There are pivotal moments in history that lead the future down one of two paths for those fortunate or unfortunate enough to be tied into the juncture; and yet often, when both paths are clearly posted and easily predictable in outcome, we will allow the wrong path to be taken. And these are paths that cannot walked in reverse; the roads to the future are only one way. They are the paths and roads and arteries that are comprised of man's action towards other men, and thus the history and future of this world.
Paths have been guided by both sword and plowshare. British military intervention in Sierra Leone in 2005 saved countless thousands of lives and restored hope to millions; the action of the British was surprisingly unselfish, and guided the troubled country and region on a road to decency. Moving back to 1994, however, the path of violent extremism was chosen, with the full complicency of the western powers, in Rwanda; almost a million people died on this particularly bloody road, and those with the ability to change the course of the future stood by and actively did nothing.
States and regions at tenuous moments in their history do need outside intervention if the outcome can be easily fortold and the consequences understandably grave. We must learn from our past mistakes of inaction in the face of untold and easily preventable bloodshed and genocide; we, the Western military powers, must guide the correct, and moral path of action as a symptom of humanity in troubled times.
According to news reports, the people of Northern Uganda, once again, find themselves standing barefoot in this critical juncture, facing the paths of war and peace, of life and death, as plain and clear as day. As so often is the case, it is the innocent civilians who will bear the brunt of this nascent war. Terrorized by the Lords Resistance Army, a messianic-cult like outfit for decades, the people of northern Uganda have become ghosts; a chance at peace and normalcy was so close, yet terribly ephemeral, just months ago. Yet Joseph Kony, the genocidal leader of the rebel army, balked at normalcy, balked at life, and walked away from peace talks in South Sudan; he is now actively engaged in reviving his war which will undoubtedly cost the lives of thousands more innocent victims.
According to Reuters, "Ugandan rebels have killed 23 people including 14 south Sudanese soldiers and "started war", a south Sudanese minister said on Saturday. Wednesday's raid by Lord's Resistance Army guerrillas at Nabanga village on the remote Congo border appeared to signal the collapse of peace talks with the Ugandan government that have been hosted by south Sudan since mid-2006."
It is difficult to see a more lucid example calling out for swift, targeted military action by the US anywhere in the world. I am not a proponent of war; but I am a proponent of using a vast military machine to preserve life in dire situations.
According to news reports, the people of Northern Uganda, once again, find themselves standing barefoot in this critical juncture, facing the paths of war and peace, of life and death, as plain and clear as day. As so often is the case, it is the innocent civilians who will bear the brunt of this nascent war. Terrorized by the Lords Resistance Army, a messianic-cult like outfit for decades, the people of northern Uganda have become ghosts; a chance at peace and normalcy was so close, yet terribly ephemeral, just months ago. Yet Joseph Kony, the genocidal leader of the rebel army, balked at normalcy, balked at life, and walked away from peace talks in South Sudan; he is now actively engaged in reviving his war which will undoubtedly cost the lives of thousands more innocent victims.
According to Reuters, "Ugandan rebels have killed 23 people including 14 south Sudanese soldiers and "started war", a south Sudanese minister said on Saturday. Wednesday's raid by Lord's Resistance Army guerrillas at Nabanga village on the remote Congo border appeared to signal the collapse of peace talks with the Ugandan government that have been hosted by south Sudan since mid-2006."
It is difficult to see a more lucid example calling out for swift, targeted military action by the US anywhere in the world. I am not a proponent of war; but I am a proponent of using a vast military machine to preserve life in dire situations.
The United States has extensive diplomatic and military ties with Museveni's government in Uganda; a coordinated Special Forces strike against the Lord's Resistance Army, decapitating the leadership of the group, could and would prevent untold suffering and regional war that will be wrought by the predictably macabre hands of Kony. Reuters adds, "Kony and two of his deputies are wanted by the ICC in The Hague for crimes including massacres, rapes and the kidnapping of children as sex slaves and fighters in their insurgency." This is the degree of madman faced by the innocents of East Africa.
The two paths are clearly defined in Northern Uganda; the path of inaction, of mass killing and turmoil wrought, yet again, by the Lords Resistance Army; and the path of action, of intervention, of removing this threat before further destruction and devastation can be brought upon Ugandan and Sudanese civilians. Northern Uganda lies at a critical juncture with two roads leading in two very different directions; the United States must set a precedent and lead the world down the correct road.
