Child Sex Slaves and Parents Hacked to Pieces - Should the U.S. Send Special Forces Troops to Uganda?

Families hacked apart by machete wielding rebels.  Children forced to kill their own parents.  Men and women, young and old, arms and legs hacked off.  Young woman ordered to cut the hand off mother-in-law.  Mother-in-law ordered to cut off young woman's hand. 

Children taken into sex slavery. Other children turned into child soldiers where they've been threatened to either kill, or we kill you.  With that kind of choice it's easy to see how the evil (this is proof that evil exists, if you don't like that word by the way) is starting to catch the attention of Americans, and our cries to our government are slowly being acknowledged.

However, the cries against the deployment of 100 Special Forces troops to Uganda are a little bit silly.

Do we continue to let so many thousands of people die horrible deaths at the hands of muderous rebels?

Several key Republican congressmen have agreed with the deployment, and it is in agreement with legislation passed with bipartisan support in 2010 for the coordination of U.S. diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military efforts against the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army). Clearly, Congress has already recognized the need to give Uganda a little support to defeat the LRA once and for all.

Killing thousands of people across several African nations, the LRA has been a destabilizing force for over twenty years. We’ve had enough problems with a destabilized African continent. State sponsored or just ignored terrorist camps have supplied a steady stream of terrorists against the United States and foreign interests. Somalia is a hotbed of piracy and instability, leading to international problems with shipping in the area. The genocides that have happened in Rwanda and Sudan are just a taste of what’s to come if we continue to ignore the stability of African nations. An estimated 800,000 to 1,000,000 died in Rwanda; the numbers in the Darfur conflict in Sudan are around 300,000.

Uganda has been on the front lines in Somalia, fighting against the Al-Qaeda interests trying to establish more terrorist cells in that destabilized country. Supporting an ally who is fighting against terrorists is a no brainer. Why wouldn’t you help allies eliminate a marauding band of mass murderers? The LRA is at their weakest right now, disorganized and down to a few hundred members split into several smaller groups. The time to take out the LRA is now before they have a chance to regroup, recruit and rebuild. The United States has delayed action too many times in the past when a small effort could save thousands or hundreds of thousands of lives.

Some may wonder why these Republicans would say anything against the deployment of this small contingent of Special Forces personnel. I would put forth that they really aren’t against it, but they are trying to highlight their disapproval of the withdrawal of forces from Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, this vocal minority is playing politics. They are mostly arguing that he should have asked Congress before deploying troops. Please, it’s one hundred troops in support of legislation the Congress has ALREADY passed! He should’ve asked first? Really?

When it comes to Sudan, we should be beyond playing politics. Thousands have died at the hands of the LRA. Children have been enslaved to become soldiers or sex slaves for the LRA. The situation has even inspired a reformed enforcer turned preacher, Sam Childers, to take up arms against Joseph Kony and his group of murderers. Take a moment to Google "Machine Gun Preacher" and be inspired by the war former biker turned born again Christian and freedom fighter is now waging in Sudan against the LRA -- where did this guy come from?  

All I can say is providing a shelter for the orphans and children of the Sudan and being a freedom fighter is an inspiration to us all. The days of standing by while people are slaughtered should be over forever.

Protecting the weak from injustice

Do we have interests in South Africa? We should have an interest in any region that is unstable and dangerous because it is a shelter and breeding ground for terrorists. Without the rule of law, terrorists get free reign to do as they please and plan attacks against the free world. Should we commit hundreds of thousands of troops to stabilize the region? No, that isn’t prudent or necessary, but sending a few hundred in shouldn’t be a problem. To save thousands of lives, it shouldn’t even be second-guessed.

In the end, this is politics. The danger is that criticizing every little thing the President does starts to make you look like a whiner. How about focusing on being winners instead of whiners? Presidents do this all the time and they don’t consult Congress about every single deployment. Let’s focus on the real issues people!