Dozens Dead In New Kenya Election Violence - Obamas phone call did not help, what more will he do ?

[agdlp]

A tragic situation indeed. But the question is…can he put his rhetoric words into action? Where is his agenda on African peace keeping, and what about urging the current administration to put more diplomatic pressure on the parties..?

Rival Tribes Clash Over Disputed Presidential Vote; Houses Burned, Victims Hacked With Machetes

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/27/world/main3756065.shtml

ELDORET, Kenya (AP) — Barack Obama phoned Kenya's opposition leader to express concerns about the ethnically charged election standoff that has killed some 500 people, the opposition chief's spokesman said Tuesday, intensifying the diplomatic pressure from the United States.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iQUIrJzN6krWc0yJ6DP3ySeXQekQD8U1NNDO2

Suntimes calls it " Kenya turmoil a test for Obama "

"The arc of the moral universe Obama refers to so often -- a line from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- now stretches from the United States to Kenya. What can he do -- what will he do -- that is more than the radio message for Voice of America's Africa service he taped Wednesday, urging the Kenyans to stop the violence?"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/724286,CST-NWS-sweet03.article

[fenriswolf]

1. what more do you want a presidential candidate to do?

[gateley]

2. What could any senator do by himself? Not much. I think this is really unfair. nt

[agdlp]

8. Unfair to ask for his views? He cant vote absent as President !! Where is the new "hope" ?

Has he put forward a comprehensive view on American/African foreign policy?
Has he put forward any statements urging the current administration to do more?
Has he put forward any views on UN and paying out the money US owe, so they can do their job ?

As DiMasi says:

""To be perfectly honest, I really don't want my president to be in there on a learning process for the first six months to a year," he added. "It's too important."

[sfam]

12. Please try reading the articles you cite - Obama is working with the State Dept.

"As Kenya boiled, Obama reached out to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the situation. I'm told it was Obama's idea to put out the statement."

This statement to me indicates that yes, he IS urging the current administration to do more.

Tell me again about Hillary's leadership on this issue? Obama is leading the US effort to intensify diplomatic pressure and Hillary is....?

[gateley]

32. First of all, I'm not an Obama supporter, so that's not where I was coming

from.

I don't know if he's made statements or expressed views on the items you cite.

I felt it was unfair for the question to be asked about if he'll DO anything about the current violence in Africa.

That's like if Dodd was still running and there was violence in Ireland -- what would he be expected to 'do'?

[MadBadger]

3. What the hell???

[H2O Man]

5. Not only that,

Obama did little to stop Nixon's illegal bombing of Cambodia. Yet some DUers still support him. How can anyone support Obama, when he turned his back on Cambodia?

[skipos]

4. Obama needs to get Hillary over there to triangulate some sort of solution.

After all, he is the MLK to her LBJ.

[Tatiana]

6. Are you serious? Forget about Obama, what did our PRESIDENT DO?

You know, the one who's the so-called "leader of the free world."

[sfam]

7. So intensifying diplomatic pressure is a bad thing?

You didn't happen to read the rest of the articles you cited, did you? The Sun Times claims Obama urged the US - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in particular to put out the statement. This is not an uncoordinated act on Obama's part. The President is currently in charge of foreign policy - Obama is working through the current administration on this. Are you expecting that he should go it alone here?

But again, the articles seem to suggest that an intensification of diplomatic pressure was having an effect. Why do you say this didn't help?

Truly, I'm not getting the thrust of your comment. If you're trying to make the case that Obama is an empty suit, this seems like a strange issue to make it on. How exactly have the other candidates - republican or democratic - aided this situation?

[ecstatic]

9. The OP is implying that Obama has a special obligation to act due to his Kenyan

heritage. However, I don't find the OP to be sincere. Just trying to start something, IMO.

[agdlp]

Un peacekeeping force ? intervene to prevent a new Rwanda?

Where is the pressure...?
Where is the media coverage ?
Where is his strategic view on American foreign policy, shall we intervene to prevent a new Rwanda?

