US ventures into bloody Africa conflict

[hvactec]

WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is venturing into one of Africa's bloodiest conflicts, sending about 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to support a years-long fight against a guerrilla group accused of horrific atrocities.

The Obama administration said the troops will advise, not engage in combat, unless forced to defend themselves.

In a letter to Congress, President Barack Obama said Friday that the troops will assist local forces in a long-running battle against the Lord's Resistance Army, considered one of Africa's most ruthless rebel groups, and help to hunt down its notorious leader, Joseph Kony.

The first of the troops arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, the White House said, and others will be sent to South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

While the size of the U.S. footprint is small, Obama's announcement represents a highly unusual intervention for the United States. Although some American troops are based in Djibouti and small groups of soldiers have been deployed to Somalia, the U.S. traditionally has been reluctant to commit forces to help African nations put down insurgencies.

It demonstrates the Obama administration's escalating attention to and fears about security risks in Africa, including terror networks, piracy and unstable nations. The move was intended to show some engagement to lessen the impact of one of the worst protracted wars in Africa.

Obama declared his decision to send troops as in keeping with the national security interests of the United States. The White House announced it in a low-key fashion, releasing the Obama notification and justification of the troop deployment that the president sent to congressional leaders.

read more US ventures into bloody Africa conflict - KTAR.com

( Corporations are always looking for markets to expand into. They have found one.)

 

[Katzndogz]

obama is doing just what he always does, he is supporting the muslims in their efforts to slaughter the Christians.

 

[waltky]

Liberatin' Uganda from Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army...

US troops against the LRA? A war worth winning
December 14, 2011 - Guest blogger Kellen McClure argues that sending US military advisors to fight the LRA's Joseph Kony is a small price to pay for removing one of the world's worst mass murderers.

In October, President Obama announced that he would be involving U.S. forces in yet another conflict on African soil. Just a month and a half after the fall of Tripoli, the president stated that 100 combat-equipped military advisers would be deployed to Central Africa to provide “information, advice, and assistance to select partner nation forces.” The ultimate goal of the mission is the “removal from the battlefield” of Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony and other senior leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

This initiative was immediately criticized by members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, who challenged the president’s assertion that defeating the LRA is in the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. Opponents of the deployment argued that the president was sending US troops into another costly and dangerous conflict, which in this case has been ongoing for more than 20 years. As one Democratic congressman put it, “What is the strategic interest of the United States in doing this? I mean, there are lots of unpleasant people in the world…. The United States obviously cannot try to dethrone every one of them.”

In many ways the congressman is right. Finding, capturing, or killing Joseph Kony and other senior leaders of the LRA is not explicitly in the United States’ national interest, narrowly defined. A case might be made that a more stable Central Africa would allow for the easier and more transparent extraction of valuable minerals and other resources, potentially enriching local populations as well as the global economy. One could also argue that the LRA’s presence exacerbates the problems of a region where genocide and civil war – in Darfur, South Sudan, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – have consistently drawn the attention of US officials and American civil society, largely for humanitarian reasons.

The expansion of democracy is another consideration. None of the countries plagued by the LRA are considered electoral democracies in Freedom in the World, Freedom House’s annual assessment of political rights and civil liberties. Illegal armed groups both flourish in and perpetuate the absence of effective governance, and their removal is a prerequisite for democratic development. The best justification for sending US troops to the region, however, may lie in the congressman’s argument. While it is true that there are a lot of unpleasant people in the world, one would be hard pressed to find any who are more unpleasant than Joseph Kony and can be “dethroned” as easily. Sending military advisers to Central Africa is a small price to pay for ending the career of one of the most horrific mass murderers of the past 20 years.

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[daveman]

Obama getting the US into yet another war.

No worries, though -- his acolytes will never criticize him.

 

[blastoff]

"In a letter to Congress, President Barack Obama said Friday that the troops will assist local forces in a long-running battle against the Lord's Resistance Army, considered one of Africa's most ruthless rebel groups, and help to hunt down its notorious leader, Joseph Kony."

Whenever I see stuff like this my first reaction is always, why us? How come allies like Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, etc. aren't the first to step up?

Which reminds me once again of one of my favorite sayings: Ah, the rest of the world. They're always there when they need us.

 

[Katzndogz]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

 

[konradv]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[daveman]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obama lied us into war.

Now, now, before you get your frilly panties in a wad, Obama lied just as much as Bush lied to get us into Iraq.

None.

Predictably, you will screech "Nuh-UH!!"

 

[konradv]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obama lied us into war.

Now, now, before you get your frilly panties in a wad, Obama lied just as much as Bush lied to get us into Iraq.

None.

Predictably, you will screech "Nuh-UH!!"

What war? What lie? When we really have boots on the ground, instead of merely providing background support, we'll talk.

 

[daveman]

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obama lied us into war.

Now, now, before you get your frilly panties in a wad, Obama lied just as much as Bush lied to get us into Iraq.

None.

Predictably, you will screech "Nuh-UH!!"

