-Betty Bigombe, a former Ugandan government minister who is involved in negotiations with the Lord’s Resistance Army, on why children are abducted and used as soldiers in so many conflicts around the world
According to the PBS website:
Children are sought after because they are obedient, daring and abundant. Many child soldiers are abducted or recruited by force; others join as an escape from poverty, for the perceived sense of belonging and protection, or to avenge violence against family members. For some children armed groups are a source of food and their best hope for survival.
Since 1986 the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has battled with the Ugandan government in an effort to establish a theocratic state. As many as 66,000 children were abducted by the LRA during two decades of conflict. In some regions of Uganda, nearly a quarter of LRA forces were girls. Child soldiers were also used, to a lesser degree, by the national army, local defense units, and government-backed militias.
Wide Angle on PBS is one of the few news outlets which brings the untold stories from the untold creases of the world; I commend Aaron Brown for his unconventional angle, for covering stories such as the child soldiers of the Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda; stories that affect the lives of countless souls who live without a common voice.
Joseph Kony and his unique band of psychopathic, Messianic killers have ravaged northern Uganda for decades; they have recently walked out of peace talks with the US backed government in Kampala, and promise more of the same ravaging of civil society. When is the time for foreign military intervention? What is the correct situation for a global military power to step in, use its superior intelligence gathering capabilities, and capture and/or kill the leadership of a rebel group fighting for the sake of destruction? The personal stories of some of the former child soldiers of the Lords Resistance Army, abducted from their villages and lives, raped and terrorized into killing their families and relatives at the whim of commanders, was aired by Wide Angle. The individual stories of individuals trying to resurrect their shattered lives. This is such an important issue which gets little media attention; thank you PBS.
What can I do?
http://www.bettybigombefoundation.com/
http://www.childsoldiers.net/
