to the United States. The Country is a Key ally and has an influence on stability in the region. The US has stated that it hopes that the recent violence that threatens to destroy Kenya will not rescind the Economic and Democratic Gains that have been achieved over the last few years. The Issue of Freedom of the Press will be one area that needs to be resolved to allow Kenya to move forward as a Country. The Question Remains on what level will the US Assist?
The author is a Contributing Editor to the American Chronicle and Publishes Confused Eagle (morganrights.tripod.com) He can be contacted at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

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