[FrenchieCat]

10. This is such an Intellectually dishonest OP.....

till it ain't even funny.

Wonder what's next?

You want Obama on a plane tomorrow to go to Pakistan and pick up Bin Laden? :shrug:

[AtomicKitten]

16. This particular line of attack has been seen before at DU

- trying to paint Obama as somehow negligent on Kenya.

[agdlp]

19. Hillary Clinton on Peacekeeping

UN peacekeeping is perhaps the world’s best example of the value of international cooperation – demonstrating the wisdom of burden sharing so that no nation has to pay all the bills or take all the risks associated with international peace and security. Over the last several years, the UN Security Council has authorized an increasing number of new and expanded peacekeeping missions in places such as Darfur, Lebanon, Haiti, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Once the recently-authorized hybrid UN-AU mission to Darfur is fully deployed, there will be more than 130,000 personnel serving in 18 UN-led peace operations. Because of the size and complexity of the hybrid mission to Darfur and combined with the existing mission in Southern Sudan, peacekeeping operations in Sudan will constitute half of the UN’s total peacekeeping budget.

Do you support the efforts of UN peacekeeping operations as a ‘force multiplier’ that can complement U.S. efforts to prevent and/or contain conflict? Would you support paying our full assessments for peacekeeping operations on time and in full? Would you support permanent repeal of a 25%, congressionally-imposed cap on peacekeeping assessments given that the U.S. executive branch has negotiated and agreed to pay a 26% rate?

I will make meeting our financial obligations to the United Nations a priority to enable the United Nations to fulfill the mandates we ask it to undertake. U.N. peacekeeping operations can act as a “force multiplier,” complementing U.S. national security interests.

U.N. peacekeeping of all kinds is experiencing an unprecedented surge. Expected expansion of U.N. peacekeeping operations is likely to boost the number of U.N.-commanded troops to record levels.

Although the United States contributes a very small number of troops to formal U.N. peacekeeping operations, we are the major financial contributor, and there is much the United States can and should do to improve the performance of U.N. peacekeeping. First and foremost the U.S. administration must propose realistic budgets, and the Congress must approve them. The United States has voted to establish or sustain each of the peacekeeping missions under way, and in doing so, should fulfill its responsibility to support them financially. The United States’ condemnation of the genocide in Darfur is an empty gesture if the administration is unwilling to provide the money necessary to fully fund the operation intended to stop the atrocities, and without taking money away from other U.N. operations that Washington also authorized.

The United States, working with NATO, should also increase capacity in the developing world to conduct U.N.-authorized or U.N.-mandated peacekeeping operations. The United States and NATO should expedite their commitments under the Global Peace Operations Initiative to train 75,000 peacekeepers, principally in Africa.

--------

http://www.unausa.org/site/pp.aspx?c=fvKRI8MPJpF&b=3832207&printmode=1

[FrenchieCat]

29. So her giving some lines of NATO and peacekeeping is supposed to

"do" something? What happened in Rwanda? Did she make that speech then....or Bill for that matter?

[ruggerson]

11. This is ridiculously stupid

[tishaLA]

13. LOL. The ignore function is marvelous indeed.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. WHERE WAS OBAMA WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?!?!?!

WHERE, I ASK YOU, WHERE?!?!?!

[Bright Eyes]

17. Where was he when the Lindberg baby was kidnapped?

[THUNDER HANDS]

18. WHERE WAS HE WHEN THE DINOSAURS GOT HIT BY THE METEOR

OMG, THINK OF THE DINOSAURS!!!!

[H2O Man]

20. I wish

to transfer post #5 to this part of the discussion.

[eppur_se_muova]

21. "Germans?" "Forget it, he's rolling." nt

[fenriswolf]

23. germany bombed pearl harbor?

what planet are you from?

[THUNDER HANDS]

25. ever watch Animal House?

[fenriswolf]

26. long time ago but I slightly recall that.

