A warlord with a 300-strong army in central Africa is enough of a threat that the United States sends in the Special Forces? Apparently.
Sent by President Barack Obama at the end of 2011, the 100 U.S. soldiers are split up about 15 to 30 per base, bringing in American technology and experience to assist local forces.
Exact details on specific improvements that the American forces have brought to the table, however, are classified, to avoid giving Kony the ability to take countermeasures.
Probably to keep Congress out of the loop, too.
The mission to get Kony hasn’t been cheap.
Since 2008, the U.S. State Department has sent some $50 million in funds to support the Ugandan military’s logistics and non-lethal operations against the LRA, including contracting two transport helicopters to ferry troops and supplies. Another $500 million has been given over that time for the broader northern Uganda recovery effort in the aftermath of Kony’s presence there.
I observed a few years back that liberals tend to favor military action in inverse proportion to the US interests involved. For instance, while Saddam Hussein posed an obvious, longstanding regional threat to his neighbors and a global threat to the oil supply and price, liberals wanted out of Iraq and into Darfur, where the Sudan’s butchery seared the conscience but did not threaten the United States. That observation seems to apply to the Kony venture too. Kony is a bad man who deserves a very bad end, no doubt about that, but no worse on scale now than the average Mexican drug lord, and Mexico happens to be right next door to several US states. Its chaos as the drug gangs vie for control of parts or all of Mexico is far more of a direct threat to us than Kony. But the Obama administration sues Arizona for trying to secure its Mexican border, and sends the Special Forces off to Africa to hunt Kony. We didn’t even send in the military when Mexican drug thugs murdered American David Hartley on Falcon Lake, which straddles the Texas-Mexico border.
After supporting military intervention in inverse logic, liberals are also the first to abandon overseas military ventures at the first sign of trouble, whether they backed those ventures at the outset or not. Something to keep in mind, if Kony turns into something similar to Somalia’s Aidid.
“…liberals wanted out of Iraq and into Darfur…”
No they didn’t (want into Darfur), at least at first. When Bush and Sec. Powell brought up Darfur, left wing groups fired up the usual anti-imperialist, anti-war movement. The WaPo had a series of editorials as to why it’s bad to intervene, etc. Then George Clooney got involved and the tone reversed.
So they react to celebrity intervention, just like they have with Kony.
Just 100 soldiers? Doesn’t seem like much of an effort. We have sent troops into danger without adequate force protection before (Somalia, Lebanon) and regretted it. Would have been better to do nothing at all. This is just the One screwing around with people’s lives for political points.
Actually, 100 professional American soldiers against 300 African thugs sounds more than adequate.
“I observed a few years back that liberals tend to favor military action in inverse proportion to the US interests involved.”
“Notice?” “A few years back?” A little slow on the uptake, no?
What happened to “Leading from Behind” and getting permission from Russia and China? Never mind Congress.
Well, everyone can’t be as smart as an anonymous blog commenter.
Bryan, is this a deployment of further troops, or the orders sending out the group that was authorized last October? Either way, this is one of the rare instances I support something Obama does. I wrote about it more extensively here: http://is.gd/Ojh8X7 , but, in short, I think this is both the morally right thing to do and it meets American national interests, and the level of commitment is commensurate with the interests at stake. It’s also very much in line with military advisory missions we have around the globe. Special Forces, particularly Green Berets, are made for just this sort of mission. I really don’t think it’s “Obama’s starting another war” at all.