Mr Ranneberger, The Wise.

So I was perusing The New York Times web-site and came across an article about the violence and post-election riots in Kenya. Here is the opening few paragraphs of that article, the bits in Bold are the parts I would like to draw attention to.

U.S. Envoy Wants Political Pact in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — The American ambassador to Kenya said Wednesday that his deepest worries about the postelection crisis here were not about Kenyans rampaging in the streets or killing one another because of ethnic hatreds, both of which have claimed hundreds of lives.

Possibly even more dangerous, he said, were the deep rifts among the country’s opposing politicians, who seem “entrenched” and surrounded by “hard-liners.”

“You can never underestimate the ability of just a couple of people to tear a place apart,” said Michael E. Ranneberger, the ambassador, during an interview at his home in Nairobi, the capital.

He said his chief concern was whether Mwai Kibaki, the president, and Raila Odinga, the top opposition leader, were “prepared to rise above themselves and put the interests of the nation ahead of their own personal or their group’s political interest.”

“That is still an unanswered question,” he said.

Source: The New York Times (Complete Article)

Mr. Ranneberger, sir, truer words were never spoken. May I suggest you speak them to your own government?