On March 5, 2012, Invisible Children Inc. posted a video to YouTube depicting the effects that Joseph Kony has had on Uganda over the course of nearly 30 years. By March 10, 2012, the video has had over 67 million views worldwide. The video was created by the minds behind the non-profit organization Invisible Children Inc. Invisible Children was created to help give a voice for the children in Africa who have been affected by war, abuse and many other devastations that children anywhere should never have to face. In this recent video, Invisible Children sets out to make the world’s number one war criminal Joseph Kony famous, in turn helping to bring him to justice. The thirty minute long video is narrated by Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell who discusses the lives of the children of Uganda and how Kony has had such destruction on their lives.
While the video does make a good point at the fact that Kony has had tremendous, and horrific, effect on the Ugandan children, it lacks in some crucial information. The video focuses solely on the effects of Kony on Ugandan Children, but in reality, Kony has been terrorizing and abducting children all throughout Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sudan and other remote locations in Central Africa. Over the course of 26 years, Kony has abducted approximately 30,000 children throughout Africa. After being abducted, the children are then forced to fight under Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, where they are taught to kill innocent people.
In October 2011, President Obama sent U.S. military advisors to Uganda to help train the Ugandan militia to track down and capture Joseph Kony. As of now, there are currently no plans to send advisors to any other African countries, or at least no plans that have been openly stated to the U.S.
During the film, Russell says that “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 American government has to deploy them. They’ve done that, but if the government doesn’t believe the people care about Kony, the mission will be cancelled. In order for the people to care, they have to know. And they will only know if Kony’s name is everywhere.” First of all, the tracking down and capturing of a war criminal takes a whole lot longer than just one year (just look at the ten years it took to track down Osama bin Laden). Second of all, while getting Kony’s name out there and really getting the world to understand who he is, what he’s done, and that we need to put an end to this tyranny is great, it doesn’t quite help if people aren’t fully informed on the issue.
If people really want to see an end to Kony’s terror in Africa, they need to step up, really learn about the issue, and then find out what they can do to help the cause. When a serious issue like this finally gets the attention it needs, people cannot treat it like just another fad. This is not like SOPA where people can just sign a measly petition to put a bill on hold. This is an issue that faces saving the lives of hundreds and thousands of young children who have been and are being forced to do things no child should ever have to do.
If you want to learn more about the issue and find out what you can do, go out and find as much information as you can on the issue, aside from the Kony 2012 video.
Sources:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/guest_post_joseph_kony_is_not_in_uganda_and_other_complicated_things
http://www.kony2012.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc