President Barack Obama is sending about 100 US combat troops to Africa to hunt down and fight the leaders of the Christian rebel militant group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in and around Uganda.
“I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield,” Obama said in letter sent Friday to House Speaker John Boehner. Joseph Kony is the head of the LRA.
Obama’s letter promised that US troops would not engage LRA forces “unless necessary for self-defense.” But considering the deployment’s provocative nature, this caveat is probably meaningless.
“I believe that deploying these US armed forces furthers US national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa,” Obama said. How exactly a poor rebel group in Uganda is a concern for US national security was not specified.
Obama’s claim that the LRA is a legitimate national security concern is presumably supposed to simply be accepted without any evidence or explanation; truth by presidential decree. But it is also notable how quickly and easily, in disregard for the Constitutional requirements, the President can send American troops to far off places without Congressional approval.
Humanitarian intervention was again the hallmark of the justification for this military engagement. Obama noted that the group “has murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of men, women, and children in central Africa” and “continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan,” but the US supports and has supported similar atrocities and chooses to ignore comparable ones in other places, making humanitarian concerns unlikely in this case.
Obama’s military interventions were difficult to count even before this latest engagement. But his administration’s martial proclivities are proving to be vastly more wide-ranging than his hawkish predecessors.
Lemme see here, this is war number 8? Afghaniscam, check. Iraq, check. Yeman, check. Somalia, check. Libya, check. Oh sorry my bad, it's 5. But if you throw in the pending war on Iran that makes 6 and President Slapnut is itching to rage on Syria so, that'd be 7. I think I missed 1 or 2 somewhere. Oh wait, Slappy got some sh*t brewing in Guatemala right? Then of course there's 'fast and furious' Mexico. Dang, where else did I miss? Balkans? US is still there, right? Uganda? Obama has slipped into the darkside of military insanity 4 sure. So many damn wars 'o' raging it's hard to keep track.
You left out Pakistan. And Nigeria, they're droning them there too now.
Don´t forget about the only “declared war” since WW-II, the 40 year War on Drugs. There has been serious talk lately about combining the war on terror with the war on drugs – isn´t that what happens when you declare drug cartels as terrorists? Does this automatically make our war on terror a declared war too, or perhaps it automatically becomes a lost war like the war on drugs? Declared and Lost at the same time, that´s a new one.
This warmongering is getting complicated. Whatever happened to the good old days when the Kings and Princes went off to fight their wars?
War on Poverty. Another smashing success.
Obama paid his $14.95 for membership in the War-of-the-Month Club.
That has really worked out well for Barack. He gets at least one war a month with Bonus Drone Kills in the county of his choice.
You know, I just can't believe that this is as it looks. Not to remove the responsibility from Obama's shoulders but this is so out-of-character. This guy is a scholar. The stuff that is going on is something we could have expected to come from John McCrazy McCain. Constant and increasing militarism is not something one would expect to come from a scholar, Constitutional or not.
So, I have to believe (to maintain my own sanity???) that Obomber is completely bought and is being told how things will go down. As mentioned somewhere online recently, this is so PNACian and neoconish. Now, that doesn't excuse what the Obama administration is doing. It does however cause one to think seriously about the current crop of republican job seekers. Imagine one of those bible-thumpers being able to send 100 special ops killers anywhere in the world and not have to answer to anyone.
He grew up listening to advocates of ultra-violence and started his political career in corrupt Chicago. Mix corruption and the condoning of the use of violence and this is what you get. I hope he never feels that he can get away with "crossing the Rubicon."
Hey 'liberals'….hope you recognize that Obomba has become Bill Kristol's wet dream. From PNAC's infamous 2000 "Rebuilding America's Defenses" document:
"perform the “constabulary” duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;"
If you look up 'constabulary', you'll probably see a picture of about 100 US combat troops chasing down rebel thugs to bring Joseph Kony (huh?) to justice. Let's see how many still turn out en masse for the Peace Prize Winner.
And to those who voted for Bush and his hyper-aggressive foreign policy, these are the fruits of the seeds he had sown. To the fathers and mothers of folks in the military, I pray for you. And I pray that you will join the non-interventionist/Come Home America movement to make sure that your sons and daughters aren't called upon to do anything more than defend our nation.
Thank God for antiwar.com. Peace be with you.
Why don't you Americans add to the checks and balances as needed? In casu to demand the prresident himself walks first into any battles in Uganda. Or at least will be held responsible, as judged by a referendum – NOT by congress – with everything he owns? Including pensions.
Uganda now? Cool! The madness is spreading like butter on a hot toast. This as the news is released that the US official deficit is 1.3 TRILLION bucks. I guess Obomber wants to make sure that if the US is not his, all his [insert evil laugh], it's nobody else's either.
This guy is invading more countries then Hitler. Congress is a joke.
So much for the War Powers Resolution OBAMA has made mincemeat of the American Constitution and all that the LAND OF THE FREE stood for in the past.
The USA is now the DONKEY who will privide mercenaries to any tinpot government for some perceived if illusionary benefit to HIM and his war Mad cronies in the White House and Congress AND TO HELL WITH WHATS GOOD FOR AMERICA.
WTF?? Uganda??
At least it brings the Empire that much closer to the edge of the abyss.
Hey, skulz, there's really no way to keep count anymore. Even if you thought you knew all of them, there's some secret ones going on somewhere else.
