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"Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil."
So in the past couple of days a film by Jason Russell highlighting the atrocities of Joseph Kony, a Ugandan warlord has gone viral on all social networks. A popular Facebook status describes him as “THE WORST LIVING CRIMINAL. He abducts children and makes them use guns to kill their own parents. He takes girls and forces them to be sex slaves. He calls his abducted children the Lord’s Resistance Army, AKA the LRA. He has abducted over 30,000 children and forced them to be child soldiers in Central Africa.”
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan rebel, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army(LRA), a militia terrorising Northern Uganda since the late 20th and early 21st centuries. An arrest warrant made public in 2005 by the ICC accused him of human right violations. This comprised of some 10,000 murders as well as the capturing and enslavement of over 24,000 children.
There is no denying in the fact that Joseph Kony is an evil man or that the invisible children have a genuine cause and that this is indeed a problem that must be addressed. He is definitely a man the world needs to be aware of and a man that MUST be stopped. However, the Invisible Children Organisation just does not cut it for me. I am not talking about the most famous criticisms on its finance because that is the least of my bothers.
I believe that the IC have, by all means, done a great job raising awareness to the problems faced by the child soldiers abducted by Kony and his militia as well as the atrocities committed by them i.e. murders and rape among others and I applaud them for that. My problem is the approach this organisation is seeing to be the best solution.
To begin with, the IC is in support of military intervention, therefore supporting the Ugandan armies among other military groups. So every time you buy that kit, you are helping provide arms and supporting the very military group that has been accused time and time again for raping, looting and killing people. Of course if you believe that battling evil with evil is the solution when dealing with the “bad guys” then you are totally right in supporting the KONY 2012 movement. But it has also been said that “an eye for an eye only leads to more blindness” (Margaret Atwood - "Cats Eye").
Let us also not forget how President Yoweri Musevini himself got into power. His means were just as Brutal. He also used child soldiers. In Museveni's exact words, he said "In africa here, even by the age of four, you learn how to fight. This is our tradition if you don't know. Fight with sticks, with spear, with arrows that's the tradition. So if you are trying to think that this may disorient them psychologically and so on, that is not the case". So this leaves me curious? What exactly is Museveni fighting against? Opposition perhaps? His reasons for taking down Kony are definitely not the same as yours.
Above is a picture taken by Glenna Gordon of 3 members of the IC with the SPLA on the Sudan-Congo Border in April 2008.
In response to the criticisms raised by this photo Jason Russell, on the IC’s official website states that “Let me start by saying that that photo was a bad idea. We were young and we got caught up in the moment. It was never meant to reflect on the organization. The photo of Bobby, Laren and I with the guns was taken in an LRA camp in DRC during the 2008 Juba Peace Talks. We were there to see Joseph Kony come to the table to sign the Final Peace Agreement. The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was surrounding our camp for protection since Sudan was mediating the peace talks. We wanted to talk to them and film them and get their perspective. And because Bobby, Laren and I are friends and had been doing this for 5 years, we thought it would be funny to bring back to our friends and family a joke photo. You know, "Haha - they have bazookas in their hands but they're actually fighting for peace." The ironic thing about this photo is that I HATE guns. I always have. Back in 2008 I wanted this war to end, like we all did, peacefully, through peace talks. But Kony was not interested in that; he kept killing. And we still don't want war. We don't want him killed and we don't want bombs dropped. We want him alive and captured and brought to justice”.
Really? Finding humour in the same kind of weapons used to capture and terrorise the people you are trying to rescue? For some this may be a justified explanation and maybe we shouldn’t be too judgemental. I am still not sure what my stance is with regards to this and will therefore leave it to you to decide.
The film briefly highlights the situation. The problem is more complicated than this. I personally believe you cannot tell a story by starting with the end. You must take the audience through a time line. Begin with the cause, get to the effects and then provide a solution. People need to understand the roots of the problems in Uganda. I cannot personally claim to understand it myself and for this reason I choose not to jump on the bandwagon by simply sharing a video, putting up posters, buying a kit or updating status'. When did you ever feel like you can pass an exam when u did not actually take time to prepare for it? In such situations you depend on luck and luck is for the unprepared. You cannot put the lives of people on the line dwelling on luck! There are so many ways military intervention could go wrong. Let us also not forget that Military intervention means fighting the same children you're trying to save as they serve as Kony's 'bodyguards' or so to speak. They will see the military army as an enemy and not some sort of lifeguard. Besides, we also need to know and hear from the people on the ground. THE UGANDANS and what THEY want.
