Two Sides to Every Story

If you have been on the internet to read my blog then you have been on the internet to check facebook, browse youtube etc. There is a minute possibility that you haven't been acquainted with Kony 2012 - a drive by charity Invisible Children to rid the world of tyranny from Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. Kony is accused and undoubtedly guilty of kidnapping children and forcing them to mutilate and murder to keep himself in power of the LRA (Lords Revolutionary Army), a marauding 30,000 (or so the video states) force of causeless rebels. Whilst I am by no means saying Mr. Kony is a wonderful guy, the film seems to over simplify the problem in many of the third world countries of Africa. Filmmaker and charity owner Jason Russell is shown in the film to break down the problem to his son that everything is caused by a Voldemort character that that must be stopped at all costs. He goes on to advocate direct military involvement from the United States military and explains that he was successful in lobbying the government to provide an advisory force sent of US troops to aid the Ugandan army. Call me cynical but as soon as I heard this bit in the video I thought back to watching Team America: World Police. I'm hearing beer swilling, sweat dribbling rednecks from Louisiana to Arkansas yelling in unison "AMERICA! FUCK YEAH!" My second thought came to mind that if Kony's army is comprised of child soldiers then sending Ugandan troops to combat the LRA means countless numbers of dead child soldiers ridden with bullets. Sure, they claim they just want to "arrest" this man but do you really expect him to lie in a six foot deep hole for three days so he can be tried and hung? Even arresting him, will that just solve the massive numbers of problems that Africa faces on a day-to-day basis? What about Mugabe? What about the Congo? Should US troops be deployed in all of these situations where human rights are routinely abused and horrendous atrocities are committed on a daily basis? Where do you draw the line?

Of course that's not going to happen because America doesn't involve itself in wars that don't involve "protecting its economic interests" (extreme paraphrasing of the video and an almost century old Wilson Woodrow speech) but why should this Ugandan situation be any different? You could sit and study the problem Rwanda faced in the nineties and whether humanitarian intervention actually works for four years and still not know whether the answer is "yes" or "no" but I see so many of you on facebook are willing to dive in head first in to the fight to spread awareness of this man and make him famous so that he can be captured and put to trial. You might even donate money to the cause but is this really the answer?

I want you to review the following websites before you come to a decision:

Chris Blattman's review

Tumbler: Visible Children

Both of these sites do a far better job of providing information from the other side of the story than I do. Again they don't make Kony out to be a hero, they just question the true intent of Invisible Children's mission, that even with their heart being in the right place their actions won't necessarily result in the desired result.

I don't want to talk you out of giving money for charity. I am no Ayn Rand character - altruism and concern for your fellow man is in my eyes a beautiful thing. Just consider what you are giving more before you donate. Don't jump on a bandwagon because all your facebook friend's posted it and don't kid yourself into thinking by signing up to something like this you're saving the world. People like Kony are a bit more complicated than the 2D computer game villain the video makes him out to be. Shooting him isn't going to mean rainbows and happy times for everybody. Do you really think that the Ugandan army is made up of good natured white knights (not in the literal sense, obviously)that ride to battle to bring justice and restore order to the land? No army is perfect and there is no evidence to suggest that the Ugandan liberation army is anything but far from perfect. In a war torn African country, Kony is a symptom of economic and cultural sickness. Curing this illness is going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of time that this fad won't cure overnight.