Why I Don't Support Kony 2012

I'm getting tired of hearing about Joseph Kony.

Seriously.  I'm all for the demonization of war criminals where it's deserved (and by all accounts, Kony deserves it:  the abduction and forced military training of over 30,000 children and the displacement of over 2 million people is nothing to scoff at), but the more I find out about the "Kony 2012" video and the company behind it, the San Diego-based nonprofit Invisible Children, Inc, the less I see the sudden explosion of interest and support for the movement as a positive thing.



I should clarify some things before I get too far into this.  I don't support Joseph Kony.  I don't support the terrorist rebel group he leads, the Lord's Resistance Army.  I think the bastard should be made to answer for his heinous crimes. And I think it's cool to see so many people becoming aware of issues that actually matter, as opposed to concerning themselves with the latest episode of Jersey Shore (a rather atrocious show, I must say).  But I also think that the ideas being expressed by Invisible Children, Inc in their now-famous 30-minute viral film on what the United States should do in this situation are horribly misguided and naive.

The object of the film, according to the producers, is to "make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice."  That sounds reasonable; after all, a problem needs to be made aware of before it can be solved.  But what the film specifically asks of the United States is what concerns me the most.  The video's narrator, Jason Russell, who is also the co-founder of Invisible Children, has this to say in the video:

"We know what to do. Here it is, ready? In order for Kony to be arrested this year, the Ugandan military has to find him. In order to find him, they need the technology and training to track him in the vast jungle. That's where the American advisors come in. But in order for the American advisors to be there, the American government has to deploy them."

Russell is unmistakeably making a plea for the United States to intervene militarily in the conflict, which they already have.  Last October, President Obama deployed 100 American combat-equipped American troops on a mission to capture or kill Kony in Uganda.  Aside from the evidence that now shows that Kony is no longer active in Uganda, or that the number of his forces has dwindled significantly since his peak days, I find this troubling for two major reasons.

1).  Russell and the rest of his organization seems to think that it's the duty of the United States to intervene militarily in this situation.  It is not.  The United States has no dogs in this fight, no interests at stake here, and no issues concerning the national security of our own citizens.  America has been ostracized worldwide for its tendency to poke its nose where it doesn't belong, which is most evident in the international backlash against 2003's Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Why should America get involved in another foreign conflict where it's role is either dubious or unwanted (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, etc.)?  We would be doing the exact same things everybody criticizes us for abroad.  Is it okay just because Obama is authorizing the mission and not Bush?  No.  It was an inexcusable practice under Bush and it's inexcusable under Obama.  Yes, Obama got Bin Laden.  But I'm one of the few people you will talk to that wishes Bin Laden had been brought to justice in an international court in a situation where the United States didn't just insert itself into another sovereign nation.  The Kony mission has the same flavor to it.

2).  America has its own problems to deal with.  Right now, our country is plagued by partisan politics, where Republicans and Democrats are locked in a heated and childish battle over who shares the blame for the economy, income inequality, job losses, tax rates, etc.  Our Congress has an all-time low approval rating.  This operation costs money, and Congress can't even pass a budget right now.  The race for the Republican nomination for the 2012 election is basically down to a homophobic misogynist (Rick Santorum), a spineless closet liberal (Mitt Romney), and a promiscuous, womanizing defender of the Patriot Act (Newt Gingrich).  Ron Paul, bless his heart, has fallen back to the horrible obscurity that libertarians perennially occupy in the United States.  One of these men will be running against Barack Obama.  When your choices for President are down to those people, one has to wonder what the hell is going wrong with the United States.  Shouldn't we help ourselves before we began to help others?

I really don't mean to demean anybody who is supporting Kony 2012.  I simply wish to point out that a large number of people appear to support it because it's hip and cool and the trendy thing to do right now.  I just want to make people think about exactly what they are supporting when they donate to Invisible Children or share the Kony 2012 video.