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Rodney Muhumuza / AP
For Ugandan soldiers tasked with catching Joseph Kony, the real threat is not the elusive Central Africa warlord and his brutal gang. Encounters between Ugandan troops and Lord's Resistance Army rebels are so rare that the Kony hunters worry about other things when they walk the jungle: Armed poachers, wild beasts and honey bees.
OBO, Central African Republic - In a bare concrete room in a far-flung corner of Central African Republic, U.S. special forces and Ugandan soldiers map out the hunt for one of Africa's most wanted rebel leaders hiding in an area the size of California.
The building belonged to the town of Obo's doctor until he was murdered last year by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) while transporting medicines by road. Now it serves as an operational center in one of America's latest military ventures in Africa.
The mission is clear.
"(The) focus is the removal of Joseph Kony and senior Lord's Resistance Army leadership from the battlefield," said Captain Ken Wright, a navy SEAL in command of the roughly 100-strong force which deployed in October.
Africa24 Media / Reuters
Lord Resistance Army's Major General Joseph Kony poses at peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, in southern Sudan, in November 2008.
Kony has evaded capture for nearly three decades, kidnapping tens of thousands of children to fill his militia's ranks and serve as sex slaves as he moves through the bush. Thousands more have died in the wake of his brutal army.
The deployment of elite American forces to help track Kony and his senior commanders in the dense equatorial jungle across a region that spans several countries has raised hopes the sadistic warlord's days are numbered.
The troops are armed but do not patrol the surrounding forests and are allowed to engage the LRA only in self-defense.
Instead, their focus is on improving intelligence on LRA positions gathered both electronically and from tips.
By meshing stories from hunters and nomadic cattle herders of encounters with the rebels together with sophisticated surveillance imagery, allied forces chart suspected rebel activity and coordinate the regional armies' pursuit of Kony.
"You look at patterns to see where LRA might be moving, historic areas where they might operate, so we can predict where they're going and try and head them off and most effectively use the forces on the ground," Captain Gregory, a 29-year-old Texan hidden behind sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat told Reuters.
For many of the U.S. troops who have recently served in Afghanistan and Iraq, the humid jungles of central Africa are unfamiliar territory.
Their deployment raised expectations locally that U.S. drones would be unearthing Kony. They are not, and this hostile environment is throwing up unforeseen challenges.
"Some of the gear we have here is affected by the vegetation ... and acts differently from in the desert. Vegetation absorbs signals and sounds," Gregory said.
International bad guy
Kony, a self-styled mystic leader who at one time was bent on ruling Uganda by the Ten Commandments, fled his native northern Uganda in 2005, roaming first the lawless expanses of South Sudan and then the isolated northeastern tip of Congo.
In December 2008, after last-ditch peace talks failed, Ugandan paratroopers and fighter jets struck the LRA's Congo hideouts. Kony slipped through the net, raising suspicions he had been tipped off. He and many of his combatants moved north into the Central African Republic.
Kony was thrust back into the spotlight earlier this year when a video, "Kony 2012," highlighting the chilling mutilations, rapes and murders carried out by his spell-bound fighters went viral on the Internet.
Bruce Wharton, deputy assistant secretary in the Department of State's Africa bureau said the deployment of special forces was in part a response to legislation in 2010 calling on the Obama administration to do more to tackle Kony.
"I think Kony, for lack of an ideology, for lack of a political agenda, for lack of an intellectually identifiable cause, and for the brutality with which he operates, is at the top of the list of international bad guys," Wharton said.
Asked whether hunting Kony offered a convenient way of expanding the U.S. military footprint in Africa, Wharton told Reuters: "I absolutely think that as soon as this mission is accomplished the roughly 100 troops will go away."
Facing war crimes charges, Kony has transformed himself from a one-time altar boy to a master of jungle survival and evasion. His fighters have become increasingly savvy in concealing their movements, wading through crocodile-infested rivers and walking backwards and in loops to disguise their tracks.
The vicious and often drugged rebels first struck Obo in the early hours of March 6, 2009. They targeted the town's Catholic mission, abducting 76 people.
"We were told they were coming but we didn't believe they would attack the town," said Obo resident Ricardo Dimanche who runs a community radio project urging LRA fighters to give up their weapons.
