The unfortunate thing is that Kony is not the problem.
He is merely a symptom.
Yep, you hunt him down and capture or kill him, pat yerself on the back for a job well done and life goes back to normal

Yay.

A month later two more will pop up to replace him.

What about the Mugabe's and the witch hunters and all of the rest of the predators that prey on the ignorant and superstitious that abound in Africa.

Because there is an endless supply of them.

(March 8, 2012 at 4:53 am)leo-rcc Wrote: The issues of the LRA and the countries involved are a bit more complicated than Invisible Children are portraying too.

This. It seems everybody is signing petitions and buying bracelets but I'm not sure what these are supposed to do. What exactly are you funding by buying these things? Where do the profits go and is it a realistic/effective use of money and resources? I looked at one petition and I could basically some it up as 'bring Joseph Kony to justice protect people from the LRA'. A laudable goal, but HOW? How is this going to be accomplished? Are western military forces going to be making a trip to Uganda? Are western countries going to work with Uganda? A country whose government apparently has plenty of its own atrocities to its name. You don't just send a military force into a region you know nothing about to 'fix' things - Vietnam comes to mind. Are people aware that it's possible Kony could dissolve into Ugandan/other country's jungles similar to the Viet Cong during Vietnam? A military endeavour could take years with no results. And if not military assistance/campaigns then what? Financial assistance? To whom? The Ugandan government? Does anyone have any idea what they're actually demanding with Kony 2012?

Now, don't get me wrong - I agree with the general sentiment of 'someone has got to stop this guy', but there needs to be a sober assessment of what this involves and questions asked like 'what other problems could this create?'. There's a lot of people suffering on this planet. It'd make more sense to go for the low hanging fruit and save those who it's easier to save first.

The reason I don't like this viral jumping on the band wagon is that we have a bunch of people who see only this video and decide 'we need to stop Kony' who have no idea what they're talking about. The fact I find it personally irksome is irrelevant; what really worries me is that a large group of ill informed, but passionate people is a potentially dangerous force.

"How?" is not the point of the video. The point of the video (and the movement) is to raise awareness globally, since most people have no idea who the guy is. "How?" is the question answered by various groups of people, once Kony is known.

Put in a bigger picture, this kind of movement could be used to spread awareness for many other criminals, who only get away with what they do by using the fact that they are unknown to their advantage.

Update: Invisible Children posted a full rebuttal / explanation of various claims made against them: https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.invisiblech...iques.html

(March 8, 2012 at 8:32 am)Tiberius Wrote: Put in a bigger picture, this kind of movement could be used to spread awareness for many other criminals, who only get away with what they do by using the fact that they are unknown to their advantage.

That's a good point.

Got your answer Tempus. Army sniper, 14.5x114mm, within 2,300m. People are low hanging fruit.

(March 8, 2012 at 4:56 am)5thHorseman Wrote: I think it's a human problem, not an African problem.

Funny how people are so pro this, but so anti Iraq, despite the fact that Saddam killed hundreds of thousands(millions if you include Iran-Iraq War)and wiped out entire tribes.

Or am I missing the point?

It is a human problem. Countries are just lines in the sand. I don't care where people are, if they are being murdered and can't help themselves it doesn't matter where they live they should be helped.

(March 8, 2012 at 9:53 am)Rhythm Wrote: Got your answer Tempus. Army sniper, 14.5x114mm, within 2,300m. People are low hanging fruit.

This.

Lone wolf gun men are among the hardest threats to protect against. A well equipped, well trained lone wolf is probably a security nightmare.

In any case, forcing him into hiding and opportunistically eliminating as many of his officers through systematic death squads would both cripple and limit his movement.

However, knowing the United States, we're more liable to target a UAV dropped bombs onto probable target-occupied locations and hope.

In doing that, the US would hope to either force the target to flee to civilian occupied areas for a human shield (where assassins would actually be of perfect use here, but bombs get used just as often) or forcing him underground and thus away from civilian centers that he raids for slave soldiers.

Kichi, Africa is a continent. It is not a country. In that way, it is not an "Africa" problem. There really are no "Africa" problems. That would be like saying, "That is an Asia problem." There are numerous countries in Asia. When it starts crossing borders, it becomes and international problem and the problem of the ICC. KONY 2012 is simply bringing attention to it so international legislators will lend a hand.

At any rate, child murder is a world problem. I'm not a separatist.

(March 8, 2012 at 8:24 am)Tempus Wrote: This. It seems everybody is signing petitions and buying bracelets but I'm not sure what these are supposed to do. What exactly are you funding by buying these things? Where do the profits go and is it a realistic/effective use of money and resources? I looked at one petition and I could basically some it up as 'bring Joseph Kony to justice protect people from the LRA'. A laudable goal, but HOW? How is this going to be accomplished?

It's called "slacktivism." People want to help, but don't really want to put out a lot of effort or get their hands dirty, so they think that by buying bracelets and signing petitions they've done their fair share. It's reminiscent of the "put a cartoon character as your avatar to stop child abuse" thing on Facebook a while back. OK, yeah it brings awareness, but doesn't really solve any problems. All it does is give the person who did that a warm fuzzy feeling by thinking they're making a difference, but in reality it didn't do diddly squat. Just like praying.

(March 8, 2012 at 3:56 pm)Doubting Thomas Wrote: It's called "slacktivism." People want to help, but don't really want to put out a lot of effort or get their hands dirty, so they think that by buying bracelets and signing petitions they've done their fair share. It's reminiscent of the "put a cartoon character as your avatar to stop child abuse" thing on Facebook a while back. OK, yeah it brings awareness, but doesn't really solve any problems. All it does is give the person who did that a warm fuzzy feeling by thinking they're making a difference, but in reality it didn't do diddly squat. Just like praying.

I have no money or power. Its better than nothing.