Kony 2012

[Ace_King]

KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice.

KONY 2012 - YouTube

[ryoder]

I haven't watched it but I see that there is a lot of chatter about this. For some reason it has taken a partisan direction. People on the left are blaming conservatives for supporting this loser. What do you think?
I think its par for the course in the 3rd world.

[PonyGirl93]

Food for thought on the possibility that Kony 2012 is doing absolutely nothing to help the victims except offend them:
Kony screening provokes anger in Uganda - YouTube

Bin Laden t-shirt anyone?

[ryoder]

Uganda is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. I think its a good thing to expose it on film.
Check it out. It is way down on the list.
Corruption Perceptions Index - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
North Korea, Somalia, Haiti and Afghanistan are way down at the bottom of the list too.

[dcan]

I agree it's good to get the word out. But honestly, who doesn't already know this is going on? Besides ignorant Facebook teenagers, of course.

While I do think it's horrible, I'm inclined to this response. If you've seen Blood Diamond you will get the point.



If you want to know what it is like from the child's point of view, read Beasts of No Nation. This is an incredible and horrifying novel told in broken English from a child soldier in Africa. To me it is just as powerful as Elie Wiesel's Night.

Coincidentally, the Gerard Butler movie Machine Gun Preacher is about a criminal-turned-Christian who goes to Sudan to rescue children from the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Kony. Haven't seen it but it looks great.

[CLEP101]

What ever the case is, we don't need to get involved. It's good to expose, but like others have said, what else is new? The African countries will always be like this. This just shows how powerless and useless the United Nations is. I'm afraid if this gets too much attention the U.S. will be stupid enough to go in there alone on behalf of the U.N.

[Ace_King]

Seeing the video from the get go, I had some bad impressions. Just like CLEP101 says, We don't need to get involved. After TMZ released a video of the co founder masturbating in public, naked and going mayhem I am pretty in shocked. Here is some interesting facts I found out on another article.



"This is a picture of the founders of Invisible Children.

Joseph Kony is undoubtedly a cruel man, but lets look at some fun facts around the issue and the organization Invisible Children (after you read what I wrote check out some of the links, especially the article from The Guardian which has scholars and experts expressing both sides of the issue and of IC):

The issue:
-The LRA is only 250 soldiers strong at this point.
-The LRA hasn't been in Uganda since 2006.
-Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting.
-US Africa Command has been trying to stop Kony for years, which only results in failure and retaliation from Kony.
"In general, we're concerned [about] the catastrophic consequences for the local population," Van Damme said. "We've seen in the past, over and over again, how there's been a lot of retaliation by the LRA, the burning of villages, maiming people, a lot of killings, with little military success." - Steven Van Damme, Oxfam's protection and policy advisor for the whole of eastern Congo
-The footage in the video and the framing of the issue are from 2004-2006.
-To get to Kony you'd have to ultimately kill some of his army...which consists of children soldiers.....
-"While the extreme atrocities committed by the LRA cannot be justified by any 'political cause', the LRA did originally emerge as a direct reaction to extreme atrocities committed since the late 1980s by the government and armed forces of Uganda against the Acholi people in northern Uganda. The person in charge since 1986 until today is Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who is himself a former rebel army leader and came to power by force."

Invisible Children:
-Only 37% of money raised went to direct services (if you support the issue you may want to choose a more worthwhile charity).
-Of this 37%, a third goes to their scholarship program, which is undoubtedly helpful, but it only supports 700-800 children. So a MILLION dollars is being used to support ONLY 700-800 children...
-Their "accountability and transparency" is a 2 out of 4 stars on charity navigator.
-They have never been publicly audited.
-The group is in favor of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces.
- Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.”
-"So far the organisation has released 11 films and run film tours across the US and other countries to raise awareness. In Uganda, it has given scholarships to 750 children, and helped to re-build schools there and in centralo Africa. The organisation's accounts show it's a cash rich operation, which more than tripled its income in 2011, with more than two thirds of its money coming from "general donations".

The accounts suggest nearly 25% of its $8.8m income last year was spent on travel and film-making with only around 30% going toward programes on the ground. The great majority of the money raised has been spent in the US. $1.7 million went on US employee salaries, $357,000 in film costs, $850,000 in film production costs, $244,000 in "professional services" - thought to be Washington lobbyists - and $1.07 million in travel expenses . Nearly $400,000 was spent on office rent in San Diego."

Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re supporting the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. Educate yourselves a little bit before supporting a particular nonprofit.

Some good reads:
Kony 2012: what's the real story? | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Invisible Children responds to criticism about ‘Stop Kony’ campaign - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Visible Children - KONY 2012 Criticism

Obama Takes on the LRA | Foreign Affairs

Worst Idea Ever? | Wronging Rights

Visible children | Chris Blattman

allAfrica.com: Africa: Kony 2012 - Lord Help Us, Because This Campaign Won't Help Anyone

The Problems with 'Stop Kony' - Global - The Atlantic Wire

Videos:
Video: So Footage From Stop Joseph Kony Is 5-6 Years Ago!? Ugandan Blogger Responds To Kony 2012! "If You Are Showing Me As Voiceless And Helpless, You Have No Space To Tell My Story"

Invisible Children Kony 2012: Avoiding Scams and Irresponsible Donations - YouTube

Not saying Kony isn't a horrible person. Just thought people might want the entire picture before they support an organization.

