Invisible Children has released a new video spotlighting LRA leader Joseph Kony. It's part of a campaign to make him famous, to create a large body of citizenry that will put pressure on the United States government to do something about him. So far so good. Unfortunately, the simplicity of the message is diluted when the video's narrator, Jason Russell, explains just what he thinks should be done (21:41):
This is what he should have said:
Our 'advisors' have been in Uganda for years. Instead of worrying that the mission might be cancelled, we should be asking why Kony has not already been captured. The US government is very adept at deploying our forces across the globe and leaving them there. They don't need our encouragement to drag this out. They need an electorate which demands results and holds politicians responsible for failure.
PS: A Canadian Political Science student named Grant Oyston put up a blog with some initial commentary, and he's done a great job tracking the resulting discussion. Head on over there to learn more.
"In order for Kony to be arrested this year, the Ugandan military has to find him. In order to find him, they need the technology and training to track him in the vast jungle. That's where the American advisors come in. But in order for the American advisors to be there, the US Government has to deploy them. They've done that, but if the government doesn't believe the people care about arresting Kony, the mission will be cancelled."Why does Mr. Russell assume the Ugandan military has to find him? Kony does not confine himself within the borders of Uganda, he roams wherever he meets the least resistance. Are we to arm every African military with our technology and the means to use it? Since when did the African governments become trustworthy? What makes Mr. Russell so sure they won't use their newly-strengthened military to spread their own brand of tyranny?
This is what he should have said:
"In order for Kony to be arrested this year, the US military has to find him. They already have the technology and training they need to track him in the vast jungle. They're already there. But if the government doesn't believe the people care about staying focused on the stated mission of targeting Kony, the mission will grow into a decade-long multi-billion-dollar 'nation-building' catastrophe. Our military personnel only need the US Government to stop shunting them to an advisory role and let them do their job."If we want to stop Kony, we will do it directly, with our own forces. Let's not forget the billions we spent building up the Pakistani military and intelligence organizations. How did that turn out? In the end we took out Bin Laden ourselves.
Our 'advisors' have been in Uganda for years. Instead of worrying that the mission might be cancelled, we should be asking why Kony has not already been captured. The US government is very adept at deploying our forces across the globe and leaving them there. They don't need our encouragement to drag this out. They need an electorate which demands results and holds politicians responsible for failure.
PS: A Canadian Political Science student named Grant Oyston put up a blog with some initial commentary, and he's done a great job tracking the resulting discussion. Head on over there to learn more.
