Updated: "Kony 2012," criticism and response
Last edited Thu Mar 8, 2012, 11:44 AM - Edit history (1)
Updated: The original OP title came from the following Daily Kos dairy.
by weatherdude
There's a massively viral video circulating around the internet right now, begging you to help this group stop Joseph Kony -- a legitimately dangerous man who leads the Lord's Resistance Army, which has committed incredible human rights violations.
Here's the 29 minute video that's been circulating the internet this week:
<...>
The "charity" behind the viral (11+ million views in two days) video is called Invisible Children. It seems like a great idea to buy stuff and donate to them after watching the video, but stop and think about what you're doing for a second.
- more -
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/07/1072266/-Do-NOT-Donate-to-Kony-2012-
In a comment below, Viva_La_Revolution linked to a response by the organization to such criticism:
As you will see, we spend roughly one third of our money on each of these three goals. This three-prong approach is what makes invisible children unique. Some organizations focus exclusively on documenting human rights abuses, some focus exclusively on international advocacy or awareness, and some focus exclusively on, on-the-ground development. We do all three. At the same time. This comprehensive model is intentional and has shown to be very effective.
much more, go read it
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
The response includes a link to a letter the organization sent to WH:
President Barack Obama
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama,
This week, Invisible Children – in partnership with the Enough Project and Resolve – launched “KONY 2012,” an ambitious advocacy campaign focused on seeing Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and one of the world’s worst war criminals, brought to justice in 2012. For over two decades, Kony and his senior commanders have been allowed to prey on vulnerable civilians in remote and ungoverned areas of central Africa. Under his direction, the LRA has killed, raped, abducted, and mutilated tens of thousands of civilians in four separate countries. The group’s violent activities continue to destabilize the region and displace hundreds of thousands of people. For these crimes, the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Kony and two other LRA commanders, but they remain at large and a dangerous threat to communities across central Africa.
In May of 2010, we joined you in the Oval Office for the signing of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act into law. On that historic day, you recognized the need to “renew our commitments and strengthen our capabilities to protect and assist civilians caught in the LRA’s wake, to receive those that surrender, and to support efforts to bring the LRA leadership to justice.”
The comprehensive White House strategy that you released in November of 2010 to address this issue included a range of measures intended to help reduce and mitigate the effect of LRA violence in the region, and produced new hope for an end to the group’s atrocities. Through its implementation, your Administration has helped improve cooperation among regional governments, expanded programs that provide early warning of LRA attack to vulnerable communities, and invested increased resources in efforts to help LRA fighters and abductees defect peacefully. Your decision to deploy U.S. military advisors to the region in October of 2011 was a welcome measure of further assistance for regional governments in their efforts to protect people from LRA attacks. For these actions, we applaud your leadership and encourage sustained commitment.
However, we fear that unless existing U.S. efforts are further expanded, your strategy may not succeed. The Ugandan and other regional militaries pursuing LRA commanders and groups continue to face daunting challenges. Their operations are hamstrung by flagging political will, weak cross-border coordination, the absence of tactical airlift, and the withdrawal of more than half of the Ugandan troops initially deployed to the field. Moreover, bureaucratic inertia and cuts in the U.S. foreign assistance budget have drastically limited the scope of non-military aspects of the strategy’s implementation, which are equally important to the pursuit of lasting peace in the region.
- more -
https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2241/images/Kony%202012%20-%20Letter%20to%20Obama.pdf
The initial Daily Kos diary was alarming, and it's good to have both sides of the story.
When Limbaugh Backed Mass-Murdering Warlord Joseph Kony
http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203070006
= new reply since forum marked as read
Last edited Thu Mar 8, 2012, 03:48 AM - Edit history (1)
purchased my families tickets to Disneyland for 2012......
You might want to read the other side of the story here.....http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
before you make any personal decisions to not help defenseless children in Africa......
Vietnam started as a bunch of "advisers," and the last thing anyone needs is a guerilla war in Africa.
Why is the UN not going in there? 
they're specifically asking for the video to be shared.
Everyone seems to agree the video is good and raises awareness; how to act on the issue is where people may differ.
I'm really stunned by the backlash of their attempt to raise awareness about this issue.
link to their reply, which covers all the complaints I've seen in this thread. I've never seen such uniformed opinions on DU just spouting off without doing a little more research 
..Invisible Children’s mission is to stop LRA violence and support the war affected communities in Central Africa. These are the three ways we achieve that mission. Each is essential: 1) Document and make the world aware of the LRA. This includes making documentary films and touring these films around the world so that they are seen for free by millions of people. 2) Channeling the energy and awareness from informed viewers of IC films into large scale advocacy campaigns that have mobilized the international community to stop the LRA and protect civilians. 3) Operate programs on the ground in the LRA-affected areas to provide protection, rehabilitation and development assistance.
As you will see, we spend roughly one third of our money on each of these three goals. This three-prong approach is what makes invisible children unique. Some organizations focus exclusively on documenting human rights abuses, some focus exclusively on international advocacy or awareness, and some focus exclusively on, on-the-ground development. We do all three. At the same time. This comprehensive model is intentional and has shown to be very effective.
much more, go read it
http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblechildren.com/critiques.html
