Barry Sends 100 US Troops to Uganda to Help Combat Lord’s Resistance Army
Oct 14, 2011 1:54pm

ABC News’ Jake Tapper and Luis Martinez report:

Two days ago President Obama authorized the deployment to Uganda of approximately 100 combat-equipped U.S. forces to help regional forces “remove from the battlefield” – meaning capture or kill – Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and senior leaders of the LRA.

The forces will deploy beginning with a small group and grow over the next month to 100. They will ultimately go to Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the permission of those countries.

The president made this announcement in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, Friday afternoon, saying that “deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa.”

He said that “although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense.”

The president said that for more than two decades the LRA has been responsible for having “murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of men, women, and children in central Africa” and continues to “commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security.”



A senior Defense official says the 100 military personnel will be mostly Special Operations Forces and that they “will be traveling out to field locations in the areas affected by the LRA where they can interact with and advise those forces that are actively pursuing the LRA.” The official stressed, “they will not be engaging in direct combat against the LRA.”

The US has been helping the four African nations counter the LRA for several years by providing local militaries with training and equipment. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo the US helped train a light infantry battalion deployed to fight the LAR and over the last three years in Uganda the US has provided $33 million to help Uganda’s military.

As for how long the US troops will be in the region, a spokesman at US Africa Command says he could not provide specifics, “but our forces are prepared to stay as long as necessary to enable regional security forces to carry on independently.

The president in his letter noted that Congress passed “the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,” signed into law on May 24, 2010, in which, the president said, “the Congress also expressed support for increased, comprehensive U.S. efforts to help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability.”

When the president signed that letter in May 2010, he said the bill “crystallizes the commitment of the United States to help bring an end to the brutality and destruction that have been a hallmark of the LRA across several countries for two decades, and to pursue a future of greater security and hope for the people of central Africa. The Lord’s Resistance Army preys on civilians – killing, raping, and mutilating the people of central Africa; stealing and brutalizing their children; and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Its leadership, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival. It fills its ranks of fighters with the young boys and girls it abducts. By any measure, its actions are an affront to human dignity.”

The act passed both houses of Congress with overwhelming support on May 10, 2010 with language that included “providing political, economic, military, and intelligence support for viable multilateral efforts to protect civilians from the Lord’s Resistance Army.”

LOL! For self defense........BS Barry!!

Could have sworn that's how Vietnam started!

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/14/obama-sending-combat-troops-to-central-africa-to-aid-rebel-fight/

And again,he asks no formal Permission from Congress to get involved there!

He did promise change though!!!

Yup we didnt get change at the ballot box. This explains why people are occupying wall street. It seems the entire american system is failing.

One thing is certain though we would have been far worse off had Mccain and that nutty Palin won the election.

And yet . . .

Hmmm. Wonder what they have going that the rest of us don't.

does he need congress to deploy 'special ops' troops?

I will have to research that,, but I dont find 100 troops to be mongering war,,,

people must not realize how many places around the world we have sent 'special troops'

oh, so congress HAS approved,,lol

Since the late 1980s Uganda has rebounded from the abyss of civil war and economic catastrophe to become relatively peaceful, stableand prosperous.
But the lives of hundreds of thousands of people inthe north remain blighted by one of Africa's most brutal rebellions.
In the 1970s and 1980s Uganda was notorious for its human rights abuses, first during the military dictatorship of Idi Amin from 1971-79 and then after the return to power of Milton Obote,who had been ousted by Amin.
During this time up to half a million people were killed in state-sponsored violence.
Since becoming president in 1986 Yoweri Museveni has introduced democratic reforms and has been credited with substantially improving human rights, notably by reducing abuses by the army and the police. Continue reading the main story
At a glance
Politics : Multi-party politics restored in 2005
Security : Terror of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) over two decades has spread to neighbouring countries. Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group trying to set up an Islamic state in Uganda, is active in DR Congo
Economy : Uganda is vulnerable to changes in the world price of coffee,its main export earner. Oil discoveries have boosted prospects
International : Uganda has been actively involved in the DR Congo conflict. LRA leaders are wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes
In addition, Western-backed economic reforms produced solid growth and falls in inflation in the 1990s. However, Mr Museveni has bemoaned his country's failure to industrialise.
The discovery of oil and gas in the west of the country have boosted confidence in the economy.
The president came under fire for Uganda's military involvement, along with five other countries, in neighbouring DR Congo's1998-2003 civil war. DR Congo accuses Uganda of maintaining its influence in the mineral-rich east of the country. Uganda says DR Congo has failed to disarm Ugandan rebelson its soil.
The cult-like Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) hasrampaged across northern Uganda for the past two decades and hasin recent years spread to neighbouring countries, abducting and killng tensof thousands as well as displacing more than 1.5 million. It has been described as one of the most effective guerrilla armies in Africa.
Its leader Joseph Kony says he wants to run the country along the lines ofthe biblical Ten Commandments, and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
Some critics have wondered why the conflict has gone on for so long, and others have questioned Mr Museveni'scommitment to ending the insurgency.
Uganda has won praise for its vigorous campaignagainst HIV/Aids. This has helped to reduce the prevalence of the virus - which reached 30% in the 1990s - to single-digitfigures.

Central Africa is RICH in mineral wealth - we need the Congo's minerals to make mobile phones.

Does,if he wants funding!

Not that I disagree with you, but there is no possible way we can know this for certain.

Vietnam and Somolia come to mind. A waste of time, money, resources, and troops if you ask me.

We aren't the worlds police force.

There is an African Union that has a multi national force designed to deal with these kind of problems.

WTF

So? That's not an act of war or reason for any sort of intervention. You're right, it's not a war-it's an illegal invasion. The same sort of fascism/militarism found in the Bush regime, with a different face. The military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us of is getting very fat off of the ignorance, selfishness, and naivete of congress and Boobus Americanus.

never heard of war for a mere 11 million per year, or 100 troops,,, but I guess the stretch could be made if someone REALLY wished to make mountains out of mole hills

The same sort of fascism/militarism found in the Bush regime, with a different face.

The president in his letter noted that Congress passed “the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act,” signed into law on May 24, 2010, in which, the president said, “the Congress also expressed support for increased, comprehensive U.S. efforts to help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability.”
When the president signed that letter in May 2010, he said the bill “crystallizes the commitment of the United States to help bring an end to the brutality and destructionthat have been a hallmark of the LRA across several countries for two decades, and to pursue a future of greater security and hope for the people of central Africa. The Lord’s Resistance Army preys oncivilians – killing, raping,and mutilating the people of central Africa; stealing and brutalizing their children; and displacing hundreds of thousands of people. Its leadership, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, has no agenda and no purpose other than its own survival.

where do people think we send 'special ops'? do they think we have them hanging out in america in case of war?

Vietnam started with a few Advisers!
And you don't send unproven Grunts on Missions like that!