Joseph Kony: Elephant Poacher

As if the massacres, large-scale mutilations and child kidnapping (for use as child soldiers and sex slaves) weren't bad enough, according to the Enough Project, Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army have now branched out into ivory poaching in the Congo's Garamba National Park as a means to raise funds and obtain arms/supplies.

Whereas it is true that after more than two decades of terrorizing the region, Kony has attained bogeyman status, and villagers tend to ascribe almost all banditry and crime to his group, the Enough Project's reporting is pretty damning. There is also no shortage of precedent for ideologically-founded militias converting to criminality in order to raise funds (i.e. the FARC's transition from Marxist vanguard to narcotics empire, or Hezbollah's deep involvement in narcotics trafficking), so it would not be surprising to see the LRA make a similar transition in order to survive.

Unfortunately for the elephants, the persistent political instability amongst the human governments in central Africa has translated into a lack of the bilateral support necessary for a successful manhunt, which in this case has actually led to the suspension of the hunt for Joseph Kony.

Because when you've spent two decades destroying villages, hacking off limbs, and enslaving children, elephant poaching really isn't much of a step down, morally speaking.

Speaking of Social Media . . .

I am not on Twitter in any way, shape, or form, but apparently while I was linking to the State Department's social media manhunt on March 31, two human rights groups were launching an online campaign against Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony that went viral, and the groups' video was viewed roughly 17 million times (8 million on Vimeo, 9 million on YouTube) as of yesterday afternoon.  Kony is the target of an ongoing manhunt in which 100 U.S. Special Forces troops are advising and assisting Ugandan and other local forces conducting operations against the LRA, a campaign I've blogged about before.

Despite the success of the Twitter campaign in raising awareness, there are some dissenting voices regarding the campaign.  In the AP story above, London School of Economics professor Tim Allen questions the long-term significance of capturing Kony:

Even if Kony is removed tomorrow the problems are not going to go away.  There is a chronic wide-spread failure of governance in parts of Central Africa.  This is a part of the world in which hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people have been killed since the late 1990s in ongoing wars, and the Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony himself is responsible for very, very few of those deaths.

Similarly, on Foreign Policy.com, Michael Wilkerson notes the video's inaccuracies, and says "it is unclear how millions of well-meaning but misinformed people are going to help deal with the more complicated reality" of Uganda's problems.  Writing in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Salvator Cusimano and Sima Atri agree, arguing that "the Kony 2012 campaign's stated goals are simplistic at best and misleading at worst," and reaching a conclusion similar to my finding in Wanted Dead or Alive that "silencing one man doesn't silence the movement behind him."

Again, nobody is saying Kony isn't an evil man, and that he shouldn't face justice as soon as possible, whether before the International Criminal Court or at the business end of a rifle.  But is is far from clear that his apprehension will significantly affect the humanitarian nightmares springing from Central Africa's wars.

LRA Commander Joseph Kony: An evil man and quickly catching up to Ashton Kutcher on Twitter.

"The Americans are here, Our saviors are here, Let's dance!"

Alan Boswell of McClatchy has an interesting update on the U.S. special forces hunt for Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony that is worth a read.  The Green Berets are providing logistical support, bolstering intelligence sharing, and improving coordination amongst the four indigenous armies pursuing Kony and the LRA, making this manhunt similar to the hunt for Che Guevara.

Boswell notes "There are differing opinions among officials about whether killing or capturing Kony would be enough to end his movement."  Indeed, I would argue that we will not be successful in achieving our broader strategic (or in this case, humanitarian) objective unless we also take out the other senior leaders of the LRA at the same time.

"Obama Takes on the LRA"

An informed -- and interestingly cynical -- take in Foreign Affairs.com on the Obama administration's decision to deploy U.S. troops to assist in capturing or killing Joseph Kony, commander of the Lord's Resistance Army. 

The authors are somewhat optimistic from an operational standpoint, claiming "The U.S. military has gathered strong evidence about Kony's whereabouts in the last few months.  Greater numbers of surveillance flights over LRA-afflicted areas are said to have pinpointed Kony's position in teh Central African Republic."

However, they are skeptical about whether apprehending Kony will make any strategic difference in Central Africa, noting: "The LRA is, in fact, a relatively small player in all of this -- as much a symtom as a cause of the endemic violence.  If Kony is removed, LRA fighters will join other groups or act independently."

Joseph Kony's Place in Manhunting History

CommandPosts.com, an excellent web blog on military history, posted a piece I wrote on the historical precedents for deploying U.S. forces to train/advise indigenous forces hunting an individual. 

By my count, Joseph Kony is officially the twelfth target of a U.S. strategic manhunt, although I argue that the campaigns targeting Che Guevara and Pablo Escobar are better precedents for this operation than Task Force Ranger's hunt for Muhammad Farah Aideed.

A New Manhunt!!!

This statement was released from the Department of State today:

The United States condemns the continued atrocities and abductions committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) across central Africa.  We remain committed to supporting our regional partners’ efforts to mitigate and eliminate the threat to civilians and regional stability posed by the LRA.  Since 2008, the United States has provided over $40 million in critical logistical support, equipment and training to enhance counter-LRA operations by regional militaries. We continue to join regional governments in calling on LRA fighters to peacefully disarm and return home.

With the consent of the Government of Uganda, and as notified to Congress, the United States has sent a small number of U.S. military advisors to the region to assist the forces that are pursuing the LRA and seeking to bring top commanders to justice.  These advisors will work with our regional partners and the African Union in the field to strengthen information-sharing, enhance coordination and planning, and improve the overall effectiveness of military operations and the protection of civilians.  These advisors will not engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense.

This is one component of an ongoing, comprehensive U.S. strategy to address the LRA threat, in accordance with the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Act signed into law in 2011.  This strategy includes efforts to help increase the protection of civilians, encourage and facilitate defections of lower-level LRA fighters, and provide continued humanitarian relief.

In other words, this mission entails the deployment of U.S. forces to train/advise/assist indigenous forces for the specific mission of killing or capturing an individual, in this case Joseph Kony.  Think Che Guevara, but in Africa, and 100% less charismatic.  (Che was a monster from a moral perspective too, but at least didn't kidnap child soldiers, authorized mass rape, and routinely hack off limbs to intimidate the local civilian population.  Plus, he had great hair!)

Joseph Kony, officially "Wanted Dead or Alive"

* Note: For those who have read my book (or at least the author's bio on the dust jacket) and know what I do for a day job, this campaign falls under my official oversight duties.  Hence, from hereon in I probably won't be able to do much more than post news accounts relating to this manhunt without much comment.