IC say that “The KONY 2012 campaign is calling for U.S. leadership to address both problems. It supports the deployment of U.S. advisers and the provision of intelligence and other support that can help locate and bring Kony to justice, but also increased diplomacy to hold regional governments accountable to their basic responsibilities to protect civilians from this kind of brutal violence. Importantly, the campaign also advocates for broader measures to help communities being affected by LRA attacks, such as increased funding for programs to help Kony's abductees escape and return to their homes and families”. My question is, say KONY is found and brought to justice, the US troops return home, how many other KONY’s do you think are out there? Ok fine. Say this should serve as an example. Did the capturing and death of Osama stop the likes of Kony and other leaders like Omar Bashir of Sudan from committing atrocities? The US and the west in general are not the solution to Africa’s problems! AFRICA IS THE SOLUTION TO AFRICA’s PROBLEMS!
Africa is clearly not a priority to the West (to be clear I am not downplaying all the assistance they have given us). The West’s priority is THE WEST. If the US today got caught in a great war, all the troops in Uganda would immediately rush back home to fight for their own countries. Kony has been a problem for the past 20 years or more, the situation was more serious than it is now, but the US did not feel the need to address it. There have been peace talks of course and yes he is a wanted criminal on Ocampo’s list but exactly what was being done before this to ensure he is brought to justice? Could their intentions also be exploitation. I mean Uganda just discovered its immense oil and last year plans with China to get it out were made. The US is definitely interested in countering China's influence in Uganda and itself getting a piece of the cake. The difference between US and China, is that China works hand in hand with the people. They sign agreements and are straight forward. So its a win-win (though there is still an aspect of exploitation considering the fact that it is not fair trade). As for US they use the "aid" mask to exploit. When did the US ever intervene and "help" in a country that had no resources and where they have no gain whatsoever? For 8 years, as stated in the film, the US had refused to intervene and then all of a sudden as a result of "pressure" they sent troops. Marriage of convenience perhaps?
The whole Triangle/Pyramid theory, in relation to this issue, i believe is a mind game. It's one of those situations where you are made to believe you are in control, but really you are simply being used. I do not for a minute doubt Jason Russels intentions and beliefs what i am sceptical about is America's timing on when to get involved.
The problem is not as simple as it looks and by supporting this cause we are all just joining the hype without understanding what it is we are supporting. You cannot fight for a cause you do not believe in and do not fully understand because then it is just an empty cause. When i say understanding the cause, i mean including the simple issues such as the geographical factors. One being that Uganda is not in "Central" Africa as claimed, but in East Africa! Simply posting up, sharing and putting up posters raises awareness but does not solve the problem. I mean look at the Darfur Relief Concert. Awareness alone is not a solution.
As the Chinese proverb goes, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. What Africa needs is not intervention every time we have a problem. What Africa needs is EMPOWERMENT because it is not that we are incapable as the film suggests. So let us have campaigns to build schools in Africa, improve the resources and let us all support these campaigns. One reason for the capturing of this child soldiers was commuting at night in the villages and I believe recently this problem has been somewhat addressed. By empowering the African people, educating them, they are more aware of their rights, their roles and can by themselves put pressure on their own leaders to bring men such as Kony to justice. The IC has also contributed immensely to the development of education. For that I give them credit.
I could go on and on, but with all this said, I would like to make it clear that I don’t think capturing and bringing Kony to justice is a less pressing issue. I want Kony to be captured. Hell, I want justice to be served, I want these children freed and I want families to be re-united but it needs to be done the right way. What is the right way? That is the challenge to all of us. Jason Russell has shown us one thing; one man can make a difference, raise awareness and even get the support of millions. So think of a solution, write about it, make a film, do it in form of art, sing about or whatever best appeals to you. But don’t be drenched in emotions from watching a short film and jumping on a bandwagon without knowing what it is you are signing up for. Emotion is important but not at the expense of rationality.
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