Invisible Children: The race to capture Joseph Kony
Discussion
Hugo a Gogo said:
they clearly state that it DID happen in Uganda, Kony and the LRA have left Uganda, and that they want to help the Ugandan army (because the are the most organised, and with a vested interest in getting Kony) to capture Kony wherever he is now
CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
You really can't compare the two situations.CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
elster said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
they clearly state that it DID happen in Uganda, Kony and the LRA have left Uganda, and that they want to help the Ugandan army (because the are the most organised, and with a vested interest in getting Kony) to capture Kony wherever he is now
CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
You really can't compare the two situations.CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
I don't know why this is 'trending', apart from the controversy about the charity itself. It's raising awareness perhaps, but to what end - the US has passed Bills and sent troops to attempt to capture him only 6 months ago - it's not like it's a newly discovered Hitler or an overlooked Stalin.
Just don't know what the fuss is about all of a sudden
Just don't know what the fuss is about all of a sudden
Hugo a Gogo said:
elster said:
Hugo a Gogo said:
they clearly state that it DID happen in Uganda, Kony and the LRA have left Uganda, and that they want to help the Ugandan army (because the are the most organised, and with a vested interest in getting Kony) to capture Kony wherever he is now
CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
You really can't compare the two situations.CAR, DRC and Rwanda are in no position to do it
If somebody committed his war crimes in the UK or USA, then left to do the same thing in France or Canada, we'd all just leave him to get on with it?
Will you ask for help from the Government, who fixed his own election and is a former warlord himself?
Or would you go to the Guerillas who also like a good raping and killing spree?
With well over 3 million people killed over the last 10 years do you think they will care about the ones in Uganda?
How do you plan to get in touch with the people that would be needed to find him, there are so many individual tribal aspects to DRC that there isn't a strong communication network.
chryslerben said:
I like the fact that this chap is trying to do something BUT it doesn't matter how much effort he puts into or how many people he gets on side africa will never change.
Which is why I genuinely do not care about things like this. Africa is what it is and to me this whole things is just a 'cool fad' that is the flavour of the day on social networks.No-one can do anything about Africa except time and modernisation, which may eventually happen. Africa will get more urbanised, more middle class, more modern etc over the next 50 years. Nothing we can do now, it is just going to be a long process over generations and even then I doubt many problems will disappear.
elster said:
OK, how do you plan to find a man in the DRC? Who are you going to ask for help?
Will you ask for help from the Government, who fixed his own election and is a former warlord himself?
Or would you go to the Guerillas who also like a good raping and killing spree?
With well over 3 million people killed over the last 10 years do you think they will care about the ones in Uganda?
How do you plan to get in touch with the people that would be needed to find him, there are so many individual tribal aspects to DRC that there isn't a strong communication network.
no-one said it would be easyWill you ask for help from the Government, who fixed his own election and is a former warlord himself?
Or would you go to the Guerillas who also like a good raping and killing spree?
With well over 3 million people killed over the last 10 years do you think they will care about the ones in Uganda?
How do you plan to get in touch with the people that would be needed to find him, there are so many individual tribal aspects to DRC that there isn't a strong communication network.
a bit like trying to find Bin Laden in Afghanistan or Pakistan
Carfolio said:
Kony has not been in Uganda since 2007.
IC is obscuring the fact that Uganda is undergoing something of a recovery, which continually repainting it incorrectly as a war zone will undermine.
Current issues afflicting the children of Uganda are not what they were when Kony as active in Uganda.
Misdirected activism might be worse than doing nothing at all.
This, all in all, smacks more about raising awareness for IC than anything genuinely about the children they purport to be trying to help.
References:
http://siena-anstis.com/2012/03/07/on-invisible-ch...
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/gue...
I think you are being needlessly cynical there, personally.IC is obscuring the fact that Uganda is undergoing something of a recovery, which continually repainting it incorrectly as a war zone will undermine.
Current issues afflicting the children of Uganda are not what they were when Kony as active in Uganda.
Misdirected activism might be worse than doing nothing at all.
This, all in all, smacks more about raising awareness for IC than anything genuinely about the children they purport to be trying to help.
References:
http://siena-anstis.com/2012/03/07/on-invisible-ch...
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/07/gue...
Just because he is no longer active in Uganda, he is still committing exactly the same atrocities in neighboring countries and his previous victims still need help
Saw this all over Facebook last night and this stuff really winds me up.
Nobody should commit themselves to any cause on the basis of one video, particularly one with such massive production values. I watched a bit of it but you can immediately see it's heavy on emotionally manipulative b
ks and light on fact. It's a ridiculously simplistic view to think there's a baddie, and once he's gone all will be well. I don't know much about Uganda but I know that every similar issue in Africa is massively more complex than most people think.
