LRA Child Soldier in Uganda
As many of you probably read, President Obama announced on Friday that he has ordered 100 Special Operations troops to Africa to hunt down the leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). I decided to write this post after reading a number of horribly wrong (and sometimes offensive) articles criticizing Obama for this decision. I hope that this post will arm you with the knowledge necessary to counter the deluge of misinformation, should you ever find yourself in a discussion about it.
Idiotic argument #1: “Lord’s Resistance Army are Christians.” – Rush Limbaugh
Seriously?
Reality: Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, claims to be the spokesperson of God and a “spirit medium.” He encourages his soldiers to use oil to draw crosses on their chests for protection from bullets. Yes, LRA ideology is a form of apocalyptic Protestant Christianity and they claim to seek to establish a theocracy based on the Ten Commandments. But they are also heavily influenced by mysticism and ethnic Acholi tradition.
Most importantly, the LRA has committed widespread human rights violations, including torture, rape, the use of child soldiers, and a number of massacres. Does that seem very Christian to you?
Idiotic Argument #2: “Obama is starting another war without Congressional approval.”
Reality: Congress did give approval, last year. The 2010 Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act made it American policy to kill or capture Joseph Kony and to defeat the LRA.
Regardless, this is not war. One hundred troops are being sent to train and assist regional military forces with targeting Kony. The operation will likely resemble a criminal investigation more than combat. To call it a war diminishes the very meaning of the word.
Idiotic Argument #3: “Most Americans have never even heard of the LRA” and, it’s “Not much of a threat.” – Rush Limbaugh
This argument somehow claims that because most Americans are uninformed, this particular fundamentalist militant group is not a threat to US interests.
Reality: Ever heard of Invisible Children? Yeah, those are the LRA’s child soldiers. This is one of the longest-running conflicts in Africa – Kony has been wreaking havoc since 1987. His actions have created hundreds of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons and refugees. Since 2008 alone, the LRA has killed more than 2,400 people and abducted more than 3,400. In addition to humanitarian reasons, the LRA’s destabilizing effect on the region makes it a major policy concern for the US.
Idiotic Argument #4: The LRA is “fighting the Muslims in Sudan.” – Rush Limbaugh
Reality: This is just plain wrong. The LRA was allied with the Islamic regime in Sudan for years, only recently becoming cut off geopolitically from its former allies in Khartoum when South Sudan gained independence.
