'Differences' With Obama Drive Out Kenya Envoy

The US ambassador to Kenya resigned today, citing "differences with Washington regarding my leadership style and certain priorities." Former Air Force Major General J. Scott Gration didn't give any more specific reason for his departure, but it comes on the heels of a recent dustup with Nairobi, the Washington Post observes: Last week, the US Embassy warned of a coming terrorist attack in Mombasa, which Kenya objected to, worrying it would hurt tourism.

Gration has a history with President Obama; when Gration worked under NATO’s supreme allied commander he was assigned to brief Obama, a then-senator. He eventually left the military to become an influential Obama campaign adviser. But he was criticized in his last gig, as envoy to Sudan, for being too conciliatory toward Omar al-Bashir. In his 13 months in Kenya, an analyst tells Reuters, he's "been a little gung-ho in his approach," and perhaps too hasty in "pulling out his guns." (More J. Scott Gration stories.)