"The next year they started attacking the small villages around us. Displaced people started flooding in," said Dimanche.
Underscoring the challenge facing the American and regional troops, the LRA launched almost as many attacks in the first three months of this year in CAR as in all of last year, according to U.N. data.
"Nobody has peace of mind now," said Dimanche.
U.S. military officials are reluctant to bet on if and when they might snare Kony.
"The global effort to try to find Osama bin Laden took 10 years with an extraordinary level of effort ... the highest priority for the international intelligence community, and it still took 10 years to find him," General Carter Ham, commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) told a media briefing in Germany ahead of the tightly controlled trip.
"So this is a tough mission."
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He's the least of your concerns with the Arab Muslims still slaughtering Africans from the north working their way south ....
Consuming control and land be means of mass murdering ....
But it is doing something ....
Which is better than doing nothing ....
Anything to change the subject away from Christian terrorism, eh guys?
Big Ben I find it interesting that the west helps to crack down on this brutal so called Christian regime yet does little to help with the genocide that is far more widespread and the result of Jihad and Muslim attacks in Africa. Both groups should be brought to heel. I wonder if Obama is afraid that Christians and the indigenous African tribes will finally get enough and become as brutal as the Muslims on a scale that might actually tip the scale and send the Muslims packing.
Give them love and they abuse it, sound like politics.
fight for freedom-2341533 ....
Well in northern Africa it is the Arab Islamic Muslim Extremists that are aiding in the slaughter of the tribes in the north ....
As long as the tribes commit to Islam , they are not slaughtered but supplied with weapons to slaughter those who are not ....
Toasty, what Christian terrorism?
Unsatisfied with waging 4 wars in Asia: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen, American war lovers and war mongers are now establishing a beach-head for the next new war on the African Continent: Uganda.
For nearly 30 years, America cared less about the African leader Kony. Suddeny, out of the blue, America has sent over 100 special troops to Uganda on the alleged mission to help Uganda's soldiers capture or kill Kony. To save Africa. To save the world from his tyrany. Of course.
As part of the brainwashing program on the American people, the American government propaganda machines have labeled Kony as a child abuser, mass murder, the most evil and dangerous politician in the Africa and even the world. It won't be long when the American government find WMD and terrorists among Kony's army. Then, the full military invasion will begin a la Shock and Awe, and precious young men and women will once again come home in body-bags draped in American flags. Their grieving parents will be told that's the price of Freedom, Liberty, and being an American. Tears turn to joy.
After about ten years of bloodshed and the military expenditure of several trillion dollars, a small detachment of Navy Seal will have secretly descended upon Kony's Kenya condo. A brief exchange of gunfire and a quick burial at sea will then conclude the Kony expedition. And the American people will be so happy that they will stage a ticker-tape confetti parade on Madison Avenue where the Spin Doctors congratulate themselves on a job well-done.
@Panther: US terrorism: the criminal invasion of Iraq, 10+ year occupation of Afghanistan, threatening Pakistan, threatning Iran, silence on Saudi Arabia and Bahraini tyranny against the Shi'a minority in Saudi Arabia and the Shi'a majority in Bahrain, and hyocritical support of Israeli collective punishment against non-Israelis. And now military "advisors" in Africa. Kony is likely dead. No sighting of him in several years. Why is this guy a US problem other than to get US bases in Africa? Empire of dirt.
I think there be oil near by!
@ DOU44: Afghanistan had it coming, and also had the opportunity to hand over the Taliban to the US prior to invasion. They chose not to.
I'd be all for George Bush, Dick Cheney and Armitage being charged with war crimes for Iraq though, without a doubt that was nothing more than a way to feed endless amounts of money into the industrial war complex, while at the same time siphoning resources away from Afghanistan.
Pakistan harbored Bin Laden a few miles from a major military school, shelters the Haqqani network in the Waziristan mountains, and is generally playing both sides. While accepting billions in US aid (Which has since been withheld).
"The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on March 11th, 2010 with 65 Senators as cosponsors, then passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on May 13th, 2010 with 202 Representatives as cosponsors. These 267 Members of Congress helped bring to the President's desk the most widely cosponsored bill Africa-related piece of legislation in the last 37 years, or as far back as electronic records document."
