Obama has my support on this one.
Enough of the religious nutcase called Kony.

[img]http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20111014&t=2&i=515830132&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=BTRE79D1GMV00[/img]
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he was sending about 100 U.S. military advisers to Uganda to support central African allies pursuing Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, and other rebel commanders.

Obama's decision commits U.S. forces to help battle a Ugandan rebel group he once condemned as an "affront to human dignity" for chilling violence that has included hacking body parts off victims, abduction of young boys to fight and young girls to be used as sex slaves.

"I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield," Obama said a letter to Congress.

But he asserted that U.S. forces "will only be providing information, advice and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense."

The terms of engagement may be aimed at reassuring war-weary Americans he has no plan to entangle U.S. forces directly in another conflict when they are already involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and are playing a support role in a NATO-led air campaign in Libya.

The LRA, which says it is a religious group, first emerged in northern Uganda in the 1990s and is believed to have killed, kidnapped and mutilated tens of thousands of people.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Kony has been indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The LRA continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security," Obama said.

He said U.S. advisers were needed because "regional military efforts have thus far been unsuccessful in removing LRA leader Joseph Kony or his top commanders from the battlefield."

Obama said the initial team of U.S. advisers arrived in Uganda on Wednesday and that a total of around 100 personnel would be deployed for the mission.

"Subject to the approval of each respective host nation, elements of these U.S. forces will deploy into Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo," he said.

LRA commanders have been operating in the wild and largely lawless border regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan in recent years.

Although now thought to number just a few hundred fighters, the LRA's mobility and the difficulties of the terrain has made them difficult to tackle. Attempts to negotiate peace failed in 2008 after Kony refused to sign a deal to end the killing.

Uganda and Congolese officials said earlier this year they thought Kony had returned to eastern DRC, complicating United Nations efforts to stabilize the region.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/us-uganda-usa-newspro-idUSTRE79D5CA20111014

Barrack Obama has constantly showed that he is completely insensitive to the vociferation of his people. This act and his politics of topsy-turvydom only brings to luminosity, the failure of his Government on a flatware of monumental proportion.

kosovo:

Barrack Obama has constantly showed that he is completely insensitive to the vociferation of his people. This act and his politics of topsy-turvydom only brings to luminosity, the failure of his Government on a flatware of monumental proportion.

impressive. . .where have been you all these while ?

kosovo:

Barrack Obama has constantly showed that he is completely insensitive to the vociferation of his people. This act and his politics of topsy-turvydom only brings to luminosity, the failure of his Government on a flatware of monumental proportion.

While there is much truth is what you wrote up there, BO has my full support with this action.
In fact, I would go as far as comparing it to Julius Nyerere tearing up the OAU's non-interventionist policy, an effort which resulted in troops being sent into Uganda and hence precipitated Idi Amin's fall from grace.

Kony needs to be given the Osama treatment, and if it takes special forces from the U.S to engineer this, so be it.

~Bluetooth:

impressive. . .where have been you all these while ?

Just had to take a break from the online, and it worked like a charm. I will be off soon, just breezed in to say Hi,,

Hope OAM4J can receive my greetings,   

Alot of things have changed right

Hypocrisy and a political statement but certainly nothing borne out of pure concern for Africans. With the slash in US military spending of which Africom budget is taking a huge blow, this is just a move to appease the African concerns in the US while actually doing nothing at all. If they were serious, this mission would have been discrete and their mission would be more direct and combative but here they are advertising an advisory mission and expectin accolades. Obama is definitely not African and he's barely black and i'm glad the euphoria of the so called African - American president is now a thing of the past.

kosovo:

Barrack Obama has constantly showed that he is completely insensitive to the vociferation of his people. This act and his politics of topsy-turvydom only brings to luminosity, the failure of his Government on a flatware of monumental proportion.

ol boy how far?
I support the flushing out of all rebelitic materials from Africa.

When will africans learn to be responsibles for their actions and stop blaming others policies for their miseries?There some animals killing innocent people for no reason and they need to be hunted down even if the move is initiated by the devil himself.

Obama is not a typical american president,he is a soulful one with the interest of the people at heart

Good one from Obama.
Few strikes from the Drones will put the Lord Resistance Army(LRA) to their immediate demise.
Boko Haram should be on their radar.Coming soon!!!

Sad day for Africa

A very bad precedent!

more than 1 million southern nigeria have seen desertification in nigeria. on google it appear  half a million times. it is what we have seen.

so the case of nigeria is important.

^^^


Show us the map

Show us or forever keep shut

I think you are lying. I spoke with Goodluck Jonathan yesterday, and he said he is yet to see anything on the map.

