THE African continent, home to multiple afflictions from sit-tight leaders, to bad governance, to declining standards of living, is also infested with conflicts of various kinds. One of the most devastating wars ravaging Africa is being waged by the bloodthirsty Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which claims ironically to be guided by the tenets of the Ten Commandments. The LRA was initially founded by one Alice Lakwena, a member of the Acholi tribe in Uganda, who claimed divine powers. She was succeeded by Joseph Kony, an elusive master of evil also claiming divine inspiration. Since 1986, the LRA has operated more or less like armed bandits in Central Africa around the Great Lakes Region. They have been active in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan and have extended their tentacles to the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their philosophy is based on a number of different beliefs including local religious rituals, mysticism, traditional religion, Acholi nationalism and Christianity.Their policy remains obscure but their activities have been a scourge in Uganda and the entire region where they terrorise villages, take children into custody and turn them into child soldiers. Their signature is rape, burning and slaughter in villages they go through. They have been accused of numerous human rights violations, including murder, abduction, mutilation and sexual enslavement of women. Since launching their insurgency against the Ugandan government in 1986, the LRA has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of villagers in the Great Lakes Region.In May 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The law which was aimed at stopping Joseph Kony and the LRA was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.On October 14, 2011, President Obama announced that he had ordered the deployment of 100 U.S. military advisers to Uganda. These advisers will be mandated to train, assist and provide intelligence to help combat the Lord's Resistance Army and eliminate the threat posed to civilians and regional stability. The military advisers will be armed, and will provide assistance and advice, but 'will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defence'. The advisers will operate in South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, subject to approval by those states. The military advisers will not operate independently of the host states.On the face of it, any initiative that helps Africa to stop the butchery of Joseph Kony and his gang would be welcome. However, President Obama's expansion of military activity in Africa, from Libya to Somalia to Yemen and now to Uganda, has raised some red flags as to the true intent of American policy in Africa. We note that American military is already in the Gulf of Guinea. As far as Uganda is concerned, it is easy to appreciate that America has a fairly complex set of interests, ranging from that country's new oil fields to its vital role in the peacekeeping operation in nearby Somalia. A hundred military advisers is perhaps a small investment for higher dividends in the vast expanse of East and Central Africa.We can only presume that America is in Uganda at the invitation of the Ugandan government. Still, the African Union must remain cautious about these initiatives. We had been led to believe that the LRA, now numbering some 400 scattered combatants, was on the wane, begging the question why the United States intervention did not come much sooner. Also, as Senator John McCain of America has warned, these interventions can be a slippery path to war. It only takes some appalling incident to occur in the African jungle for America to be drawn into a wider conflict. It has happened before, in Vietnam.As it is, the Americans may have the benefit of doubt; but they should conclude their assignment as swiftly as possible. Provided they do what they say and quickly return to their country, Africa will be grateful to them for helping to eliminate the menace of one of the world's most brutal insurgency, the Lord's Resistance Army.
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