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Originally Posted by Aliantha
There's a link in the upsetting me thread posted by BigV.
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Didn't see that. Apologies BigV.
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Originally Posted by Blueflare
I know I said before that I'm glad that this is in the public eye, and I am, but I'd like to add some things to that.
There are several issues with the viral video in the sense that it vastly over-simplifies the issue. This doesn't bother me hugely because it made a big impact and this can act as a trigger to get people to talk about the complex issues. If it was too complicated, it probably wouldn't be the success it is.
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I'm on the same page. I tip my hat to them in the sense that their video production and marketing was brilliant and they were extremely successful in putting Kony in the mainstream spotlight. I have never seen such a tremendous response from an awareness campaign. Also, the idea of getting the population to pressure the government into making "ethical" foreign policy decisions is a powerful, unexploited idea in democratic societies.
On the other hand, the more I read about Kony, Uganda, and Invisible Children the more I feel IC has no clue what the hell they are doing. They are great video producers who can create a moving, powerful film about real issues but I agree that they have simplified the issue to a point, not to mention the racist and arrogant overtones of the entire thing, where they will most likely cause more harm than good. They also grossly misrepresented the situation to an extreme where I am guessing they are unwilling to accept how the circumstances in Uganda have changed and how it deviated from their original goal so now they must basically lie to save face.
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Freelance Journalist Michael Wilkerson pointed out in a blog post for FP this week that this fear of some imminent withdrawal of the U.S. advisors doesn't seem to be based on any actual statements from the Obama administration.
"So the goal is to make sure that President Obama doesn't withdraw the advisors he deployed until Kony is captured or killed. That seems noble enough, except that there has been no mention by the government of withdrawing those forces -- at least any I can find," Wilkerson wrote.
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In a Feb. 22 briefing with reporters, Navy Rear Adm. Brian Losey, commander of Special Operations Command Africa, said that the LRA is on the run and is down to about 200 core fighters.
"Now they are only a small percentage of their former strength," Losey said.
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http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/po..._the_kony_hunt