Musiwa, Musiwa, Musiwa, Musiwa

wrong war, the 3000 African soldiers bogged down and surrounded by Al-Shabab Fighters needs a super power to help them push those militias out of Somalia that is the right war and the right fight.

What about the rebel groups in neighbouring south america? What about the drug/cocaine gangs in nearby mexico? I think obama also need to send the U.S troops there

KnowAll:

wrong war, the 3000 African soldiers bogged down and surrounded by Al-Shabab Fighters needs a super power to help them push those militias out of Somalia that is the right war and the right fight.

Lest we forget, the LRA has been wrecking havoc not just in Uganda but the whole of Central Africa for quite some time now.

Inspired by a combination of mysticism and eccentric Christian rhetoric, Kony, who is about 50, is on the U.S. terrorist list and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity committed in a two-decade war in northern Uganda between rebels and government soldiers. Kony signed a peace deal in 2006, but continued to operate in neighboring countries.

The Lord’s Resistance Army has since cut a swath across Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The head of the U.S. Africa command, Gen. Carter Ham, said this month that he believed Kony and other commanders were hiding in the Central African Republic.

Addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank in Washington, he said the rebel group was still committing atrocities, kidnapping people and killing,

Over the last three years, the U.S. has provided more than $40 million in equipment and training to armies in the region to combat the rebel group and target Kony, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

Allied with rebel movements in the Congo, Rwanda and Southern Sudan, LRA has to be considered an even greater threat to security than Al-Shabab, which was recently dislodged from its last major stronghold.

this is what mr obama should be doing,not bombing innocent civilians in libia.

make whiteman come back to take africa, it's time!

kosovo:

Barrack Obama has constantly showed that he is completely insensitive to the vociferation of his people. This act and his politics of topsy-turvydom only brings to luminosity, the failure of his Government on a flatware of monumental proportion.

Oh Boy, See Grammer

Obama = Incompetent + confused + empty suit

He is done nothing positively tangible. It seems he has inherent dislike for Africa. How many Africa countries has he paid a state visit? But, he is been to other continents more.

Bloody hypocrite

Mr--Why:

Obama = Incompetent + confused + empty suit

He is done nothing positively tangible. It seems he has inherent dislike for Africa. How many Africa countries has he paid a state visit?  But, he is been to other continents more.

Bloody hypocrite

I had major problems with the US's wholesome intervention in Libya, but this is quite different.
What proof do you have that Obama, who happens to be half-African, harbours an inherent dislike the continent, eh?

Do you know how much havoc the LRA has wrought in Central Africa these past 20 years, and the human cost involved?
And while you are at it, please explain how your vehement opposition in this instance is premised or anything more than a feeling of being slighted, simply because there have been state-visits to other continents

I read some analysts who said the US are sending troops to Kony because of the discovery of oil and gas reserves in Uganda and that was why they supported Museveni in changing the constitution and removing term limits and rigging himself back to power just like the dictator Paul Biya of Cameroon. They gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia who was a sponsor of Charles Taylors NPDF during the war in other to sway votes her way.
The fact is that just like the Berlin Conference of 1886, there is another scramble for Africa.
Obama is a wamonger, he promised Americans to take them out of Afghanistan and Iraq, but has only being able to start another war in Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria (if not for Russia and China veto) and now he is invading Uganda while looking for every excuse to attack Iran and Venezuela and putting Robert Mugabe in his sights.
What happens to American using its weight to encourage negotiations, Zimbabwe who has a 'tyrant' as a leader almost got bombed by NATO like Ivory Coast if not for Russia veto at the UN over an election dispute, but today despite all the western sanctions their economy has picked up and Morgan Tsvangirai has been exposed by Wikileaks as a CIA asset.
It is the ordinary Ugandans who will suffer from the American bombs and have their environment destroyed when these guys start full oil drilling to help their ailing economies.
Obama doesnt listen to Americans he thinks he can continue to use the main stream media to manipulate events and get the world on his wrong side.

^^^ My friend just SHUT UP! You sound like one of those brainwashed Iranian TV presenters. It is one thing to point out US hypocrisy and another thing entirely to blame them for all the troubles of the world and pin every single action down to some ulterior motive. Imagine saying they gave Sirleaf the Nobel to incur favour! You really are sick, what has the Nobel prize got to do with the US?
I hope your parents have reported you to the US embassy? Na like dis Abdumutallab take start o!

