Kony 2012

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):

"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.

Born to Run

I just finished reading Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall. His story is about discovery -- initially of a small tribe in Mexico, the Tarahumara, whose running ability is legendary. They run 50 or 75 miles on rocky, hilly, treacherous terrain, and then do it again the next day. They suffer none of the injuries that plague the typical American runner. In sharp contrast to the regularly injured athletes of the Western world and the millions of joggers dealing with chronic pain, the Tarahumara seem "born to run".

As the author interacts with them and other ultra-runners, he learns that that privilege is not unique to the Tarahumara. Their experiences, along with the research and findings of some of the world's top coaches and some very intelligent scientists, paint a broader picture. Running is part of who we are as human beings. We are built for it, we thrive on it. Not just for a few fleeting years of youth, but as a way of life.

It took me about a week to finish the book. Each chapter is sprinkled with vignettes of individuals who began running, to connect with nature, or as a way to meditate, or out of simple curiosity. They ran and ran and ran some more, until they were running 100, 200, 300 miles at a time. These stories are too inspiring to take in all at once while sitting on a couch, so I found myself out running between chapters, thinking over what I'd read and feeling out the possibilities.

As a young college student, I would get up at 0451 hrs. and go on a 75-minute run to start the day, summer or winter, rain or snow. I had learned to run bare-foot, and my new low-impact running form gave me reprieve from the shin-splints and stress fractures I had endured in High School. But I didn't see a lot of other people doing the same thing, and perhaps the not-too-distant memories of my High School injuries tempered my inclination to run more. I was afraid to push past where I was, and eventually the static nature of my daily runs left me feeling unsatisfied, and I quit running.

Well, now I'm running again. It's been a few years, so I'm starting from just a little above zero. This time, I won't listen to anyone who tells me that the human foot was not designed to run (as my podiatrist did in High School), or that I'll pay for my habit later in life with knee, hip, and ankle problems. I'll listen to my body, and together we'll decide how far I can go.

I love running, and now I've shed the fear and limitations I've been laboring under my whole life. It's a new day.