From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Jul 14 2009 - 06:30:01 EDT
AFRICOM's new focus?
Lawmakers push for U.S. to aid hunt for rebel leader
By <mailto:vandiverj@estripes.osd.mil> John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, July 14, 2009
STUTTGART, Germany - It's not exactly a call to arms, but it doesn't sound
that far off either.
In a little-noticed piece of bipartisan legislation introduced this spring -
the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act - a group of U.S.
lawmakers is urging the Obama administration to form a strategy for taking
out one of the most dangerous rebel leaders roaming the jungles of Africa:
Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army.
"Kony's removal is essential to peace in the region," said Rep. Ed Royce,
R-Calif., who was one of many Republican and Democratic politicians issuing
statements following the bill's introduction.
Kony, who leads a ragtag rebel army largely made up of abducted child
soldiers, is perhaps the most vilified man in Africa, where for the last 20
years he has sought to overthrow the government in Uganda. In the process,
his soldiers have killed thousands and caused more than 1 million people to
flee their homes, according to the United Nations.
The fate of the bill, which enjoys the support of such unlikely pairs as
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., remains unclear.
But it does raise questions that go to the heart of the debate surrounding
the new U.S. Africa Command and its mission on the continent.
AFRICOM's stated purpose is to help its partners countries, through various
training missions, develop the capacity to provide for their own security
and protect their own borders. But should AFRICOM also be involved in the
business of taking out rebel leaders? Particularly ones like Kony, who have
been universally condemned for committing horrific atrocities?
Indeed, Kony's LRA allegedly has abducted some 30,000 children over the
years and been accused of murdering and raping thousands. In 2005, the
International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Kony accusing him
of crimes against humanity.
Since 1987, Kony has been leading his army like a cult leader, telling his
child soldiers to paint crosses on their chests for protection from enemy
fire. Former abductees have described him as a mystic, possessed by spirits
and capable of foreseeing the future. Strangely, one of Kony's sons was
named after a U.S. president: George Bush. It's unclear which Bush was the
inspiration.
Despite the overwhelming evidence against Kony, opinions are split over how
deeply AFRICOM should get involved in such cases.
On one side are some humanitarian organizations that see the U.S. military
as a resource that could be used for ending the chaos and terror Kony has
unleashed for two decades.
But others fear such engagements would damage AFRICOM's credibility as an
organization geared toward helping African countries solve their own
problems.
"They cannot be in this business. They basically have to be involved in the
capacity building. Period," said James Carafano, a scholar with the Heritage
Foundation and former army lieutenant colonel who was an early advocate for
the formation of AFRICOM. "The whole notion of AFRICOM is to not get
involved in these things. It would be like SOUTHCOM getting involved in the
Honduran coup. They're not going to touch that."
Yet AFRICOM, though only in its infancy, has already been called upon to
provide support for operations against Kony and his LRA.
In late 2008, regional governments asked the U.S. to provide nonoperational
assistance for a mission dubbed Lightning Thunder. The Ugandan military led
the operation, which included elements from southern Sudan and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was an unusual demonstration of
cooperation between those countries in the hunt for Kony.
And it went badly wrong.
AFRICOM, which had no command and control authority over the mission, was
tasked by the National Security Council to provide the Ugandans with
logistical and advisory support. The command's involvement was limited to
providing some maps, satellite phones, GPS receivers and about $1 million in
fuel for vehicles.
A team of advisers also was dispatched to the region and provided feedback
on the Ugandan plan.
The operation, however, failed to capture Kony and many of his fighters fled
their camps.
In their flight from the Ugandans, the LRA fighters killed hundreds of
civilians - a signature LRA response when it is assaulted, according to
humanitarian rights groups that track the LRA's movements.
Critics of the operation argue that the mission failed to adequately plan
for securing the surrounding civilian population.
Despite its limited involvement, as news spread of the civilian slaughters,
AFRICOM took heat.
"We were very critical of Operation Lightning Thunder," said Michael
Poffenberger, executive director of Resolve Uganda, an advocacy group. "We
had hoped any involvement of U.S. AFRICOM would have led to a more effective
operation and led to the capture of top commanders."
Poffenberger said he sees an opportunity for AFRICOM to get more involved in
the hunt.
"But I think it has to be done right and with internal partners and the
backing of region," he said.
Julia Spiegel, Uganda-based expert on the LRA for the Enough Project - an
organization that seeks to bring awareness to cases of crimes against
humanity and prevent genocide in Africa - says Kony's tactics of targeting
civilians are well known. Any planning must take that into account.
"I think this is an opportunity to take stock of what happened and move
forward in a more productive fashion," Spiegel said. "It makes sense for
AFRICOM to engage in a greater way. A little would go a long way, from
planning and resourcing to execution."
Feingold, a co-sponsor of the Senate bill, made similar comments on the
Senate floor when the legislation was introduced earlier this year, saying
the U.S. has a responsibility to help bring the rebel war to its end.
"I believe supporting viable and legitimate efforts to disarm and demobilize
the LRA is exactly the kind of thing in which AFRICOM should be engaged,"
Feingold said.
At AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, officials declined to comment on the
LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, saying it would be
inappropriate to weigh in on pending legislation.
Earlier this month, Feingold elaborated on what he hopes the legislation
will accomplish and described its limitations. In an op-ed article published
at Huffingtonpost.com, the senator said that the bill does not sanction any
specific military operation.
"Instead, it seeks to push a comprehensive approach in which military
activity would be one component within a larger framework," Feingold wrote.
"Such an approach, though, should also include humanitarian components and
support for credible diplomatic efforts to press for a viable political
solution."
But critics worry that the bill would damage the military's youngest command
if it becomes law.
"Sometimes I wonder if these people want to kill the command," Carafano said
of the bill's supporters. "I'm horrified anytime we get into legislating
operational activities. That gets very dangerous."
<http://www.stripes.com/articlephoto.asp?section=104&article=63716&photo=1&c
ount=1> http://www.stripes.com/photos/63716_713184033b.jpg
AP Photo / Stuart Price, Pool
The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony answers journalists'
questions following a meeting with UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland Sunday
Nov 12 , 2006 at Ri-Kwamba in Southern Sudan. Egeland met with Kony, the
elusive leader of Uganda's notorious rebel Lord's Resistance Army and one of
the world's most-wanted war crimes suspects, seeking to secure the release
of women and children enslaved by the group during their 20-year conflict
with the Ugandan government. But Kony denied that his forces are holding
prisoners.
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