D-pharisee:

I read some analysts who said the US are sending troops to Kony because of the discovery of oil and gas reserves in Uganda and that was why they supported Museveni in changing the constitution and removing term limits and rigging himself back to power just like the dictator Paul Biya of Cameroon. They gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia who was a sponsor of Charles Taylors NPDF during the war in other to sway votes her way.
The fact is that just like the Berlin Conference of 1886, there is another scramble for Africa.
Obama is a wamonger, he promised Americans to take them out of Afghanistan and Iraq, but has only being able to start another war in Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria (if not for Russia and China veto) and now he is invading Uganda while looking for every excuse to attack Iran and Venezuela and putting Robert Mugabe in his sights.
What happens to American using its weight to encourage negotiations, Zimbabwe who has a 'tyrant' as a leader almost got bombed by NATO like Ivory Coast if not for Russia veto at the UN over an election dispute, but today despite all the western sanctions their economy has picked up and Morgan Tsvangirai has been exposed by Wikileaks as a CIA asset.
It is the ordinary Ugandans who will suffer from the American bombs and have their environment destroyed when these guys start full oil drilling to help their ailing economies.
Obama doesnt listen to Americans he thinks he can continue to use the main stream media to manipulate events and get the world on his wrong side.

Obama won't win all hearts and minds on this one, that's for sure.
But is it not true to say much the same would have written by those arm-chair analysts in the day's preceding TBlair's intervention in Sierra Leone?
Is SL the better for it today? Why don't you conduct a poll?

Look, my bigger concern here is that the genesis for Africom is being sown.
Sure, there is a new scramble taking place; but as this involves predator-nations disparate as China and Saudi Arabia, it is time we elevated the discourse beyond infantile ramblings vis-à-vis the Berlin conference.
Like I said before, had Nyerere not sent troops into Uganda at the time he did, the bu.ffon called Idi Amin might have achieved complete atrophy with his agenda. Think about it, bro, when last did you read anything interesting about the CAR (Bokassa's former fiefdom)?

it's mainly because of the discovery of oil and gas reserves in Uganda, the West are bloody hypocrites, one rule for Syria and another rule for Libya, one rule for Somalia and another rule for Uganda. Someone needs to tell Obama the Rebels in Libya are confusing innocent Black African Migrants for mercenaries, they are beating them to dealth, raping their wives/girlfriends and illegally impriosoning them, their are over 2,000 innocent Black Migrants laguishing in one of Libya's notorious jails, there are lots of footage on youtube. Obama is all talk no action.

Crime  against humanity?

how about crime against humanity in checnya(however it may be spelt)

how about crime against humanity in syria?

how about crime against humanity in iran?

how about crime against humanty in somalia?

how about crime against humanity in sudan?

how about crime against humanity in yemen?

how about crime against humanity in bahrain?

how about crime against humanity in egypt?(did you all see the display of madness by the army against the coptic christian?)

how about the crime against humanity in burma or is it myanmar?

finally how about crime against humanity by isreal?

Tom Ford:

Crime  against humanity?

how about crime against humanity in checnya(however it may be spelt)

how about crime against humanity in syria?

how about crime against humanity in iran?

how about crime against humanty in somalia?

how about crime against humanity in sudan?

how about crime against humanity in yemen?

how about crime against humanity in bahrain?

how about crime against humanity in egypt?(did you all see the display of madness by the army against the coptic christian?)

how about the crime against humanity in burma or is it myanmar?

finally how about crime against humanity by isreal?

Taking out vile Kony is good for the ratings.
Call it a case of reaching for low hanging fruit, if you will.

eGuerrilla:


Obama won't win all hearts and minds on this one, that's for sure.
But is it not true to say much the same would have written by those arm-chair analysts in the day's preceding TBlair's intervention in Sierra Leone?
Is SL the better for it today? Why don't you conduct a poll?
Look, my bigger concern here is that the genesis for Africom is being sown.
Sure, there is a new scramble taking place; but as this involves predator-nations disparate as China and Saudi Arabia, it is time we elevated the discourse beyond infantile ramblings vis-à-vis the Berlin conference.
Like I said before, had Nyerere not sent troops into Uganda at the time he did, the bu.ffon called Idi Amin might have achieved complete atrophy with his agenda. Think about it, bro, when last did you read anything interesting about the CAR (Bokassa's former fiefdom)?

@bolded, who told you it was Tony Blair that brought peace to Siera Leone and Liberia? If you dont know, it was Nigeria that paid with thousands of lives of our youths under ECOMOG. The only difference is that we packed our bags and came back home without waiting to gather the spoils of war by mining diamonds and oil like your TBlair in Siera Leone.

eGuerrilla:

Taking out vile Kony is good for the ratings.
Call it a case of reaching for low hanging fruit, if you will.

Kony has been keeping many western companies who supply him with arms in business by creating a situation of insecurity under which precious solid minerals is taking out of Congo. The problem is that the US is feeling he may distrupt oil drilling in Uganda just like the Niger Delta militants and so they have to keep the LRA in the jungles of Congo and Sudan, kind of pushing MEND and keeping them busy in Maiduguri while Shell is doing their drilling in Gbaramatu.
He is useful to them in the Congo which has vast mineral resources and should have been among the richest countries in the world based on mineral deposits.