That's why.
Toasty McGrath......
Toasty just being Toasty......DEFLECTION to start a verbal war on Newsvine. Sounds like a Liberal.
His days are numbered we will take him out by the end of the year. Enough Said.
@ DOU: So I guess you are saying that the U.S. is aChristian country right? What about the separation
of church and state? Doesn't that eliminate Christians running the country?
The Iraqi invasion was most likely the result of some scheme from the oil companies (both Bushes from Texas a.k.a. oil country), and anything involving an oil rich country I would look to them. As far as Afghanistan I still wonder about that, U.S. intelligence say Bin Laden admitted to the 9/11 attacks while other non-government sources say he never did. I do not see why there is confusion on this issue when he was so proud of all the other attacks on Americans. Regardless he had to go, but I do not think we needed to invade the whole country to get him.
Panther, the name is in the article.
Lords Resistance Army. (LRA)
Seriously, if the LRA aren't terrorists, who the hell are? Honestly, if you guys can't even read the article, you have no business talking with the grown-ups.
Just because someone says they are a Christian doesn't make them a Christian. Little kids know this, actionss speak louder than words; and the actions of the LRA tell me they are just using the name.
Ah yes, the "No True Scotsman" fallacy. The last bastion of an apologist. Sorry Panther, but like it or not the LRA are Christian terrorists.
These are Christian extremists..
Just like there are Muslim extremists.
The name "Christian" isn't excluded from having the word "extremist" attached to.
@ Toasty; so I'm the President, does that make me the President?
@ Mike; you should determine a person by his actions, not what he or she says they are; the things the LRA are doing are not what Christians are to do according to the new testament so they are just using the name much like our politicians use it to get votes.
We need to send a strong message that crimes against humanity will not be tolerated in this era.
Where are the drones at??? Why do we need boots on the ground there when we have drones now!!!!!!!!!!!
Reading isn't your strong suit, eh?
According to the article you're commenting on, drones have been employed, however the dense nature of the jungle is preventing them from working as well as they'd anticipated.
I guess it would help if I would of read the entire article.. got bored after a few sentences.
LoL, yeah that'll definitely help =)
No one today with the exception of those that have fought in jungles realize how hard it is to gather intelligence there. The drones do give very worthwhile information, but people talk to people. When the people of CAR see American troops, regardless of why they happen to be there, they are much more likely to talk to the army personnel of CAR.
There are around 100 troops, all Special Forces, in this case SEALS. Imagine a state the size of California, landlocked and with a population the size of South Carolina. Imagine being terrorized by a group of drugged thugs; kidnapped, murdered, raped and so on. Just the intelligence garnered warrants our help when asked for. And if State knows about it then it is likely asked for. We're no longer using WMD as an excuse to invade a country, in fact are not invading, rather helping to gather intelligence.
Drones are good and have an excellent record, but in a jungle and not a desert, it's more difficult by degrees for them to do the job properly.
Thus calling those on the ground needless, that drones can do it all, is like saying the moon doesn't need to be there to have and control tides.
Go into a jungle sometime and see for yourself. I've been in both and drones alone just won't do it.
When they catch him, they should beat him for all the children he hurt.
Who will punish Bush- Cheney and Obama- Biden for the Iraqi and Afghani children killed by the USA? Oh yeah, the Empire of Dirt has no judge, I forgot.
not this kony crap again.
Why not, Richard?
Kony is to Uganda and Prabhakaran was to Sri Lanka. Both barbaric and ruthless terrorists. Hopefully the same fate that befell Prabhakaran will befall Kony soon.
Kony is to Uganda as Prabhakaran was to Sri Lanka. Both barbaric and ruthless terrorists. Hopefully the same fate that befell Prabhakaran will befall Kony soon
Once again obama has commited our military without a senate vote. Should obama want to do something useful he could use troops to get rid of the terrorist USA gangs like the cripts and the bloods. It would be totally legal under the NDAA, however; obama would rather do things that wont have any impact on the USA other then soak up a lot of tax dollers. November just can't come soon enough!.
