KONY 2012
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002395235I saw this plastered all over Youtube late last night and
by this morning it's been successfully spread to the far
corners of the Internet in a single day thanks to a concerted
Twitter campaign by activists, h?cktivists, and celebrities.
At first I wondered if it was a joke, but it's not:
They are asking people to retweet:
http://www.kony2012.com/sharefilm/ Joseph Kony is the world’s worst war
criminal. This film explains what he’s done and how to stop him #KONY2012
See thread for video link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002395235
[font color="white"]......[/font]PONY VS. KONY
= new reply since forum marked as read
...I thought it was a rave or something. 
I am laughing my ass off at the whole meme though considering I knew about the LRA like a decade ago.
I wouldn't give money to any charity that's not thoroughly reputable - like the Red Cross, UNICEF or Amnesty International.
Obama sent like 100 U.S. Army Rangers a few months ago to assist the government of Uganda in fighting the LRA.
Those celebrating this don't really care...they just think Kony sounds cool.
Last edited Fri Mar 9, 2012, 06:00 AM - Edit history (1)
...and as touching as it is that after so long people are finally maybe giving a shit about Africa for a moment. He's a little bit out of it if he thinks Joseph Kony and the LRA are going to surrender. This is going to require a military solution, and frankly, it should have been done long ago. It certainly is an interesting development in the use of social media...but I question whether it will have any long running effect on people's consciousness. Color me a cynic on human rights.
I FB shared it with this message:
But the implication of his vid is that he wants Uganda to go in Israel-style and extraordinarily rendit Kony. (is that a word?)
When the new Tutsi-backed Rwandan government (the one everypony praises for ending the genocide) did this in the Congo to "go after" the Hutu militia genocidaires, the result was not that good.
Not good at all. Like, collapse of the Congolese government and 2 million dead not good.
If anything, though, Kony could be used as an excuse for the US to intervene in the Congo to stop the crimes against humanity there, INSTEAD of going after Ghaddafi in Libya. Kind of like spending money on transit instead of roads, whoops! Can't do it, we've already done the latter so our priorities are set!
ellisonz, this is my problem with what you say...why I have questions about this "Heart Tugging Video" and the rest..... We are Already there and Obama announced a "Kill or Capture" Mission.
As much as I find John McCain disgustingly duplicitous....his comment about Obama "ordering this" is exactly why I'm concerned. I didn't agree with Libya, either. But, I respect your opinion about this. I would hope for more discussion on it, even thought this doesn't seem like an OWS Topic...it's part of the root of our problems... The Military/Industrial/Media/Financial/Wall Street Complex. So...in a way it does fit...
Also, If I hear "Capture or Kill" from another American President...I'm gonna know that our Democracy is dead. I thought that ended with "Chimperor-in-Chief." What about BRINGING CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE.. JUSTICE ...TRIALS ...COURTS...NUREMBERG CONVENTIONS...
That's what my problem is with all of this. IMPERIAL KILLING... I hope you can try to understand my viewpoint. 
Peace, regards...
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FROM BBC, 2011!
US to send troops to Uganda to help fight LRA rebels
Africa
14 October 2011 Last updated at 19:17 ET
US President Barack Obama has said he is sending about 100 US soldiers to Uganda to help regional forces battle the notorious Lord's Resistance Army.
Although combat-equipped, the troops would be providing information and advice "to partner nation forces", Mr Obama wrote in a letter to US Congress.
A small group is already in Uganda, and the troops could later be deployed in other central African nations.
The LRA is blamed for mass murder, rape and kidnapping in the region.
'Kill or capture'
"I have authorised a small number of combat-equipped US forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of (LRA leader) Joseph Kony from the battlefield," Mr Obama wrote on Friday.
But he stressed that "although the US forces are combat-equipped... they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defence".
Mr Obama did not provide any details about the deployment duration, but a US military spokesman later told the BBC that the "forces are prepared to stay as long as necessary to enable regional security forces to carry on independently".
The force will use hi-tech equipment to assist in what analysts say is a "kill or capture" policy, the BBC's Marcus George in Washington reports.
The deployment follows recent US legislation to help disarm the LRA and bring its leader to justice. The theory is, our correspondent adds, that without Joseph Kony, the movement will collapse from within.
