Obama struggles to stay afloat

The tests nations face add up and make them what they are at any particular moment.

No particular nation can claim that it did not have any sad moment. Great nations are made by great men and women who interpret global events in ways that they feel protect their nation’s interests.

It is not unusual that war can be declared against a particular state, but, it may not realise.

Early in 1998, Osama bin Laden made comments that amounted to a declaration of war against the US.

The Clinton Administration did not take the threats seriously. Issued on February 23 that year, it talked of a Jihad against the “Jews and the Crusaders.”

But, come August 7 that year, Osama carried out his threat in attacks on US diplomatic missions in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam that killed 240 people in both cities.

Still, all the Clinton Administration did was to fire a few missiles at a pharmaceutical plant in Sudan, because the Saudi terror mastermind had been a guest of Sadiq Al-Mahdi a former Prime Minister in Sudan. Other missiles were fired in the direction of the Afghan desert at a camp the Clinton team believed Osama was staying.

The Osama example was cited during a recent briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, actually a suburb of Washington DC.

The question to a commander went thus: “Can you tell us the next war the US will wage. It is now customary that every American President in modern times will declare war?”

The answer was very clear: “No nation knows which war it may fight in future. All it can do is prepare for any war that may come its way.”

The task now falls on Barack Obama as US president to interpret any signals that may mean serious danger to his nation or allies.

Viewed from Africa

Right now, viewed from Africa, the signs are that Mr Obama is having a great time leading the US.

The truth is Mr Obama is having a very rough time. Even his plans for a new Health insurance plan may never see the light of day and, if you are from Kenya and you are visiting the US, don’t tell Americans where the father of their president came from.

Most Americans view it as an insult. The Kenyan government had better take notice.

This is a country that is so foreign that you cannot imagine that it is actually led by the son of a Kenyan.

A recent trip I took in many US cities among them New York, San Francisco, to California, Reno Nevada, Baltimore and Washington DC left an impression that this is a terribly divided country, no wonder it is divided into 50 states each with their own laws.

Being on a mission to study investigative journalism, I discovered that the US media is terribly split but it has a very highly developed investigative capacity.

It is not unusual to find newspapers or TV stations spending up to a month, three months, or even a year investigating a particular story.

But at the same time, some media outlets are clearly biased. Take the case Fox TV, owned by Rupert Murdoch. It is clear that they can’t wait to see the last of the Obama team out of the White House.

While I was in the US, there was a major debate over the failure by President Obama to raise the issue of terrorism during is famous Cairo speech.

But, the good news is that this country is very good at adapting to crises. Right now, the two crises are the global finance crisis and the September 11 terror attacks. After the attacks the US is now less arrogant and more jobs have been created especially in the security sector.

If you want something serious in the US, go to the Pentagon. A briefing at the Pentagon is serious business .

That may not be the case in the rest of the country where time consciousness is taken more seriously than substance.

The impression I got was that in the US, appearances mean very little since people take it for granted that most systems are in place anyway.

Henry Owuor is Diplomatic and Foreign Affairs Writer, Daily Nation.