This is the reason pouring £$Billions into African nations over decades has done very little to solve their issues. Money, like Facebook campaigns, is such a monumentally simplistic solution that it's almost worthless. But let's face it, people don't really give a st what happens to their money. They're happy enough thinking they've bought 50 malaria nets, and aren't particularly interested in what actually happens to them.
Until I've spoken to somebody who actually knows what they're talking about, I reserve all judgement, and so should you.
Nobody should commit themselves to any cause on the basis of one video, particularly one with such massive production values. I watched a bit of it but you can immediately see it's heavy on emotionally manipulative b
ks and light on fact. It's a ridiculously simplistic view to think there's a baddie, and once he's gone all will be well. I don't know much about Uganda but I know that every similar issue in Africa is massively more complex than most people think. This is the reason pouring £$Billions into African nations over decades has done very little to solve their issues. Money, like Facebook campaigns, is such a monumentally simplistic solution that it's almost worthless. But let's face it, people don't really give a s
t what happens to their money. They're happy enough thinking they've bought 50 malaria nets, and aren't particularly interested in what actually happens to them.Until I've spoken to somebody who actually knows what they're talking about, I reserve all judgement, and so should you.
Odie said:
If you want to give money to charidy to support the children of africa please give money to the nspcc or/and the red cross. Do not give money to 'invisible children'.
I agree.I'm not clicking on 'like' with this one, nor sharing the link. From what I've read about them, the jury is still out.
That's not to say the awareness campaign isn't a good thing. I am just suspicious about what they will actually 'do' with fundraised income and how they intend to manage it effectively.
Emotional porn indeed - but clearly very effective.
I wouldn't normally give to a US based charity anyway. As Odie says, there are worthy UK organisations.
This is from there 'transparency page'..
NOTE (stolen from reddit):
Wow, they are pros at visual propaganda. Their Fundraising ($286,678) pie - extends farther down to trick the brain into thinking they spend a lot on it. Then right next to it, the Media & Film creation piece is barely legible and is made smaller, even though they spent far more money on it ($699,617). They employed the same tactic with Management & General ($1,444,567) by making it look smaller. These people are real pros at shaping the truth to their benefit.
durbster said:
. It's a ridiculously simplistic view to think there's a baddie, and once he's gone all will be well. I don't know much about Uganda but I know that every similar issue in Africa is massively more complex than most people think.
.
On the whole I entirely agree with this..
In teh case of Kony, however, as far as I can discover this is pretty much the case. I know of no valid cause he is fighting for (other than to turn everyone into Christians) and his targets are usually innocent people uninvolved in anything.
If every there was a bone fide evil baddy then it is Joseph Kony.
Happy to be corrected on that, but for once I am quite enjoying the fact that there does indeed seem to be a genuine target of hatred.
Hugo a Gogo said:
elster said:
OK, how do you plan to find a man in the DRC? Who are you going to ask for help?
Will you ask for help from the Government, who fixed his own election and is a former warlord himself?
Or would you go to the Guerillas who also like a good raping and killing spree?
With well over 3 million people killed over the last 10 years do you think they will care about the ones in Uganda?
How do you plan to get in touch with the people that would be needed to find him, there are so many individual tribal aspects to DRC that there isn't a strong communication network.
no-one said it would be easyWill you ask for help from the Government, who fixed his own election and is a former warlord himself?
Or would you go to the Guerillas who also like a good raping and killing spree?
With well over 3 million people killed over the last 10 years do you think they will care about the ones in Uganda?
How do you plan to get in touch with the people that would be needed to find him, there are so many individual tribal aspects to DRC that there isn't a strong communication network.
a bit like trying to find Bin Laden in Afghanistan or Pakistan
It would be an international nightmare to try to achieve anything like that.
It would be more like the Vietnam war as a result.
blindswelledrat said:
If every there was a bone fide evil baddy then it is Joseph Kony.
Happy to be corrected on that, but for once I am quite enjoying the fact that there does indeed seem to be a genuine target of hatred.
That's not in question. The awareness campaign is entirely valid.Happy to be corrected on that, but for once I am quite enjoying the fact that there does indeed seem to be a genuine target of hatred.
A number of people are concerned about the abilitiy of this organisaiton to offer an effective solution or strategy through their 'Africa' programmes due to the complexities and corruption of the states in question. And questions are being raised about their organisaitonal credibility. Personally I'd want to know a lot more before donating.
But having awareness of the issue is a good thing - and they have undoubtedly been successful at achieving that.
parakitaMol. said:
But having awareness of the issue is a good thing - and they have undoubtedly been successful at achieving that.
This is not awareness though, it's propoganda, and that can be worse than ignorance. If this was a proper journalistic piece about Kony that presents a factual representation of the situation then it would be raising awareness. This Invisible Children thing is X-Factor, it's designed primarily to push emotional buttons. Remember this sort of thing isn't covered by the same rules as proper journalism, so doesn't have to adhere to any standards or guidelines with regard to facts.
Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff