Ethnic violence in Kenya

After the bloodshed in Rwanda there was a widespread belief that "we" should have actually done something to intervene and stop the violence. Know, we seem to be seeing almost a replay of the violence in Kenya, but nobody has any significant response. Essentially, we did not really learn anything from Rwanda. Or, maybe we learned that offering a few public statements and diplomatic encouragements was about all that makes sense and that otherwise we should simply stay out of the way.

Jumping into the middle of things and urging compromise doesn't seem to be accomplishing very much. According to Associated Press:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, the Illinois senator whose father was Kenyan, urged both sides to compromise.

"President Kibaki must permit the opposition meaningful participation in the government," Obama said in a statement. And Odinga "must seek a peaceful resolution and reject violent protest and disorder."

Strangely, we do not even hear much about Kenya from the presidential candidates, but maybe that is because Kenya is not even on the radar for the average American. After the economy, Iraq, health care, the election, apparently Kenya ranks somewhere below Britney.

I am not sure what to make of all this.

-- Jack Krupansky