Great news out of Kenya today. Kibaki and Raila sat down and signed a peace agreement.
This is a absolutely huge deal in the short-term. Both sides have accepted major compromises to get here.
Am I surprised? Not really. There have been good signs of progress over the course of the past month. The fact that the discussions have covered as much ground as they have is a strong indication that both sides realized that they needed to compromise.
There were signs in the past few days that the talks were about to collapse. The U.S. sent out a very strong statement a couple days ago about taking serious action against whoever was seen to be dragging their feet on the talks. (Widely seen as the government.)
For all the hatred against the Bush Administration's policies and politics, they've done a pretty good job on Kenya. They've been effectively pushing both sides to compromise.
They've successfully portrayed themselves as in league with the Kenyan people and relatively independent toward both the government and the opposition.
But they shouldn't think the hard work is over. In fact, it's just begun.
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