Obama Sends Military Advisers To Central Africa To Help Fight Lord's Resistance Army

[Tx4obama]

Obama Sends Military Advisers To Central Africa To Help Fight Lord's Resistance Army

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Friday he's dispatching roughly 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to support the battle against a guerilla group accused of widespread atrocities, but he stressed they're being sent to advise, not to join the fight.

In a letter to Congress, Obama said the troops will act as advisers in a long-running battle against the Lord's Resistance Army and help to hunt down its notorious leader, Joseph Kony. He said they will not engage in combat except in self-defense.

The first of the troops arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, the White House said, and others will be sent to South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

While small in number, the U.S. contingent is a sign of an increasing administration focus on Africa amid deepening concern about shaky governments, civil strife and sprawling regions that have become both havens for terrorists and spawning grounds for piracy

SNIP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/obama-central-africa_n_1011245.html

[Posteritatis]

1. Joseph Kony is certainly a completely unambiguous evil, at least. (nt)

[OKDem08]

2. ah...the terrorism meme again

all credibility lost

[ClarkUSA]

3. Ah... the baseless rhetoric again

no credibility to begin with

[geek tragedy]

5. Only people who deny the LRA's atrocities lack credibility. nt

[ClarkUSA]

4. It "was welcomed by human rights advocates who have chronicled the atrocities committed by Mr. Kony"

President Obama said Friday that he had ordered the deployment of 100 armed military advisers to central Africa to help regional forces combat the Lord’s Resistance Army, a notorious renegade group that has terrorized villagers in at least four countries with marauding bands that kill, rape, maim and kidnap with impunity...It is led by Joseph Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet known for ordering village massacres, recruiting prepubescent soldiers, keeping harems of child brides and mutilating opponents.

“For more than two decades, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has murdered, raped and kidnapped tens of thousands of men, women and children in central Africa,” Mr. Obama wrote in a letter to Congress announcing the military deployment. “The LRA continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security.”

The decision by Mr. Obama to deploy armed military advisers into the region was welcomed by human rights advocates who have chronicled the atrocities committed by Mr. Kony and his subordinates... Tom Malinowsky, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said the group had been advocating for such a deployment. Putting more skilled advisers in the field with the armed forces of these countries would be a significant improvement over the previous level of assistance, he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/world/africa/barack-obama-sending-100-armed-advisers-to-africa-to-help-fight-lords-resistance-army.html?hp

[JoeyT]

6. The LRA are terrorists,

but they're not terrorists that directly threaten us, so invoking terrorism might not be the best way to sell it.

Still, a nastier group of assholes would be hard to find, so this is probably a good move.

[Tx4obama]

7. Nine PHOTOS: The Lord's Resistance Army

Nine photos with captions on the link below

http://media.talkingpointsmemo.com/slideshow/lra?ref=fpblg

p.s. Above the photo there are little squares to click on to go to the next photo.

[Tx4obama]

8. And here's a link to a copy of the LETTER Obama sent to Congress

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2011/10/post-3.php?page=1