Last summer, the US sent 7000 Marines, five planes and 46 warships to Costa Rica supposedly for the 'War on Drugs.' Haven't heard whether they left or not; they were supposed to be there for only six months. But knowing the US, once they get troops into a country, they don't leave. http://www.military.com/news/article/costa-rica-t…
The prupose here is to distract us from the absurd so called "Iranian plot" featuring a failed Texas used car dealer with a direct line to the boss man in Tehran….
"These developments will be a source of anxiety for Tullow Oil, the Irish company with the biggest stake in Uganda’s oil, since lawmakers have resolved to delay the sale of its Ugandan assets until necessary new laws have been introduced. What this means is that, if their resolutions are followed, Tullow’s $2.9 billion deal with the Chinese firm CNOOC and the French oil giant Total would be in jeopardy. The resolutions also complicate a legal process in which Tullow Oil and the government of Uganda are locked in a dispute over outstanding taxes. Analysts say the resolutions of the lawmakers have no legal force, making it likely that the authorities may ignore them."
http://thinkafricapress.com/uganda/parliament-blo…
"Officially, Uganda is believed to have oil reserves of up to 2.5 billion barrels in the Albertine Graben, up from 300 million barrels recorded in 2006. With the current pace of drilling and recent finds, some analysts have said Uganda could be producing around 150,000 barrels of oil per day by 2015, a development that would place the country among top 50 oil producing nations."
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1…
I am quite sure this new interest in Uganda has nothing to do with a recent discovery of oil fields in the country.
A British company got caught bribing some Ugandan ministers!
Perhaps it promotes democracy by keeping a leader who has been in absolute power for 30 years?
Mike
And so it begins.
So much for hope and change. Obomba is just another tool of the MIC.
The Empire is anxious to get things straightened out in the Middle East and Africa so that is hegemony there cannot be challenged when it turns its attention to China.
And it must pacify both regions because it is not wise to engage an enemy when you have another enemy at your back – or at your East,
Why can't America just mind its own business?
When it comes to starting wars, Obama is hotter than a two dollar pistol in a gun fight.
(if only he was swashbuckling with a two dollar pistol rather than the biggest military on the planet.)
Just what I'd expect from the Unnobel Piece Prize President…er I mean the Nobel Peace Prize President.
After all, we live in a world where lies are truth, murder is self-defense and gummit is here to save us from all those bad guys.
It is imperative that Congress break the power of the Executive.
Whole lot of good that'll do.
"Long considered one of Africa’s most brutal rebel groups, the Lord’s Resistance Army began its attacks in Uganda more than 20 years ago. But the rebels are at their weakest point in 15 years. Their forces are fractured and scattered, and the Ugandan military estimated earlier this year that only 200 to 400 fighters remain. In 2003 the LRA had 3,000 armed troops and 2,000 people in support roles."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/why-se…
Possible Political Objective 1:
Someone has to give those rebels a second wind, and they might have members nuts enough to attack the U.S. on it's home soil within the next twelve months — thus handing a National Security ticket to Obama: The Tool that Wall Street bought with U.S. tax payers money, three years back!
Entebbe, Uganda being one of my homes on the planet, I can say that this news is about two years old. There have already been more than that many soldiers in Uganda already. And Uganda means DRC, Central African Republic, South Sudan, and Somalia. Disclosure of this news means there is a new escalation beyond what has been described. Next year there will be an announcement that will describe more or less what happened this week.
We'll kick butts on those evil fellows within six weeks. What could possibly go wrong??
They probably dropped a zero or two from that "official" figure.
More of the same is there anyway to stop this without killing millions and possibly billions of people.We really need Ron Paul as president.Some might not agree with some of the things he says but at least you now were he is coming from and will follow the constitution strictly.Thats a great start.
It's a little hard to believe that 100 soldiers were simply dropped off in Uganda. For one thing, how will they get their McDonalds or Popeye's Chicken?
I wonder how many spooks, mercenaries and State Department ghouls are included in the "regional forces" our soldiers are assisting.
I don't understand why the author says this was without Congressional approval. It was approved in the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which passed in mid 2010 (with not a single objection in either house).
It's somewhat puzzling that the author is not aware of this, as it is mentioned prominently in Obama's letter to Congress, which the author quotes from extensively.
Please link me to something that indicates this was passed. All I can find on the bill is that it was never passed into law. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h11…
Okay – seeing it now – signed into law on May 24,2010 – This explains why Ron Paul hasn't made a statement on this yet.
Oil has been discovered in Uganda. The leader of that country has been paid millions of dollars in bribes by western oil corporations that want contracts to extract the Ugandan oil. Other members of the government discovered that corruption and, on Wednesday, Oct. 12, they announced that all contracts and actions with respect to the oil extraction was being put on hold until they could get to the bottom of this corruption. Two days later, on Friday, Obama announced that he was sending in armed U.S. military troops to Uganda. Probably to protect the president puppet who is taking bribes from western oil corporations. One thing is sure: sending troops in is a clear message to everyone in that country that if they do not get out of the way and allow their oil to be stolen, they will be invaded by the whole U.S. military, or possibly just by drones. This also is certain: the government of the Kill-The-Gays laws is now being protected by the U.S. military while they suck the money out of their own country, betray their own people, and do as all good puppets do: follow orders.
Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda. Hell, why not invade all of Africa at once. It would be easier and would more sense. Good to see, however, that while there's absolutely no money at home for education, unemployment, healthcare, SS, food stamp, we can always come with wads for invading and waging war against defenseless countries.
Why do we even have a Congress? – NOT a word of protest from any member of Congress against Obama involving America in yet another war.
The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act was passed by congress and signed into law in May of 2010. If you were committed to true and ethical journalism, you would have researched this and found out that congress did give approval for military involvement of this sort.