Senator John McCain said Central Africa would be more stable if the threat of the LRA "under the sadistic leadership of Joseph Kony," would be "diminished".
But Mr McCain, a long-serving senator, former veteran and Mr Obama's opponent in the 2008 presidential election, expressed "regret" that the president did not consult with Congress on the decision to sent troops to Uganda.
"I remember how past military deployments intended to further worthy humanitarian goals, whether it was peace-keeping operations in Lebanon or Somalia, resulted in tragedies that we never intended or expected," Mr McCain said in a statement.]/b]
More of article at.........
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15317684
...but we're there very minimally. I understand and appreciate your position, but it's important to remember that Joseph Kony has been allowed to commit these crimes for so long because frankly the world does not give a damn. I would also point out that "imperial" has a very specific meaning and should not be used as a blanket term - countries conduct empire. Even though some argue that international organization is imperialist, it is my opinion that such claims are spurious. If the United States would sign the Rome Statute, it would not be the action of a single empire but of almost the entire world. Joseph Kony is #1 on the ICC wanted list and has been over a decade now. I don't approve of empire, but I do approve of internationalism.
I think it's worth remembering too that there are about 15,000 U.N. Peacekeepers in the DRC under MONUSCO that essentially have no authority and no mission. I would like to see a more coherent administration of international law such that the UN and the ICC work in tandem so that the ICC has punch and the UN has moral authority.
P.S. The SOP of this group is written as such as to while focus on OWS not discuss it exclusively, hence "share information." The only topics that are taboo are direct attacks on OWS itself.
P.P.S. I think you're a reasonable person and respect your opinion. 
we do have differences...but, we at least can discuss in civil way and share info.
"So far" this group is a model. But, then, I notice a hater had to be booted out. So...nothing is perfect. sigh..
So when people who haven't seen the video say they don't know who the LRA is, and therefore aren't inclined to see the video because they are worried it's a RW plot, it makes me go
I mean, the major criticism of the video is that it wears its intention on its sleeve -- it says it's propaganda right out front and that the only purpose of the video is to make people aware of who Kony is (who's not in Uganda anyhow).
So while I think the intentions of the guy producing the video might be iffy, that's probably due to him being a stubborn minded character who is set in his ways about what the solution would be. But I for one, for instance, would rather have seen US send troops to Congo (where the LRA is) to stop the genocide there, NOT Libya, and Congo is loaded with natural resources.
Most of the people who supported our adventure to assassinate Ghadafi in Libya would line up to oppose going into Congo because the French own all the natural resources there and consider it their colony, which is why the US lets the genocide in the Congo (including the LRA) continue while we fund troops in Uganda and Rwanda (who helped initiate the violence in the Congo by invading that country, much as Nixon did when he invaded Cambodia). So we send troops to Libya and Uganda not the Congo where they might do some good.
Can Kony 2012 Make a Difference for Ugandan Youth?
March 12, 2012 · By Emira Woods
The "Kony 2012" campaign went viral, while making a call for military to support for a failed regime in Uganda. Watch this discussion on social media and African politics in PBS NewsHour.
The "Stop Kony" campaign that's gone viral in recent days aims to spotlight the atrocities of warlord Joseph Kony in Uganda. Margaret Warner discussed the nonprofit Invisible Children's popular "Kony 2012" video and its ensuing criticism with the Institute for Policy Studies' Emira Woods and Porter Novelli's Dawn Arteaga.
"We have to keep in mind Joseph Kony came into power around the same time as Museveni, the president of Uganda, who has been around since the 1980s now.
And it was really a quest for political power couched in, again, Lord's Resistance Army, a lot of language around religion and around rights of people. But what we have seen is a real deterioration of rights, the abduction of children, as is, quite frankly, well-documented in the video.
I think what is not shown in the video is the other part of this picture, which is a Ugandan military that has also been tremendously abusive in terms of the rights of its own people."
Because of this dangerous and corrupt relationship, Woods said viewers should be careful to support any campaigns that might be perceived as support for the type of military intervention that has already been tried and failed:
"It was tried before back in 2008. It was called Operation Lightning Thunder, reported well in The New York Times and elsewhere, where the U.S., using military forces, went in, and what we -- working with the Ugandan military.
What we saw essentially was Ugandan civilians caught in the crossfire, huge escalation in deaths at that time, a military operation that, in fact, failed, was never reviewed, never scrutinized, and now a call for essentially young people to go all out and essentially support yet another attempt at a military intervention".
http://www.ips-dc.org/media/can_kony_2012_make_a_difference_for_ugandan_youth
On Edit:
The Max Keiser report I mentioned is here on DU's front page in the Video's Section. It's worth the watch about Gold/Oil and the Koney Video.
Here's the Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/101716176#post1
Our AFRICOM Military Base in Italy has people involved in Uganda, already. I know because friend's son is there...and it's the next Theater for US involvment.. (remember PNAC) now that we've "helped out Libya and Yemen." We are there along with the French, it seems and also China. Just saying...I'd hate to see Religious Fundamentalists pushing videos to get more troops in there than we already have....plus using a video to whip up support from good intentioned young folks who might not be aware of the whole picture behind the video. Just saying...
I don't have time right now to read the discussion ellinsonz was having...but, my read of his last post would say I'd be completely to the opposite of him in his last statement. His last statement is why I didn't want to come to DU-3.
So..I certainly don't want to get into some "between thing" about this...(because ellinsonz was nice enough to come back and semi-support DU-2 and I have much respect for him because of that.
I think ellsonz is focusing much on his Polish heritage and experiences. I tend to focus on my own heritage and experiences having family here since just after the Revolution (and a few before) ...but British, Irish and French in heritage. Also growing up in the SouthEast US...I would have a longer history with my immigrants who go back to that time.
This is too hard to think about...but, I will say that ellisonze is wrong that we ARE IN AFRICA...in a BIG WAY with Africon! (he's a big boy and can take my criticisim ...because he's also seemed to be fair and balanced in his reasoning in encounters I've seen with him)
Anyway...Gotta think more about this...gotta go.. I'll get back later.
But, as much as I respect ellisonz's post....I would tend to go with what you say and counter
ellisonz's post later. It's truly a discussion that we Dems need to have with each other and there's not a good way to do it out here on DU-3, imho. Ellisonz's views are more in sync with here....and he's a fair person...but, I would tangle with him outside of here. I could send him my 
and I think he would get the humor. But, his post is very serious to me...and shows me how far apart we Democrats on issues these days. But, DISCUSSION is good ...between the three of us...I think...somehow. I gotta go...got project.
..........
You say:
. Hmm, I am stuck between you and ellisonz on this.
I can't support the assassination of foreign dictators in oil rich countries just because they are a thorn in our side when it comes to harvesting Africa for resources, and
I don't want the US to just sit back and say "it's OK to invade Libya because that's in our interests, it's not OK to send troops into the Congo because it's a hopeless mess there and it's in the interests of French and British secret services to keep the region in turmoil so they can continue to pillage the Congo's mineral resources."
"I can't support the assassination of foreign dictators in oil rich countries just because they are a thorn in our side when it comes to harvesting Africa for resources, and I don't want the US to just sit back and say "it's OK to invade Libya because that's in our interests, it's not OK to send troops into the Congo because it's a hopeless mess there and it's in the interests of French and British secret services to keep the region in turmoil so they can continue to pillage the Congo's mineral resources."
Thanks for posting it here!
Are any of them questioning the backers of the Video? What do you think about it, yourself?
...and the teacher who I work with the most and many of her students were all over this.
They explained to me the problem and then the solution, to shed light on this and hope that as enough people learn of the atrocities that some pressure will be brought to bear on forces that can do something about it.
One girl, however, was sad and said that her mom though that schools out to not be involving kids in this kind of thing.
I don't hold any opinions about the backers of the video--
I started a conversation today with someone, though, about how most of these oppressive regimes have some resource (oil, diamonds, water) behind them. Other conflicts are religious and a few might be tribal but even these are often caught up in a commodity, a resource, and often it's a Western First-World power that indirectly bears some responsibility.