Reading isn't your strong suit is it?
Once again, please read articles before commenting on them, I understand you hate Obama, for whatever reason. Making stupid statements that are refuted in the article you're commenting on kind of ruins your whole point.
Comprehension isn't one of your strong suits as that is a far cry from using our military. The legislation was for non combat engadgement. Try to comprehend our constitution before making stupid comments.
Reading comprehension doesn't appear to be your strong suit either, because it sure sounds to me like they've devised a multi-lateral plan, and are executing it. If you've got a problem with it, write to your Congressman. I'm sure they'll care about your objections to legislation that was passed unanimously in the House of Reps.
@7.62x39mm. The legislation your referring to received record breaking support from congress.
(1) providing political, economic, military, and intelligence support for viable multilateral efforts to protect civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield in the contin-ued absence of a negotiated solution, and to disarm and demobi-lize the remaining Lord's Resistance Army fighters.
"The bill passed unanimously in the Senate on March 11th, 2010 with 65 Senators as cosponsors, then passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on May 13th, 2010 with 202 Representatives as cosponsors. These 267 Members of Congress helped bring to the President's desk the most widely cosponsored bill Africa-related piece of legislation in the last 37 years, or as far back as electronic records document."
Thats from the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which was actually signed into law in 2010. The quote is from theresolve . org.
How is that a "far cry from using our military"? This was signed by pres Obama on May 24, 2010. Are you one of those people who will use ANY kind of misinformation to try and rationalize a reason for disliking Obama? If you are, will you please amuse me with some more of your insightful
argumentsad hominem?@ Xandersch:
He clearly is, probably gets every one of his talking points from Fox News. It's sad how ignorant people allow themselves to be, when it literally takes...10...15 seconds to look this information up. Gotta love those sheeple.
Started under Bush if you care to research the history.
@ DOU44: Research isn't his strong suit.
We will kill the children to get to him. How do you expect this to work?
Most likely, when the first child dies from one of their famous drug induced attacks from U.S. forces defending themselves; we will be condemned and opinion will turn against us. I think we are getting involved in something we have no business in. Why not train local forces to go after this person and just support them as we did to help Libya (no sarcasm intended we did help get rid of Gaddafi). Do not get me
wrong, I have the upmost confidence in our troops; but jungle warfare is the most difficult terrain to conduct operations in. As the article stated even the local troops are worried about the environment more than the LRA, besides I thought we were cutting defense spending; aren’t we?
Panther, I am for surgical operations as they take out cancer before it spreads and are overall inexpensive as compared to the other style operation, like Iraq 10 years with 100,000 troops and logistics etc... this is more bang for the buck and many more lives saved. and a short duration of course and good help from America more likely to be appreciated.
My question is if there is any evidence to support that he is still alive? Have there been documented sightings or are they chasing a ghost?
Toaster, what religion do you hail from anyway?
Hell?
I always wondered.
?
I'm skeptical of all fairy tales that adults somehow didn't manage to outgrow, VR.
Kony can only be truly stopped from hurting people behind bars. Yet, people like him will continue to prey on the region until true democracy is established. The people of Africa can handle their own affairs but the forces of dictatorship are strong and the road will be hard. Please see my website...
democracychronicles.com
Hey MSNBC, how many civilians have died in Iraq and Afghanistan due to our intervention? Do you guys just talk about whats politically
correcttrendy?(Btw, there have been at least 132,000 civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, and some estimates are over 1,000,000..) If you dont believe me, look it up yourself.
It is certainly not one million. It is very high, but exaggeration serves no purpose.
Looking objectively at US atrocities against civilians is never in the current script. Iraqis young and old died in the tens of thousands in Bush's war of lies, and Americans did not want to know preferring to belive Pentagon mythology.
Ok, thats why I said estimates. The civilian casualty rate should not be overshadowed by upper range estimates.
Im just trying to point out the sensationalism (yellow journalism?) thats running rampant in the mainstream media.
People like Kony keep this world interesting.
Jackin' it jackin' it, jackity jack!
Spankin' it, jackin' it smackity smack!