[Bright Eyes]

15. Oh my god....

This is getting pathetic.

[milkyway]

22. Thanks for your heartfelt concern.

[Robeson]

24. Pathetic.

[Occam Bandage]

27. He's called the opposition leader, written articles, recorded VoA broadcasts...

what do you want, him to go in Rambo-style?

[Barack_America]

28. Why doesn't Clinton do something?

Maybe head over there with his buddy Bush to do their "elder statesmen" thing?

[zulchzulu]

30. What has Hillary done to help Obama on Kenyan violence?

Is it because he's black and has Kenyan roots?

Last I checked, Senators don't have their own private mercenary force to use to engage countries with...

[agdlp]

31. Kenya Death Toll Near 800 in a Month

Gangs of youths armed with machetes and clubs fought running battles with police on Sunday and burned tribal rivals alive in their homes in western Kenya, pushing the death toll from a month of escalating ethnic violence to nearly 800.

Sunday marked exactly one month since the Dec. 27 disputed president election which sparked the violence that has transformed this once-stable African country, pitting longtime neighbors against each other and turning towns where tourists used to gather for luxury holidays into no-go zones.

It also complicated the task of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the latest international mediator trying to promote talks between President Mwai Kibaki and his chief rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga. The two met Thursday for the first time since the election.

Kibaki and Odinga remain far apart on how to resolve the crisis, the worst the country has seen since its 1963 independence from Britain. Kibaki has said he is open to direct talks with Odinga, but that his position as president is not negotiable. Odinga says Kibaki must step down and new elections are the only alternative.

The clashes have mainly pitted other ethnic groups, which support the opposition because they feel marginalized, against Kibaki's Kikuyu people.

Kikuyus were the main victims in the initial eruption of violence, with hundreds killed and more than half of those driven from their homes belonging to Kibaki's tribe. Now, however, it appears the Kikuyus are looking for revenge.

"We have moved out to avenge the deaths of our brothers and sisters who have been killed, and nothing will stop us," said Anthony Mwangi, hefting a club in the western town of Naivasha. "For every one Kikuyu killed, we shall avenge their killing with three."

The fighting spread Sunday to Naivasha, 55 miles northwest of Nairobi, a previously quiet tourist town with a stunning freshwater lake.

At least 22 people were killed in the town over the weekend, said district commissioner Katee Mwanza. At least five of them were burned to death in their homes, said Willy Lugusa, a police official. Others were hacked to death with machetes, a local reporter told The Associated Press.

Kikuyus torched the homes of Luo rivals in the center of Navaisha. Police, apparently overwhelmed, did not intervene. Gunshots rang out into the evening.

Looters used iron bars to smash the windows of shops belonging to non-Kikuyu businesspeople, and made off with television sets, groceries and clothing.

One woman came screaming down the road from a blazing house.

"They set it on fire, they are killing my brother and sister," Alice Okoth said.

Mike Aringo, a 27-year-old resident, said hundreds of men swarmed the area Sunday morning.

"They told us if you are a Luo, you will be killed today," Aringo said. Odinga is a Luo.

Soldiers and police reinforcements arrived late Sunday afternoon, firing tear gas and live bullets. Downtown Naivasha quickly became deserted, but on the outskirts, gangs of youths armed with machetes and clubs engaged in running battles with police who chased them down alleyways.

In the city of Nakuru, the provincial capital of Kenya's fertile Rift Valley where ethnic clashes erupted late Thursday, some 55 bodies were counted Sunday at the morgue, said a morgue attendant who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Bodies were still arriving Sunday, although the running battles had largely cooled off. A local newspaper reporter saw another five bodies Sunday in two slums on the outskirts of Nakuru.

The latest deaths brought the toll in a month of violence to nearly 800 killed.

Odinga met with Annan on Sunday and opposition spokesman Salim Lone said they were asked to name three negotiators for talks, which he said he would hopefully start "within a week."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4197446

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. Clearly, it's Obama's fault. nt