Firstly I’m not going to argue that stopping child abuse of any kind isn’t the right thing to do. I’m not saying that stopping Joseph Kony isn’t a good thing. But as the saying goes “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. My aim in this is to give you sufficient reason to stop supporting the STOP KONY movement.
Firstly why is public interest in Uganda suddenly increased at the same time that the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are ending? The problem has existed for decades (child soldiers have been stolen from villages as early as 1987) and yet nothing substantial had been done about it until 2011 when president Obama sent 100 Advisory troops to Uganda to support the Ugandan government in there capture of Kony.
Similarly in September 1950, US President Harry Truman sent the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) to Vietnam to support the French troops in Vietnam. Invisible Children are lobbying for direct intervention (U.S. military) in Africa. This is the same actions that were taken in the Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
Secondly as the Kony 2012 YouTube video acknowledged the main forces of the LRA have moved out of Uganda, making it almost impossible for the Ugandan government to continue fighting the LRA but the Stop Kony movement still asks for money to fund the Ugandan military.
Thirdly the company Invisible Children is less than amazing as a charity organisation. From their finance report, here are some expenses;
Invisible Children spent $8.9 million USD in 2011
$1.7 million in US employee salaries
$357,000 in Film costs
$850,000 in Production costs
$685,000 in Computer equipement
$244,000 in "professional services" (DC lobbyists)
$1.07 million in travel expenses
$400,000 in office rent in San Diego
$16,000 in Entertainment etc...
Only 2.8 million (31%) made it to their charity program (which is further whittled down by local Ugandan government officials) - what do the children actually get?
Invisible Children has a relatively low score on Charity Navigator (American based charity rating website) for accountability and transparency "45/ 70" where as the Red Cross has a "70/70" rating for accountability and transparency.
Child soldiers are not just a problem for Uganda. Sri Lanka and Columbia guerrilla fighters also practise this in their campaigns against their governments and yet there has been no action taken by the united states to stop this practise in those countries.
Finally as with the Iraq, Uganda has large natural resources. Encyclopedia Britannia says that “Significant quantities of petroleum were discovered in the Lake Albertine rift basin in 2008 and 2009” Gold is also an important resource of Uganda. With Petroleum and Gold prices rising invading Uganda under the pretence of removing Kony, similarly to the invasion of Iraq, would be a way of increasing the production of these resources. Copper is another major resource of Uganda and is used in the very computer your reading this from. If the United States goes to war against the LRA in Uganda that will mean more manufacture of weapons boosting the manufacturing section of the economy.
Although the Stop Kony movement is a cause with good intentions as I previously stated “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. Child abuse such as child soldiers must be stopped but this isn’t the right way to do it. Please try to understand the issue, make an informed choice and don’t just jump on the band wagon because everyone else is.
Sources forget yeah!
http://www.iassw-aiets.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124%3Achild-soldiers&catid=58%3Aother-reports-and-papers&Itemid=88
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612597/Uganda/213977/Resources-and-power
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War
http://c2052482.r82.cf0.rackcdn.com/images/737/original/FY11-Audited%20Financial%20Statements.pdf?1320205055
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