I've just been too busy to look more deeply into it, and now I'm kind of sick, a cold or something.
and a history of British Colonialism in the region in the next part of the article after which I had to cut and snip. It's worth the long read of the whole thing.
I have no idea what to think of all of this, but, am trying to read more to understand. You seem to have been following the situation in Uganda closely and your opinion is good to know.
I'm only working with your links and questions about the Viral Video and why or how it would be appealing to masses of young people.
I took the contrarian view...that I wanted to see more facts and try to learn about the situation before young people are duped or taken advantage of by someone with hidden motives...(either wanting funding or to push Obama further into Africa). I was suspicious as one who didn't believe the trumped up charges against Iraq or that Afganistan Taliban/Osama bin Laden took down the WTC when Saudi Arabians seemed to be the bulk of the WTC/Pentagon/maybe WH Attackers.
I'm just trying to learn. The article is a long read...but has interesting background.
I'm still not sure what to think about it.
BTW...there's a link to BBC article from 2011 at "Truth Dig" about Obama ordering a "Capture or Kill" mission in Uganda which also talks about the AFRICON mission in Uganda (which I said I knew about because friend's son is in there based in Italy and I know that we have heavy presense there already). The Video bothered me in that it seemed "Tugging Heart Strings Propaganda" which we Americans have had TOO MUCH OF...in the past Decades since WWII!
Anyway.. Thanks for posting this and I hope you understand that I'm still trying to learn about this and I appreciate your postin about it and replying about what you think about it.
We need to think about this more. I don't know what it has to do with OWS Movement...but, "Occupy US State Department" might be something thinking about going forward! Just saying.
and thanks again for calling attention to this.
the "Powers that Be" are going to do what they do. We can try to keep informed but it's probably well out of our hands at this point.
Anyway...we can move back to OWS and focus there ...where perhaps we CAN make a difference.
My head is starting to hurt from too much thinking about UGANDA and KOBY... Maybe some will read over the weekend, if they are interested to sort through the weeds.
I switched to BING. Read that if a site uses Google Search (like DU) then use BING for Search...
Also vice-versa. If you are on a Microsoft Browser use Google for search.
I used Bing to search and Powell's Books came right up. BING also gives you a choice to "clear" or "turn off" search History.
I had forgotten about Powell's books. Used to know them long ago in dead tree publishing. We have a B&N Nook...which one of us uses a lot. But, we are still book buyers from the used book stores these days for stuff we can't find. I'll put "The Scramble of Africa" on my list. But, right now I did too much research on the KOBY current issue...so my head is still hurting. Maybe good Summer read...since it's probably the next "Theater" (as Bush/Cheney called it) on our Empire's "To Do List." (sorry for being so cynical.)
Thanks for the tip.
weekend readers from discussing the issues that were brought out on Leo's post.
(Namely the discussion between Leo, You and Myself) with articles and opinions posted on all sides about this.
Just because this guy got off his meds or was pervert in real life or whatever...the point is: His and his Partner's Video went VIRAL and influenced many Young Folks who didn't realize what was going on in Africa. Those young people will find this article very disillusioning to what they were awakened to, as what they thought was a very just cause. And, it may be a "just cause" or it may be that a group getting money was just another part of the money grubbers involved with folks who influence our Govt. for profit ...but, it's important to still keep reading and learning.
Leo gave a link about a book he found interesting to read about Kony's background and Sub-Saharan Africa and I gave links to someone who has served in Uganda who had problems with KONY 2012 and some other links.
We need to not give up on reading about what could be "Next US Theater of War after Syria and Iran" just because some guy went off his meds...or whatever and now many are going to become disillussioned and never finish checking out whether what they said was true, a full picture, propaganda, a swindle or something inbetween.
Just saying... My 2 cents worth.
I think the biggest enemy we have is indifference, and that is coupled with a sort of soul-crushing cynicism that is pervasive among our culture. We see it our low voting rates, in our low consumption of knowledge, and even on the internet where more often than not the answer to challenges posed such as KONY 2012 is: who cares or we can't do anything anyways. Nothing could be further from the truth, we can always do something, and we should do something when confronted with the problems of our world. We cannot just crawl inside our shells and hideout, that is a message that both Occupy and Invisible Children share.
That's what 
really means.