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Will the U.S. take its usual ‘too little too late’ steps in the crisis in Kenya?

I would be among the first to say that the U.S. cannot be the "world's police force" and intervene militarily in every nation experiencing turmoil. I mean, we should never, for example, have done the war in Iraq. (Not going to go there right now, thank you.)

But we seem to have a knack for doing too little and doing it too late whenever there's a crisis in Africa. In the case of this rioting in Kenya, our diplomats, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have pleaded with the factions to halt the rioting. Which is absolutely a good thing. It may even be all we can do right now.

But what will we do once the rioting is settled and the immediate bloodshed stemmed? Will we try to take an active role in aiding the country, in negotiating a lasting solution? Perhaps we will do more, perhaps not -- and I'm not even sure how much we SHOULD or COULD do. It seems odd to me, however, that individual Americans (former Presidents Carter, Bush, and Clinton come to mind) seem to be able to help in crises sites around the world, yet our nation as a whole, as a governmental entity, keeps ignoring many, many problems. (Unless there's oil at stake, of course.)

I truly hope we'll do the right thing and rush any diplomatic and humanitarian aid we can to this sadly torn country just as soon as it's possible.
[tags]Kenya rioting, U.S. aid to Kenya, Condoleezza Rice, just a guy who reads the papers[/tags]