The L.R.A.(Lord's Resistance Army) ravages Africa, but who cares?

[VictimOfScience]

From this article...

Northern Uganda is centered on the headstreams of the Nile rather than the Jordan, and is a strange place for me to find myself put in mind of Faulkner, but every evening at dusk the main town of Gulu starts to be inundated by a mass of frightened humanity, panting, hurrying, and murmuring as it moves urgently through the crepuscular hours. Most of the "night commuters," as they are known locally, are children. They leave their outlying villages and walk as many as eight kilometers to huddle for safety in the towns. And then, in the morning, often without breakfast and often without shoes, they walk all the way back again to get to their schools and their families. That's if the former have not been burned and the latter have not been butchered. These children are not running toward Jordan and the Lord; they are running for their lives from the "Lord's Resistance Army" (L.R.A.). This grotesque, zombie-like militia, which has abducted, enslaved, and brainwashed more than 20,000 children, is a kind of Christian Khmer Rouge and has for the past 19 years set a standard of cruelty and ruthlessness that—even in a region with a living memory of Idi Amin—has the power to strike the most vivid terror right into the heart and the other viscera.

I knew Africa was full of serious horror, but this is a very visceral and explicit example of just how grave the situation over there is.

The problem? No one cares.

The solution? Take a look at what China is doing.

 

[CptStern]

supplemental info:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm



I had forgotten about these madmen. Funny enough the LRA want to establish a government based on the Ten Commandments ..errr sorry 9 Commandments because apparently they dont follow the 5th commandment "thou shall not murder"

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

My auntie spend some time in uganda doing charitable work, it sounds horrific.




Put it into context, she spent a long time there... you reckon she got used to the violence... the shooting.. the danger?


I was with her on christmas eve and she is no longer comfortable watching fireworks displays because of the large explosions.






How can so many people ignor the plight endured by these people?
Its inhuman and it deeply saddens me.

 

[Solaris]

Yet we spend our time chasing WMDs, whilst genocide is still going on.

 

[marksmanHL2 :)]

Yet we spend our time chasing WMDs, whilst genocide is still going on.

Indeed. And it would probably be a hell of alot easier to stop this.

 

[Lemonking]

I had a girl in my Class form Germany once, she was form Uganda her whole family got murderd right in front of her eyes .....alota crazy shit in africa

 

[Solaris]

Yet we allow our companies to sell the b******s weapons.

 

[Sulkdodds]

An occasion that Solaris makes utter and perfect sense. I mean jesus christ.

 

[Flyingdebris]

i've never heard of this group before today, sounds horrible. I don't think its so much that no one cares, but that hardly anyone seems to be reporting this.

 

[Kangy]

Well, actually, I'd like to see evidence the US has ever sold weapons to the LRA before I start blaming "OMGZ THE WEST" for all the problems out there. It is very horrific, though, I definitely think the attention we put on Iraq and Afghanistan should be redirected to deal with these bastards.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Well, actually, I'd like to see evidence the US has ever sold weapons to the LRA before I start blaming "OMGZ THE WEST" for all the problems out there. It is very horrific, though, I definitely think the attention we put on Iraq and Afghanistan should be redirected to deal with these bastards.

well, actualy it's more likly that the old Soviet Union is to blame. The vast majority of weapons in Africa are either Soviet/Wasaw Pact/Chinese imports or locally made copies. This is because under the old regime no-one ever got patents which means that anyone can, perfectly legally, manufacture most weapons of the era. The most prolific example of this is, of course, the AK-47.

And the west do have quite a bit to awnser for in reguard to the proliferation of weapons in Africa.

Whilst I believe that we should be dealing with these problems, I dont think any major western power will. Remember what happened last time the US got involved in peace keeping in Africa. And they still need to sort out Afghanistan and Iraq before they can even begin to deal with these issues.

