LRA Numbers Down

The Associated Press reports that the number of fighters in the LRA has declined to an all-time low of 200-400 members. This information has come from the Enough Project, which is a set of interviews with more than 60 former LRA members. The decline is seen as a result of the "Operation Lightning Thunder"-- a movement launched by the Ugandan government. This operation has caused the LRA to spread out throughout Sudan, DRC and the Central African Republic, taking away Kony's ability to provide centralized orders. This report states that the United States has provided invaluable help in the matter, and a recent reported that the US Military is providing intelligence sharing through wiretapping LRA members. However, the US typically passes on the information 24 hours after the calls, giving the LRA members time to "evade pursuing forces." I'm not entirely sure what that's all about.

As expected, this article references the LRA and Kony an especially negative manner. After learning so much about the current situation, I find it mildly troublesome that the West has blanketed the issue in our typical good vs. bad fashion, however I really can expect nothing less. The article provided no background about the LRA other than the violent raids, which are absolutely important but do not come close to revealing the complexity of the situation. I find myself almost sympathizing with the LRA only to the point where the article refers to the soldiers cutting off peoples' lips and ears. These images were burned into my mind after the film clips we watched and these alone discredit the LRA and seem to me to completely unjustified in all ways.

By Brianna Howell