Joseph Kony has become an internet celebrity in a week’s span. Not the kind we worship, but the one whose atrocious actions fill our souls with terror. Joseph Kony and his group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), has been terrorizing children and families in Uganda, South Sudan and the Congo for nearly three decades.
The moving video by the nonprofit Invisible Children, dedicated to stopping the LRA and helping mounds of survivors, debuted on social media websites last Monday promoting 26 million views to raise awareness about the guerrilla leader, who uses religion and God as an excuse to abduct children and force them into the violent army and as sex slaves for the unit’s colonels.
Although critics have been quick to slam it, few are saying this will encourage Kony and his team to split and go into hiding in various parts of Africa, making his capture more difficult.
I first came in contact with this situation my senior year of high school when I read a book about a young girl’s horrifying period in the LRA and her rare escape. It breaks my heart to know this Hilter-esque leader is still on the loose. The United Nations, for some reason, has attempted to use a more diplomatic approach by meeting with him hoping to come to a solution. In cases like this, you cannot fight fire with gasoline. In the United States, Republicans are sometimes so quick to execute someone, yet this mass murder receives a meeting with the U.N. Humanitarian Officer. It’s no longer a point of humanity but brutal war crimes.
American President Barack Obama sent 100 advisors to Uganda last October. His sweet diplomatic approach hasn’t worked with the Republicans; it sure as hell won’t alleviate the issue with a notorious war lord.
During this crucial time at the White House, the international affairs budget is on the chopping block. Does Congress or the House think about Africa? Or is the focus solely on the Middle East? Where are the American troops in Africa? Kony and his army are not new topics but just recently have caught the eye of the international community. Why does the International Criminal Court exist if they’re not serious about capturing Kony? Why is the media cooperating with the spokesman? He deserves to be arrested for participating in not only murder, but torture, human trafficking and crimes against humanity.
United States citizens are complaining that we should worry about our own first. However, our own have choices, power and ability to be the creators of their own destiny. Since we are all one, the human race, fighting Kony and the LRA is protecting our own.
What’s your position in all of this madness? Sound off in the comments below!
Photo source: AP/Guardian