President Obama Sends US Troops to Africa
The Role of Special Ops Forces in Uganda
In case you missed the news, our President is sending 100 troops into Africa.
During WWII, President Eisenhower initiated the North African campaign and we knew the enemy well. The Presidents letter to Congress stated, "The U.S. personnel are there to provide information and advice, not to fight."
Just who is the enemy this time - it is a militant group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA wants to overthrow Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni's government. They have said that they want to replace it with one governed by the Biblical Ten Commandments.
Some background on the leader of the LRA:
The LRA's leader is Joseph Kony. He is a man who proclaims himself to be a direct representative of God. This representative has committed heinous acts against humanity including rape, murder of innocent persons and the kidnapping of children for use as fighters in his militant army. The International Criminal Court issued warrants for Kony's arrest in 2005 but have yet been able to capture him.
Some background on Uganda:
Museveni has been the leader since 1986. The country has a high number of refugees from neighboring Congo, Sudan and Rwanda. According to the CIA website,
"Uganda is subject to armed fighting among hostile ethnic groups, rebels, armed gangs, militias, and various government forces that extend across its borders. LRA forces have also attacked Kenyan villages across the border."
The Pentagon announced that the U.S. military contingent will mainly be composed of special operations forces for the purposes of advising and training the locals.
The Asia Times reported this morning that President Obama's thinking,
"I got an urge to surge."
You can read the full article here.
It hurts to read what the rest of the world thinks of us. When will we learn from past mistakes?
Sources:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ug.html
http://www.stripes.com/news/obama-u-s-combat-troops-sent-to-hunt-african-rebel-leader-1.157815
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MJ18Dj06.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15331448
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/16/ap/africa/main20121041.shtmlPublished by Michele Starkey
Optimist who enjoys writing, laughing and spreading good news. If I have but one life to live, I hope to make mine memorable. My epitaph will read: she lived, she loved, she left. View profile
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37 Comments
Post a CommentThanks for the information
Thanks michele...
well written - thank you
Great article Michele! I hope and pray that someday we live in a world of peace and harmony.
This is another example of a President in political trouble resorting to the use of the military to shore up his image with the voters. It won't work. Americans (myself included) are heartily sick of our troops being sent all over the world on fruitless missions like this. It's time to bring our troops home. Good article, thanks!
International affairs are complex and some choices are meant to push others into action or send a message.
I feel the world body, UN, should have more teeth and respond faster than America, which is termed as - world policeman. But it is still the savior for many oppressed whose cries are unheeded for long by others - siva
Thanks for the info.
Interesting topic Michele and a some great comments, too, especially from Orchiolum. Headlines and innuendo do rule the roost far too often, and for once I think that we are sending troops into a place that maybe can use our help for a change. We'll just have to wait and see.
"The Asia Times reported this morning that President Obama's thinking, "I got an urge to surge."...unless the Asia Times can read minds, they cannot know Obama's private thoughts, and the clever use of quotation marks could give the impression that these are Obama's own words, which they are not. Pepe Escobar's condescending attitude toward our President is obvious from his article's title, "Obama, king of Africa". If I were among the men, women, and children who have been beaten, starved, and raped by either the Lord's Resistance Army or the Ugandan Government, I wouldn't mind the sight of 100 armed American Special Ops in my neighborhood. Sensational healines and inuendo divide our nation rather than lift Her by truth's light.