What war? What lie? When we really have boots on the ground, instead of merely providing background support, we'll talk.

Obama sending troops to central Africa to aid fight against rebels – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

Let's talk.

 

[Katzndogz]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have your muslim murderers mixed up. I know it's easy to do.

Christmas Mass in Nigeria rocked by terrorist bombing - latimes.com

REPORTING FROM JOHANNESBURG -- A bomb blast during Christmas Mass left 35 people dead and dozens wounded at a Nigerian church near the nation’s capital of Abuja.

The radical Muslim sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for both the Abuja-area explosion, which left bodies on rooftops and in nearby gutters, as well as a bombing near a church in Jos, in which one police officer was killed. In all, at least 39 people were killed Sunday during ongoing sectarian violence in Nigeria, which also included at least three explosions in Yobe, an agricultural state in the country’s northeast that has often been at the heart of fighting between security forces and Boko Haram.

The Islamist group routinely attacks police and security forces as well as civilians in Africa’s most populous country. A faction of the group, whose name roughly means “Western education is forbidden,” has used increasingly violent means to advance its call for a strict interpretation of Islamic law in Nigeria. Fifty percent of the population of the oil-rich nation of 155 million is Muslim and 40% is Christian.

 

[konradv]

Obama lied us into war.

Now, now, before you get your frilly panties in a wad, Obama lied just as much as Bush lied to get us into Iraq.

None.

Predictably, you will screech "Nuh-UH!!"

What war? What lie? When we really have boots on the ground, instead of merely providing background support, we'll talk.

Obama sending troops to central Africa to aid fight against rebels – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

Let's talk.

First you need to read, don't you? You call 100 advisors, going to war?

 

[konradv]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have your muslim murderers mixed up. I know it's easy to do.

I've got things mixed up?!?! We're talking Uganda and you switched to Nigeria. This is about murderers, NOT religion. If one group of murderers is so bad, why would you give another group a pass? I never said what happened in Nigeria isn't bad, it's just OFF-TOPIC.

 

[daveman]

What war? What lie? When we really have boots on the ground, instead of merely providing background support, we'll talk.

Obama sending troops to central Africa to aid fight against rebels – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

Let's talk.

First you need to read, don't you? You call 100 advisors, going to war?

The left said it was in Vietnam.

But this is Obama. It's different. Somehow. It just is.

 

[Katzndogz]

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have your muslim murderers mixed up. I know it's easy to do.

I've got things mixed up?!?! We're talking Uganda and you switched to Nigeria. This is about murderers, NOT religion. If one group of murderers is so bad, why would you give another group a pass? I never said what happened in Nigeria isn't bad, it's just OFF-TOPIC.

All right, have it your way. We'll go into Uganda because Christians are fighting back but won't go into Nigeria because the Christians are dying just like they are supposed to.

 

[whitehall]

Advisors. It's nothing new except that the left wing radical administration is probably supporting regimes that call for the downfall of the United States. My guess is that Barry will always support the muslem brotherhood.

 

[konradv]

Obama sending troops to central Africa to aid fight against rebels – CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

Let's talk.

First you need to read, don't you? You call 100 advisors, going to war?

The left said it was in Vietnam.

But this is Obama. It's different. Somehow. It just is.

Don't recall much being said until we had actual fighting forces there. During the advisor phase most Americans didn't even know where Viet Nam was.

 

[daveman]

First you need to read, don't you? You call 100 advisors, going to war?

The left said it was in Vietnam.

But this is Obama. It's different. Somehow. It just is.

Don't recall much being said until we had actual fighting forces there. During the advisor phase most Americans didn't even know where Viet Nam was.

But this is Obama. It's different. Somehow. It just is.

 

[NYcarbineer]

He is again fighting with muslims in support of their right to slaughter Christians.

We aren't going into Nigeria where the muslims clebrated Christmas by bombing Churches. Although we MIGHT if the Christians fight back.

Read up!!! That's just propaganda that even Rush has backed off from. The action was approved UNANIMOUSLY by the House and Senate! Doesn't sound like some sort of unilateral Obama action, now does it?!?!

Lord's Resistance Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Obama lied us into war.

Now, now, before you get your frilly panties in a wad, Obama lied just as much as Bush lied to get us into Iraq.

None.

Predictably, you will screech "Nuh-UH!!"

Since I wholeheartedly oppose this intervention,

why don't you tell us what your actual position is on the issue.

Do you support the president's action, the same way you supported Bush in Iraq? On the grounds of saving all those poor innocent souls being murdered?

 

[NYcarbineer]

You have your muslim murderers mixed up. I know it's easy to do.

I've got things mixed up?!?! We're talking Uganda and you switched to Nigeria. This is about murderers, NOT religion. If one group of murderers is so bad, why would you give another group a pass? I never said what happened in Nigeria isn't bad, it's just OFF-TOPIC.

All right, have it your way. We'll go into Uganda because Christians are fighting back but won't go into Nigeria because the Christians are dying just like they are supposed to.

When's the last time we targeted non-Muslims with a drone attack?