US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Kenya can be seen as signaling a shift in the Obama administration’s approach to East Africa.

Comments by Mr Biden, coupled with reports of an expanding US “secret war” against Al Qaeda, suggest that Washington is now focusing more on Kenya’s strategic sub-regional role than on concerns about corruption and human rights abuses within the country.

The coalition government’s agreement on constitutional reforms represents a major reason for the marked change in Washington’s tone. But growing US trepidation over instability in the region – particularly in Somalia – has also contributed to the decision to cultivate a more co-operative relationship with Kenya.

“We recognise that Kenya’s long-term stability and development are tied to the region’s security and development,” Mr Biden declared in Nairobi last Tuesday. “The United States supports Kenya’s effort to secure the border (with Somalia) in the face of very real threats from those who wish to spread chaos.”

His remarks coincided with President Mwai Kibaki’s call for the US to lead “a concerted international effort to stabilise Somalia.”

The leaders’ joint emphasis on Somalia is related to a decision on the part of the Obama administration to launch pre-preemptive military strikes on targets inside Somalia.

White House counter-terrorism director John Brennan recently highlighted the new policy by saying the US “will not merely respond after the fact” of a terrorist attack but will “take the fight to Al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates whether they plot and train in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond.”

The Washington Post last week cited US and Somali intelligence estimates that up to 1200 foreign fighters – many from Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan — are now operating within the ranks of Al Shabaab and other Islamist insurgent groups.

According to a recent CNN report, the US assumes that a core group of foreign fighters in Somalia is preparing for attacks against Western targets in East Africa.

Partly in response to the growing threat it sees emanating from Somalia, the Obama administration “has significantly expanded a largely secret US war against Al Qaeda and other radical groups,” the Washington Post reported in its June 4 edition.

The newspaper said US Special Operations forces are now deployed in 75 countries around the world, compared with 60 at the start of 2009. Given the scope of this power projection, it would not be surprising if Kenya were hosting US Special Operations teams.

The Post added that President Obama is making reliance on such forces “a far more integrated part of his global security strategy” than was the case under President George W Bush. Mr Obama has asked for a 5.7 per cent increase in the Special Operations budget for the coming fiscal year, which would bring the total to $6.3 billion.

The United States has already launched several military strikes inside Somalia. Mr Bush used cruise missiles to hit targets believed linked to Al Qaeda, while Mr Obama ordered a helicopter assault last September that killed a man identified as a key Al Qaeda operative in East Africa.

The Obama administration has also approved the use of unarmed drones to track pirates operating off the Somalia coast.

Even as it sharpens its focus on Somalia, the Obama administration is also using Vice President Biden’s visit to Kenya as an opportunity to prepare further for southern Sudan’s secession referendum in January. Again, the US looks to Kenya to play a key role in helping stabilise a neighbouring country.

Mr Biden was scheduled on Wednesday to meet in Nairobi with Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir.

Source: The East African (Kenya)