http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/19/58994871.html
U.S. President Barack Obama’s last Friday’s decision to send 100 American troopsto Uganda has sent waves over the political space both in the U.S. and abroad. The move seems to be quite justifiable since the primary adversary of American military “advisors” will be the so called Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which has been operating in Uganda and several neighboring countries for over 20 years and is known for mass murders, rapes, abductions, arsons and other crimes.
What does not allow one to acknowledge that the U.S. military mission is a purely humanitarian character aimed at protecting the civilian population, is a series of facts related to the whole story. First, the LRA today is at its weakest point in the last 15 years. The Ugandan army has been launching relatively successful operations against the guerillas and now they are smaller in numbers than 10 years ago, scattered and based mostly in the Central African Republic and South Sudan rather than in Uganda itself.
Second, all previous and present U.S. military operations abroad have shown that the issue of “human rights” and similar slogans are raised selectively, whenever there is a need for the U.S. to establish its presence in this or that part of the world. This was the case with Afghanistan and Iraq; this is the case with Libya and the prospective cases of Syria and Iran. The main thing based in the core of all these current or prospective military actions is oil. And whatever the U.S. diplomats in Uganda might say trying to deny the obvious U.S. commercial interest does not sound true.
This fact is not only dawning upon outside observers, but even on such U.S. mainstream politicians as, for example, Senator John McCain. Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, he warned the administration to be careful and to remember the failed missions of the kind in Somalia or Lebanon.
“I worry about, with the best of intentions, that we somehow get engaged in a commitment that we can't get out of,” said Senator McCain.
In fact, “a commitment the U.S. can’t get out of” is probably the least desired thing for President Obama. Three years ago, he was elected bearing the image of a dove of peace and promising to end the two wars - in Afghanistan and Iraq. None of the two is over, a third one in Libya is going on at full scale and two others – in Syria and Iran – are looming. Now, why Uganda?
Oil is the primary reason, but not the only one. For a decade or more, Africa has been largely neglected by the U.S. foreign policy. Being preoccupied with the “Big Middle East”, successive administrations did not have the time, resources, power and intention to handle the problems of the “Black Continent”. To fill the vacuum, China and lately India were only eager to replace the U.S. as the main partner of Africa. And instead of their American counterparts and competitors, the method used by the two emerging powers was that of “soft power” rather than blunt military pressure.
Such a policy has yielded its results and now Obama is frantically trying to reverse the tendency. But sending 100 troops is hardly an adequate answer to billions of dollars worth of Chinese and Indian investments.
More so, one has to agree with Senator McCain that such an engagement will be difficult to get out of. He said he remembers Somalia and Lebanon, but the Vietnam War veteran might as well remember more distant times.
It is worth reminding that the Vietnam War also started from sending advisors. What it ended in is too is too well known. If Barack Obama wishes to be remembered as the President who launched the biggest number of wars in American history, he has all the right to proceed with widening military presence in Uganda and elsewhere. But it is highly doubtful that this is really his intention. Rather, the force of inertia of the whole machine forces him into reckless adventure like the one in Uganda.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/19/c_131201009.htm
NAIROBI, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government said on Wednesday it is not at war with Somalia but helping its neighbor to stabilize the security situation in that Horn of Africa country.
Kenyan Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said the ongoing operation by the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Kenyan military is aimed at guaranteeing the security of the people of Somalia, Kenyans and foreign visitors.
He assured tourists visiting the country that they are safe, and that Kenya's security agencies are working round the clock to protect them.
"It is gratifying to note that our tourism sector is recognized as one of the key pillars that will spur our economy towards Kenya' s long term economic blue print, the Kenya Vision 2030," he said at the Magical Kenya Tourism and Travel Expo held in Nairobi.
The expo, which is the first to be held in the country, brings together over 150 travel trade partners from 23 countries.
Musyoka said the event was being held at a time when the country's tourism sector is experiencing remarkable upward growth earning the country a total of 737.4 million U.S. dollars.
The east African nation has enhanced security around the Kenyan capital, Nairobi and its environs following the threats issued by Somalia's terrorist group Al-Shabaab of revenge attacks as the Kenyan troops advance deep into the Somali territory to raid the insurgents.
Al-Shabaab issued a warning of retaliatory attacks against Kenya following the latter's decision to send troops into the neighboring Somalia to hunt down and eliminate the Islamist group that has been accused of masterminding kidnappings and cross- border attacks.
The authorities have consequently published emergency telephone contacts to the members of the public to report anything that may be of security concern.
Nairobi police chief Anthony Kibuchi told the media on Tuesday that security measures have been put in place to secure the city.
"It all starts with us and we must defeat these criminals threatening our peace. Let everyone be vigilant all the time," he added.
But Musyoka said Kenyans should invest in serious marketing and add value to the existing array of dormant tourist attractions so as to boost and expand the industry.
The vice president said the tourism sector's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) currently stands at between 12 and 17 percent, adding that it is possible to push it to 50 percent if people are ready to invest in serious marketing. "This is the time to expand into business tourism, sports tourism and cultural tourism, conferencing and water sports," he noted.
Musyoka said the expo is vital as it will allow the local tourism trade and the public to have an opportunity to interact with the tourism trade partners on a one-to-one basis.
The vice president noted that the government is re-engineering the key tourist products and attractions in order to make the country a unique tourist destination which he said could be attributed to the huge investments in the infrastructure projects such as the expansion and modernization of airports and roads.
He singled out the Isiolo Tourist Resort City located along the proposed Lamu-Isiolo Northern Corridor and the Techno-polis City at Konza that will be connected to Nairobi and the airport through a fast mass transit train system as some of the programs designed to boost the tourism sector.
Musyoka said in the past few years President Mwai Kibaki had directed the relevant government agencies to pursue expansion strategies for tourism beyond the country's traditional markets of Europe and the United States. "Our net in tourism has been cast wider to include the Asian Sub- continent, South Africa, Eastern Europe, the Far East, Russia and the African Continent," he said.
The vice president said the new Tourism Act 2011 which was signed into law recently will provide sustainable growth of a well regulated tourism sector and assured investors of the safety of their investments.
On the same occasion, Minister for Tourism Najib Balala assured that roads in Amboseli and Masai Mara National Parks will soon be improved to ensure local and international tourists access the areas without any problems.
The minister noted that 2011 is the year of tourism, saying Kenya expects over 1.3 million tourist arrivals.
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