Joesph Kony May Have Reached the End of the Road

The U.S. government has recently created a bill; LRA Disarment and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which will seemingly play a large role in ending the conflict in Africa.

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"The introduction of this bill demonstrates the growing consensus on the need for greater U.S. leadership to disarm top LRA leaders and permanently end this violence," said U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA). "At the same time, it will ensure that the U.S. steps up to aid communities affected by the most recent LRA attacks and assist in long-term recovery efforts in northern Uganda."

During the past 23 years, a war has been occurring between two groups of people in Uganda: the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU).

The LRA is a rebel army led by Joseph Kony, who is the top criminal wanted by the International Criminal Court. It is estimated that more than 90% of Kony’s army consists of abducted children. Kony and the LRA have abducted 66,000 children throughout the war; leaving parents uncertain if their children would return or even survive.

Background to the Conflict

It all started when the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, came to power through the National Resistance Army, which used violence to become the leading party in the country and thus, this is why the LRA was formed. It wanted to justify the situation and overthrow the government, but the rebels went about it all wrong.

Kony is feared because he is often associated with possessing spiritual powers. He has his army surrounding and protecting him with guns at all times, but the sad part is that again his army is mostly made of children. Many are dismayed to think these young children carrying guns, some as young as eight years old, are not even given the chance to live a life that is considered even remotely humane.

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Attempts for Peace

The GoU tried to protect their people in 1996 by putting individuals in displacement camps. But, the overcrowding conditions and effects of starvation and disease have caused 1,000 of them to die every week. Further many innocent lives are being taken by the LRA, as well as many people who live in fear.

Nations around the world, along with the U.S. have offered their assistance and supported peace agreements to be signed in the past several years. But, Kony has refused to give up his power and leadership.

Think about this for a second. The children in Uganda have experienced nothing but war during their whole lives. If you can understand to an extent what they possibly could be going through then you should be able to look at your life in a whole new light. You will become deeply grateful for all that you have because the children are not thought about, they are not protected nor safe, and they live in fear. They are invisible children and they do not deserve to be.

"We must not allow Joseph Kony and the LRA, who have forced children to do unspeakable acts and destroyed the lives of millions, to continue their reign of terror," said Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), who was a member of the group of U.S. Senators and Representatives involved with the new legislation to end the LRA's violence in Uganda. "The strategy required by this bill would address the conditions in northern Uganda that originally gave rise to the LRA and if unchanged, could re-ignite violence in the north."

The Solution

"Invisible Children" is also the name of an organization that is focused to bring peace to Africa’s longest war in history. In 2003, three young men from Southern California: Laren Poole, Jason Russell, and Bobby Bailey (then 20, 24, 21), who visited Uganda for a trip that was intended to be an adventure, but it became their new mission. They learned about the children who were hiding from Kony at night (night commuting), since that's when they were most likely to be abducted from the LRA.

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The young filmmakers returned to the U.S. and made a documentary about what they saw. They wanted to attract anyone and everyone to see the film on their website or in communities across the nation, so the public could become aware of what was happening in Uganda.

"Invisible Children has done an excellent job of bringing attention to a conflict that has gone nearly ignored," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma City in an article produced for his website.

The Invisible Children organization is devoted to helping the children of Uganda. A common resource we all mostly share in America is education. It is a valuable opportunity that many of the youth of Uganda cannot seize as easily as us. Invisible Children is trying to solve that problem as well with their program, "Schools For Schools."

As of 2009, there still was no peace in Uganda, so another film was made, “The Rescue.” Their latest documentary gives the history of the war; they breakdown every aspect of the war and describe the conflict in a way that is interesting and comprehensible. At the end of the film, it promotes their rally proposition, which was held April 25.

This is a great example of how the youth today can make a difference in society. These leaders of Invisible Children represent the young generation and how they want to be the change in the world. Many schools throughout the nation viewed their documentaries and have helped increase overall awareness about the little known issue in Uganda.

Is peace possible? It all rests in the hands of one man, Joesph Kony. Until he faces reality and comes to grip with what he is doing, then this genocide will continue to destroy innocent lives of children in Uganda.

What can you do to help?

-Educate-learn everything there is to know about this crisis and then tell people about it. The more people who become aware of Invisible Children, the more opportunities there will be for peace in Uganda.

-Stay informed with up to date news on Invisible Children's home page.

-Participate in the youth movement-The organization holds rallies all around the nation (usually once a year) to show our government that we are serious about the need for change in Uganda. The next rally, "How It Ends," will be held June 22-23 in Washington D.C. It will be a forum where the men who founded Invisible Children will speak along with a few national political leaders. There is expected to be a number of supporters attending as well.

Also you could join an Amnesty International club at your high school or college and help allow your community to be aware and get involved. You could have people sign petitions or write letters and send them to the government to entice them to take further action on this issue.

The time for peace is now.

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