REASONS WHY CONDELEEZA RICE IS COMING TO KENYA!

By Scott A Morgan
On the Evening of His Planned Week Long State Visit to Africa the President of
the United States Made an Announcement that some have felt should have been made sooner. President Bush Announced that He will be Sending the Secretary of State to Nairobi to determine what role if any the US can play in restoring Stability to the Country after the results of the Controversial December Elections. This is not the first time there has been an American Effort to broker a deal.

Since the Crisis first Began in Late December there has been several acts of
Indecision from within the State Department. After Initially Congratulating
President Kibaki upon his reelection the US had to backtrack its statement
after the outbreak of the violence. And after sending UnderSecretary of
State Frazier to the region the second Major Gaffe by the State Department
Occured. When Ms. Frazier announced that what she had seen in Kenya
amounted to what she felt was Genocide A State Department Spokesman
downplayed the remarks by stating that the Situation was a " Fluid
Situation."

Earlier this Month Congress held Hearing about the Situation in Congress.
Senator Feingold has Introduced Legislation that would curb back all US Aid
to Kenya except for Basic Necessities (Food and Medicine.) Also Senior
Members of both the Government and the Main Opposition Party would be
prevented from any travel to the United States. At least 10 Individuals have
already received such letters from the US Embassy. And Presidential
Candidate Barack Obama has worked the Phone Lines trying to broker a deal
between the main litigants in this crisis.

The first Question that can be asked is why is the Secretary of State Heading to
Kenya? Well sending such a senior member of the US Administration sends a
signal that the US is backing the current Talks. The National Unity of Kenya
may be Paramount for regional stability. There is a litany of instability in
East Africa at this time. A strong US POLITICAL presence not just Military
make be just the Proper response at this time.

The largest underlying question is while the Secretary is in the Region will she
take on some of the Other Regional Issues? The Deadline for the Northern
Uganda Peace Talks is Rapidly Approaching. In Recent Days there have been
reported Movements by Members of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) towards
the Central African Republic. This is a tactic that the LRA has used before
in an attempt to get some concessions from the Ugandan Government. In recent
Month Uganda has had an Agressive Foreign Policy by supporting the
Ethiopians in Somalia and reportedly deploying troops near the Kenyan border
to maintain order.

There are other areas of concern as well. Eritrea has thrown UN Peacekeepers out
of the Country and they have moved into neighboring Ethiopia. And these two
countries seem to be sliding towards Hostilities again. Who knows what will
happen if Conflict once again breaks out in the Horn. The Situation in
Somalia remains in flux as well. In recent days Pirates have clashed with
Elements of the US Navy. And also there is an effort by the Breakaway region
of Somaliland to have the US recgonize the Independence of that region.
There are rumors abound of a Bill being introduced by an Advocacy Group in
Late Janurary but there has been no evidence of movement yet.

President Bush will be visiting the region as well during his trip. He will
stop in Tanzania this weekend as He tries to spread his efforts to fight HIV
and Promote Good Governance. Even though this is the last year for this
Administration he can rehab his image by urging for a Continuation of the
Process in Kenya and addressing other regional Issues. He also has two key
allies in the region in Ethiopia and Uganda. He could have met with the
leaders of these two nations and urge them to stay on the Path of Democratic
Reforms but sadly this could be a missed opportunity to address other major
issues.
The Author publishes Confused Eagle which critiques US Policies towards Africa.
It can be found at: morganrights.tripod.com and also on the American Chronicle and other select sites.

Related:
Martha,
Before labeling Dr. Rice as a Junior Officer sent to Kenya because Senior Officers were preoccupied with important things, please read this! And read again, and again.. then know that, compared to Iraq, Kenya is NOTHING in the WORLD! The US does not need an Army to topple "The Duly Elected Mpumbavu", a team of 10 US Special Force can do the job in less than 2 hrs! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta … ial_Forces (still feeling important??).

Dr. Fredrick Masinde

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/rice-bio.html

Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
www.state.gov

Dr. Condoleezza Rice became Secretary of State on January 26, 2005. Prior to this, she was the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, since January, 2001.

In June 1999, she completed a six year tenure as Stanford University's Provost, during which she was the institution's chief budget and academic officer. As Provost she was responsible for a $1.5 billion annual budget and the academic program involving 1,400 faculty members and 14,000 students.

As professor of political science, Dr. Rice has been on the Stanford faculty since 1981 and has won two of the highest teaching honors -- the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching.

At Stanford, she has been a member of the Center for International Security and Arms Control, a Senior Fellow of the Institute for International Studies, and a Fellow (by courtesy) of the Hoover Institution. Her books include Germany Unified and Europe Transformed (1995) with Philip Zelikow, The Gorbachev Era (1986) with Alexander Dallin, and Uncertain Allegiance: The Soviet Union and the Czechoslovak Army (1984). She also has written numerous articles on Soviet and East European foreign and defense policy, and has addressed audiences in settings ranging from the U.S. Ambassador's Residence in Moscow to the Commonwealth Club to the 1992 and 2000 Republican National Conventions.

From 1989 through March 1991, the period of German reunification and the final days of the Soviet Union, she served in the Bush Administration as Director, and then Senior Director, of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council, and a Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. In 1986, while an international affairs fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, she served as Special Assistant to the Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1997, she served on the Federal Advisory Committee on Gender -- Integrated Training in the Military.

She was a member of the boards of directors for the Chevron Corporation, the Charles Schwab Corporation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the University of Notre Dame, the International Advisory Council of J.P. Morgan and the San Francisco Symphony Board of Governors.

She was a Founding Board member of the Center for a New Generation, an educational support fund for schools in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, California and was Vice President of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula . In addition, her past board service has encompassed such organizations as Transamerica Corporation, Hewlett Packard, the Carnegie Corporation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Rand Corporation, the National Council for Soviet and East European Studies, the Mid-Peninsula Urban Coalition and KQED, public broadcasting for San Francisco.

Born November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, she earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver in 1974; her master's from the University of Notre Dame in 1975; and her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver in 1981. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been awarded honorary doctorates from Morehouse College in 1991, the University of Alabama in 1994, the University of Notre Dame in 1995, the National Defense University in 2002, the Mississippi College School of Law in 2003, the University of Louisville and Michigan State University in 2004. She resides in Washington, D.C
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