The publisher vetted everything about Obama's story -- except the birthplace. For that, they ignored whatever obama sent them, picked a country totally at random, picked Kenya, neglected to send Obama the proofs for his approval, printed the book, sent it to Obama where he apparently overlooked it for years.
Yeah, if you like you plan...
If I write, "I'm Canadian", many people would assume I was born in Canada, and may even assume I live in Canada.
If I write, "I'm Irish", many people would assume I am of Irish descent, not that I was born in Ireland or live there.
If I write, "I'm Kenyan," a person could very easily assume I meant I was born there.
And if you hear any of those things about me third hand, the chance of a mistaken assumption climbs.