 

[Ome_Vince]

its not the weapons that rip up Africa, its our world mini-problems being fouth out by the africans, Religion, communism etc.
I have lived in Africa for 6 years and still have some good contacts there.
I lived in both Zimbabwe and ivory coast.
What you see is the same, our conflicts translated into theirs.
for instance, Africa had its own religions, and is now split into Islam vs Christanity.
Christian governments wish to push the islamic africans out, and Islamic governments systimatically whipe the christians out.
In Darfur you see our western cash is being used by militants to starve the christian population, and in Nigeria the same religious wars are going on.
Whats to be expected for the rest of the world sadly, is allready happening in Africa.
But the most sad story about Africa remains that of Congo, where the Belgiums named the "pretty black men with thin noses" Hutu's and the "ugly dark blacks" tutsi's. Note these were all 1 tribe once...
The Belgiums decided to play "zoo" with Africa and its people and what turned out was one of the largest genocides of the last 50 years.
Since these now 2 newly formed people started assaulting each other, which they used to do with sticks and stones, they now do with Ak47's and gnades which ofcourse works alot better in genocide fragging.
Sad but true, we make money of it too...

I think for once, we should stop interfearing with africa completely. Just send them cash to build up their countries. Sending food doesnt help either.
Sponsor them to rebuild.
And if a peacekeeping force is to be send, let that force be HUGE and have the right to fire. For U.N. troops are nothing more than "free medics" to these militia.
"should we help the wounded population sir? Nah let the UN clean up the mess, lets move on".

 

[gick]

I think for once, we should stop interfearing with africa completely. Just send them cash to build up their countries. Sending food doesnt help either.
Sponsor them to rebuild.
And if a peacekeeping force is to be send, let that force be HUGE and have the right to fire. For U.N. troops are nothing more than "free medics" to these militia.
"should we help the wounded population sir? Nah let the UN clean up the mess, lets move on".

We cant do that, because all that happens is the aid money goes straight into the hands of corrupt dictators, who use it to buy more guns/build more palaces etc. To solve the problems in Africa western governments need to stop subsidizing our own farmers in order to give the Africans a chance to trade on the world market.

 

[Ome_Vince]

right, you got a point there. But I think sponsoring our own goods isnt really a problem. ITs dumping our "over-produced" goods for 1/3rd the price in Africa to get rid of them which is killing their economy.

 

[JNightshade]

Ugh, what a mess. Just... a mess. In Zimbabwe, there's an operation underway, Operation Murambatsvina (a phrase meaning "clean the filth") which is forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and outlawing aid for them. And nobody cares, because nobody knows! I had to dig to the 22nd page of the news a while ago for it. It's just bloody awful.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Ugh, what a mess. Just... a mess. In Zimbabwe, there's an operation underway, Operation Murambatsvina (a phrase meaning "clean the filth") which is forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and outlawing aid for them. And nobody cares, because nobody knows! I had to dig to the 22nd page of the news a while ago for it. It's just bloody awful.

Nobody knows? About a month ago this was all over the news in the UK. but, then again the UK cant really do anything more than it has already done. Zimbabwe has been expelled from the common wealth, our military is overstreched (and if it wasnt we'd probly have accusations of colonailism leveled against us by the international community if we acted in Africa) and a number of other factors prevent us from doing any more.

 

[JNightshade]

Ok, fine. Nobody in the US knows.

 

[falconwind]

I had forgotten about these madmen. Funny enough the LRA want to establish a government based on the Ten Commandments ..errr sorry 9 Commandments because apparently they dont follow the 5th commandment "thou shall not murder"

I think George Carlin said it best.
"Apparently, to religious folk (especially the truly devout) murder is....... negotiable. At all depends on who's doing the killing, and who's getting killed."

 

[CptStern]

gotta love carlin and his way of putting things in such simplistic terms.

 

[JNightshade]

Gotta love Carlin period.

 

[Ome_Vince]

Ugh, what a mess. Just... a mess. In Zimbabwe, there's an operation underway, Operation Murambatsvina (a phrase meaning "clean the filth") which is forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and outlawing aid for them. And nobody cares, because nobody knows! I had to dig to the 22nd page of the news a while ago for it. It's just bloody awful.

Yeah we lived there during the first Mugabe period, few years after we got back he didnt want to "give his power away" like in a normal democracy, and issued a referendum in which he "lost" but "held another one". Right until his loyals could cheat the outcome in his favour.
He now has a resistance, and has been booting whites to gain favour, which isnt helping since those whites had huge lands and operations making "sadza" ( food ), and are now being used by local farmers -> lots of people will die of hunger..

Also, nobody cares that "white" ( i hate that word ) families that have been living in Zimbabwe for 200 years are being kicked out suddenly.
This is pure racism, but who cares, its only "white people" ( there it is again ).
Zimbabwe is the future Etheopia. Its a shame, such friendly people and they had so much wealth.