Jackin' for the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ummm, Just a quick question. As a retired NAVY man myself I am curious how does a man become a Captain ( 0-6 rank) at 29? Since he is listed as a SEAL in the story, he must be a Naval Officer. I have NEVER met or served under a Captain, or the equvalent rank of Colonel who is that young. If that simple anomaly was missed, how many other facts are wrong in this story?.......
A captain in the Navy is not the same as a Capt in the marines or army.....a capt. is an O3 rank......
If running around after a largely inactive warlord (who's ideals are founded in yet another bazaar twist in the application of Christianity) makes you feel good , fine. In the end that's all this pursuit us good for. The Kony 2012 deal is largely contrived anyway.
Truth is - Life in most of North Africa is cheap. Trying to change it is a waste of everyone's time. If it wasn't for the oil reserves in that part of the world, you can bet no one would have paid this any mind. Leave things be and stop wasting lives and money chasing wind and ghosts.
@Bret Meir - Understanding English seems to be going the way of the dodo. The article stated that he identified himself as Captain. It didn't say he was a Captain.
Read and learn how to comprehend the difference between calling yourself something and actually being that something.
Kony has not been seen in several years. African commanders are wondering what the US is doing there since press reports that US soldiers don't leave their outposts.
Special Forces aren't typically manning outposts, that's a bit beneath their purview. And we're there because the House and Senate felt it an important enough situation, that the US should be involved.
In the caption to the picture, It says that encounters with the LRA are uncommon and far between. And nobody has actually seen or heard from this guy in years? And what are we doing there? Oh yeah, that guy caught naked and masturbating while drunk made a video about him. My bad.
Believe it or not, we've actually been working on this one for quite some time, the Kony 2012 video only raised public awareness. The US Gov't has been involved in the LRA issue as far back as 2008, and likely further. Legislation was passed unanimously in both the House and Senate (In March 2011) to have the Obama Administration work to aid the regional powers in destabilizing the LRA and Kony.
@Quagmire
San Diego...Come, take a load off!
"The global effort to try to find Osama bin Laden took 10 years with an extraordinary level of effort ... the highest priority for the international intelligence community, and it still took 10 years to find him," General Carter Ham, commander of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) told a media briefing in Germany ahead of the tightly controlled trip.
Yeah, it's because the Pakies were helping and hiding him in a garrison town, I think we all figured that out this far.
As far as Kony, he's got the best of the worst on his back. I trust the boys will get him in due time.
The power of programming... I have heard that this is a hoax all the way, like the Blair Witch Project and what really makes me mad is the blatant emotional manipulation, and the story of Peter and the Wolf. If we all jump at a shadow boogey man, I don't think we will be so likely to leap when a REAL Monster is out there - o - we've been manipulated again - nope, I'm jaded - not going there again...
There is far too much speculation of credibility of a variety information exchanged herein. From our [in]abilities to fully understand the multitude of issues in this subject and the underlying atrocities allegedly perpetuated by an alter boy, coupled with the role of the US, the UN & African Governments, our comments seem very petty! Pitting Christians, Muslims, Catholics & Jews against policies of the US Constitution, political affiliations & foreign affairs begs conspiracy theorist's complications to assure controversial management by the 'media'.
As the search for Joseph Kony continues, it's important not to lose sight of the importance of helping the people of Uganda better their situations. For several years, Walsh University students and faculty have been involved in projects in northern Uganda.
Walsh University graduate students and faculty have been involved in a “train the trainer” project with the Archdiocese of Gulu. The project creates a cadre of para-counselors with abilities to provide grief counseling and conflict resolution to this war-torn region. Recently, a team led by our Provost, Dr. Laurence Bove and our Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Christopher Petrosino traveled to Gulu to consult on curriculum, administration, and facilities for a new university which the Archbishop has founded.
Additionally, for the last 4years in southern Uganda, Walsh students and faculty have directed a project which provides microfinancing loans to women in the Ziika Village. The work help this women formulate sustainable business goals which directly benefit the economy of this community.
Walsh also offers an M.A. in Educational Leadership to local Ugandan students. There are currently 125 Ugandans enrolled in the program which offers Ugandans an opportunity to bring best practices in educational administration to their home schools and districts without incurring the expense of traveling and studying in the U.S.
For more information, please view the following video: