Advisors sent to Uganda to help against the Lords Resistance Army

[Cain]

I can't say this outcome terribly upsets me, the Lord's Resistance Army being perfect proof that the most insane actions and beliefs of Islamist terrorists groups can be mirrored through the power of Christian theology, tribal greivances, poverty and batshit insanity.

On the other hand, those guys are all probably Special Forces, the point being when you fight an insurgency you usually don't send engineers to teach the locals how to do it (which I personally think shows a lack of creative thinking, given how dangerous an engineer with unlimited manpower and a military budget can be) and Special Forces tend to dislike just sitting around the place, preferring instead to teach through example.

And the more they get involved, the more reasons will be found to send a few more advisors, and a few more...until suddenly there are thousands of the bastards, predator drones flying everywhere and the State Department advising that you never take a holiday in Uganda again.

It should be noted, the Ugandan government are no slouches when it comes to insurgencies.  Most of them were insurgents, back in the day, and more than a few of them fought along side the Rwandan Patriotic Front...who went on to smash the shit out of a nation 90 times larger than them, once they took back control of Rwanda.  In other words, they're not idiots, but they're still struggling to take down the LRA without help.

[Cain]

I should have called this, as I was most certainly thinking it:  Rush Limbaugh is attacking Obama for attacking "Christians".  Yes, by that he means the Lord's Resistance Army.  Who knew Rush Limbaugh was such a fan of black people committing rape and murder?

Lord's Resistance Army are Christians.  They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan. ... So that's a new war, a hundred troops to wipe out Christians in Sudan, Uganda, and -- (interruption) no, I'm not kidding.  Jacob Tapper just reported it. ...

Lord's Resistance Army objectives.  I have them here.  "To remove dictatorship and stop the oppression of our people." Now, again Lord's Resistance Army is who Obama sent troops to help nations wipe out.  The objectives of the Lord's Resistance Army, what they're trying to accomplish with their military action in these countries is the following:  "To remove dictatorship and stop the oppression of our people; to fight for the immediate restoration of the competitive multiparty democracy in Uganda; to see an end to gross violation of human rights and dignity of Ugandans; to ensure the restoration of peace and security in Uganda, to ensure unity, sovereignty, and economic prosperity beneficial to all Ugandans, and to bring to an end the repressive policy of deliberate marginalization of groups of people who may not agree with the LRA ideology."  Those are the objectives of the group that we are fighting, or who are being fought and we are joining in the effort to remove them from the battlefield.

Later on, Rush discovers he made a boo-boo:

Is that right? The Lord's Resistance Army is being accused of really bad stuff? Child kidnapping, torture, murder, that kind of stuff? Well, we just found out about this today. We're gonna do, of course, our due diligence research on it. But nevertheless we got a hundred troops being sent over there to fight these guys -- and they claim to be Christians.

Note: the LRA has been fighting since 1987.  Rush Limbaugh: cutting edge news, from 24 years ago.

Edit: Irony bonus.  Limbaugh claims "they are fighting the Muslims in Sudan"....which is true.  But for a long time, they were fighting the Muslims the government in Khartoum told them to fight.  So, uh, yeah.  Nice catch.

[The Rev]

Maybe I'm just fed up, but this, to me is the US just spreading more of our number 1 export, war.

[Placid Dingo]

Maybe I'm just fed up, but this, to me is the US just spreading more of our number 1 export, war.

Against these particular fuckers, I'm happy with it.

[Cain]

The main problem I have with applying a moral calculus to the USA and its wars is that you would quickly become very confused.

Yes, the USA is fighting against the likes of the LRA, Taliban and Al-Qaeda.  On the other hand, it tends to do so by allying with the likes of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi, Ethiopia and Afghan warlords.  Obviously, there is a bit of a problem here, if religious fanaticism, cruelty and despotism are the enemy, that the US is pursuing alliances with people who are, on second glance, not much different to the people they are fighting.

We should recall, for instance, the religious influences that have led to the Ugandan Parliament to outlaw homosexual sex, and engage in witch hysteria.

Every empire claims to be acting to bring civilization (ie; human rights, in the modern day parlance) in those situations it is intervening in, and of course peace.  However, few have failed so abysmally in those attempts as the USA in the post Cold War world has.  It's gotten to the point that more than a few seriously smart and influential people believe the US is purposefully creating the conditions for endless global chaos, simply so it can continue to pose as the "champion of the free world".  Global peace, the aim of many empires, would actually cause the USA to become less influential, and so must be avoided at all costs.

[The Rev]

The main problem I have with applying a moral calculus to the USA and its wars is that you would quickly become very confused.

Yes, the USA is fighting against the likes of the LRA, Taliban and Al-Qaeda.  On the other hand, it tends to do so by allying with the likes of Uzbekistan and Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi, Ethiopia and Afghan warlords.  Obviously, there is a bit of a problem here, if religious fanaticism, cruelty and despotism are the enemy, that the US is pursuing alliances with people who are, on second glance, not much different to the people they are fighting.

We should recall, for instance, the religious influences that have led to the Ugandan Parliament to outlaw homosexual sex, and engage in witch hysteria.

Every empire claims to be acting to bring civilization (ie; human rights, in the modern day parlance) in those situations it is intervening in, and of course peace.  However, few have failed so abysmally in those attempts as the USA in the post Cold War world has.  It's gotten to the point that more than a few seriously smart and influential people believe the US is purposefully creating the conditions for endless global chaos, simply so it can continue to pose as the "champion of the free world".  Global peace, the aim of many empires, would actually cause the USA to become less influential, and so must be avoided at all costs.

A perfect summation. Special Forces need to topple the U.S. government.

[Placid Dingo]

Without disagreeing on any particular point, the level of pain caused by child solders, even after being liberated, etc, leaves me thinking this is not such a bad intervention.

[The Rev]

Without disagreeing on any particular point, the level of pain caused by child solders, even after being liberated, etc, leaves me thinking this is not such a bad intervention.

And I think we need to mind our own fucking business and fix the US first.

[East Coast Hustle]

I wonder what the C Street house gang thinks about this.