D-pharisee:

@bolded, who told you it was Tony Blair that brought peace to Siera Leone and Liberia? If you dont know, it was Nigeria that paid with thousands of lives of our youths under ECOMOG. The only difference is that we packed our bags and came back home without waiting to gather the spoils of war by mining diamonds and oil like your TBlair in Siera Leone.

(1) I said nothing about bringing peace to SL. In fact, I did little to qualify the nature of that intervention
(2) Nigeria was the bulwark, true.
Note: I am as defensive about the role of ECOMOG in those countries as you are.
(3) As I don't do blind solidarity on inconvenient truths, it is best you read other perspectives on the "closure" of that war to get a sense of balance.

Taking out vile Kony is good for the ratings.
Call it a case of reaching for low hanging fruit, if you will.
[quote][/quote]

how about he pitching his tent elsewhere

D-pharisee:

Kony has been keeping many western companies who supply him with arms in business by creating a situation of insecurity under which precious solid minerals is taking out of Congo. The problem is that the US is feeling he may distrupt oil drilling in Uganda just like the Niger Delta militants and so they have to keep the LRA in the jungles of Congo and Sudan, kind of pushing MEND and keeping them busy in Maiduguri while Shell is doing their drilling in Gbaramatu.
He is useful to them in the Congo which has vast mineral resources and should have been among the richest countries in the world based on mineral deposits.

While pouring opprobrium on this particular effort, spare a thought for the children whose future is being blighted by the LRA

The current rate of death from the war in northern Uganda is three times higher than in Iraq following the Allied invasion, finds a new report released today. The release of the report comes as the UN Under-Secretary General Jan Egeland holds high-level meetings in Kampala with the Ugandan government and other international representatives to address the 20-year conflict in northern Uganda.

-- http://www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2006/pr060330_nuganda

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency has defined much of President Museveni's 24-year hold onto power in Uganda. But since 2005, the government has celebrated its victory over the rebel LRA which at the height of its rebellion forced 1.6 million people into camps for the Internally Displaced (IDPs), saw an estimated 20,000 children abducted to serve either as child soldiers or sex slaves for the rebel commanders and thousands either killed or maimed.

-- http://allafrica.com/stories/201008020504.html

* Both, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and LRA abducted civilians for training as guerrillas; most victims were children and young adults, whom the ADF and LRA terrorized into virtual slavery as guards, labourers, soldiers. (US Dept of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 1999, 25 February 2000)

* Latest reports suggest that the LRA has turned to selling abducted children in return for arms. It has been reported that Bin Laden is the main buyer of these children. Radio intercepts indicate that Bin Laden pays one Kalashnikov assault rifle for every child he buys for use as forced labour on marijuana farms in Sudan. (CSUCS, Africa Report, April 1999 citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1998)

-- http://www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/uganda.html

D-pharisee:

I read some analysts who said the US are sending troops to Kony because of the discovery of oil and gas reserves in Uganda and that was why they supported Museveni in changing the constitution and removing term limits and rigging himself back to power just like the dictator Paul Biya of Cameroon. They gave the Nobel Peace Prize to Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia who was a sponsor of Charles Taylors NPDF during the war in other to sway votes her way.
The fact is that just like the Berlin Conference of 1886, there is another scramble for Africa.
Obama is a wamonger, he promised Americans to take them out of Afghanistan and Iraq, but has only being able to start another war in Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria (if not for Russia and China veto) and now he is invading Uganda while looking for every excuse to attack Iran and Venezuela and putting Robert Mugabe in his sights.
What happens to American using its weight to encourage negotiations, Zimbabwe who has a 'tyrant' as a leader almost got bombed by NATO like Ivory Coast if not for Russia veto at the UN over an election dispute, but today despite all the western sanctions their economy has picked up and Morgan Tsvangirai has been exposed by Wikileaks as a CIA asset.
It is the ordinary Ugandans who will suffer from the American bombs and have their environment destroyed when these guys start full oil drilling to help their ailing economies.
Obama doesnt listen to Americans he thinks he can continue to use the main stream media to manipulate events and get the world on his wrong side.

See, this is why i despise you nutbag consipracy theorists masquerading as Pan-Africanists.
We NEVER see you dogs talk about the rapes in Congo, the genocide in Darfur or the killings and mutilations carried out by the LRA. All you dolts care about is pontificating about the 'CIA', 'american hegemony' and 'warmongering'.

You people do not care about Africans or Africa. Black suffering to you louts is just another tool to lay blame that the door of the 'imperialists'. You sicken me!