Kony 2012

[Cayal]

I am surprised there isn't a thread on this. Quite an issue in the past few days in regards to this video: (and sorry I got no idea on embedding here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Basically Kony is a warlord from Uganda who has kidnapped 30,000 children and also creates/trains? child soldiers for whatever he desires. He is in the top 10 most wanted men in the world and has fled Uganda and apparently he nor his group (The Lord's Resistance I think it is called) haven't set foot in Uganda since 2006.


Any thoughts?

[Foxbat]

I have to admit that I'd never heard of him (I'm not a big frequenter of You Tube). Some commenters were saying it was a hoax so I went to the BBC website and checked there. They have some info on this man and he is wanted by the ICC for war crimes. From what I've read, this character is a complete monster and I hope that justice finally catches up with him.

[Moonbat]

I have read about the video, but I have just watched it.
It is very well designed to raise awareness, and it is unbelievable that Kony has not been brought to justice. His crimes are more tangible than many others that have been tracked down and killed, it is time he was brought to justice.

I will be supporting this campaign. Kony 2012

[Chaoticheart]

The video is certainly well designed to tug at the emotional heartstrings of the masses, and, yes, he should be brought to justice. But as for this campaign:

http://pomee.tumblr.com/post/18899601760/kony-2012-causing-more-harm-than-good

http://tumblr.thedailywh.at/post/18909727859/on-kony-2012-i-honestly-wanted-to-stay-as-far

[Vertigo]

A very interesting pair of apparently well researched and thought out counter arguments (though the second does have a little bit of conspiracy theorizing in it). It's so difficult sometimes to get the true and full story about these things.

[Connavar]

I know Kony years ago thanks a really well reaserched comic series by Vertigo called Unknown Soldier dealing with Kony, his war crimes.

Its sad that it has to be made a really good use of propaganda to let more western people know that this guy exist. The western news media couldnt care about some monsters in Africa. Its not close to home enough, its not boogy man terrorist after US.

I applaud the people behind. There are child soldiers who was brain washed in my country too and i hope this guy gets to pay in international court.

[Moonbat]

I've just read Chaotic's links, and a few other on-line articles damning the video and its campaign.
I'm not an expert on the Ugandan situation but most of the counter arguments seem even more manipulative and inaccurate than the video itself.
I'm pretty sure the video doens't call for Kony to be 'killed' but arrested.
There are plenty of bad leaders in the world, but surely trying to arrest and bring to justice a war criminal is a good thing, even if there are other war criminals out there.
There are some omissions from the video, or at elast sections that were quickly passed over, but I still think it would be good to bring this man to trial for his crimes, it might not solve all the problems in Uganda, but the video never claimed it would.

[J-WO]

I think the video (at least what I've seen of it) is essentially well-meaning but a little bit unnecessary. Currently, Kony has between 200-400 soldiers. America has sent 100 advisors (both frontline and strategic) and, of course, Uganda, South Sudan and the Congo are working together with them. Everything that can be done in terms of getting him is already being done. Any more force would just kill civillians and more child soldiers plus slow things down. Invisible children would be better off focusing our attention on the victims of his attrocities.

Despite all the above, he should be a hard nut to crack. In 1988 he began with just 11 men. In 2006, I think, the UN organised for a Guatamalen special forces team (with satellite surveillance) to take him out. 10 of them were killed and 5 injured- an absolute disaster.

I have to admit I find the man fascinating almost as much as I'm repulsed. Apparently, he has these sessions where he sits in a special seat (wearing a dead wise woman's dress) and becomes possessed of 3 spirits. His followers claim he can take a stone from the floor and will it into a grenade, or that he can burn someone's heart out of their chest if they betray him I suspect that's how he keeps all those poor kids in line). A number of his troops were interviewed in the 90's and there didn't seem to be any coheasive political reason for what they were doing, save a vague defence of the Ancholi people- and not all of them agreed with that.

I remember immediately thinking of Joseph Kony when I heard Caine say that line in the Dark Knight- some men just want to watch the world burn.