Also I have noticed that people have been responding to the shares with IC's response to most of these criticisms. Most of the responses, just like their video, are framed very positively and lack a real substantive dialogue. It is more piecemeal BS that is coming from the creators. I'd love to see some positive third party feedback. So far all the unbiased, third-party feedback seems either neutral or negative."

[Ace_King]

Seeing the video from the get go, I had some bad impressions. Just like CLEP101 says, We don't need to get involved. After TMZ released a video of the co founder masturbating in public, naked and going mayhem I am pretty in shocked. Here is some interesting facts I found out on another article.



"This is a picture of the founders of Invisible Children.

Joseph Kony is undoubtedly a cruel man, but lets look at some fun facts around the issue and the organization Invisible Children (after you read what I wrote check out some of the links, especially the article from The Guardian which has scholars and experts expressing both sides of the issue and of IC):

The issue:
-The LRA is only 250 soldiers strong at this point.
-The LRA hasn't been in Uganda since 2006.
-Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting.
-US Africa Command has been trying to stop Kony for years, which only results in failure and retaliation from Kony.
"In general, we're concerned [about] the catastrophic consequences for the local population," Van Damme said. "We've seen in the past, over and over again, how there's been a lot of retaliation by the LRA, the burning of villages, maiming people, a lot of killings, with little military success." - Steven Van Damme, Oxfam's protection and policy advisor for the whole of eastern Congo
-The footage in the video and the framing of the issue are from 2004-2006.
-To get to Kony you'd have to ultimately kill some of his army...which consists of children soldiers.....
-"While the extreme atrocities committed by the LRA cannot be justified by any 'political cause', the LRA did originally emerge as a direct reaction to extreme atrocities committed since the late 1980s by the government and armed forces of Uganda against the Acholi people in northern Uganda. The person in charge since 1986 until today is Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, who is himself a former rebel army leader and came to power by force."

Invisible Children:
-Only 37% of money raised went to direct services (if you support the issue you may want to choose a more worthwhile charity).
-Of this 37%, a third goes to their scholarship program, which is undoubtedly helpful, but it only supports 700-800 children. So a MILLION dollars is being used to support ONLY 700-800 children...
-Their "accountability and transparency" is a 2 out of 4 stars on charity navigator.
-They have never been publicly audited.
-The group is in favor of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces.
- Foreign Affairs has claimed that Invisible Children (among others) “manipulates facts for strategic purposes, exaggerating the scale of LRA abductions and murders and emphasizing the LRA’s use of innocent children as soldiers, and portraying Kony — a brutal man, to be sure — as uniquely awful, a Kurtz-like embodiment of evil.”
-"So far the organisation has released 11 films and run film tours across the US and other countries to raise awareness. In Uganda, it has given scholarships to 750 children, and helped to re-build schools there and in centralo Africa. The organisation's accounts show it's a cash rich operation, which more than tripled its income in 2011, with more than two thirds of its money coming from "general donations".

The accounts suggest nearly 25% of its $8.8m income last year was spent on travel and film-making with only around 30% going toward programes on the ground. The great majority of the money raised has been spent in the US. $1.7 million went on US employee salaries, $357,000 in film costs, $850,000 in film production costs, $244,000 in "professional services" - thought to be Washington lobbyists - and $1.07 million in travel expenses . Nearly $400,000 was spent on office rent in San Diego."

Military intervention may or may not be the right idea, but people supporting KONY 2012 probably don’t realize they’re supporting the Ugandan military who are themselves raping and looting away. Educate yourselves a little bit before supporting a particular nonprofit.

Some good reads:
Kony 2012: what's the real story? | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Invisible Children responds to criticism about ‘Stop Kony’ campaign - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Visible Children - KONY 2012 Criticism

Obama Takes on the LRA | Foreign Affairs

Worst Idea Ever? | Wronging Rights

Visible children | Chris Blattman

allAfrica.com: Africa: Kony 2012 - Lord Help Us, Because This Campaign Won't Help Anyone

The Problems with 'Stop Kony' - Global - The Atlantic Wire

Videos:
Video: So Footage From Stop Joseph Kony Is 5-6 Years Ago!? Ugandan Blogger Responds To Kony 2012! "If You Are Showing Me As Voiceless And Helpless, You Have No Space To Tell My Story"

Invisible Children Kony 2012: Avoiding Scams and Irresponsible Donations - YouTube

Not saying Kony isn't a horrible person. Just thought people might want the entire picture before they support an organization.

Also I have noticed that people have been responding to the shares with IC's response to most of these criticisms. Most of the responses, just like their video, are framed very positively and lack a real substantive dialogue. It is more piecemeal BS that is coming from the creators. I'd love to see some positive third party feedback. So far all the unbiased, third-party feedback seems either neutral or negative."

[CLEP101]

I'm still trying to figure out why we have a US Africa Command. What are we trying to accomplish with this command? Stop piracy and stabilize the region? That's not our job, that's what we literally pay the U.N. to do. I wouldn't be surprised if we give aid to the Somali pirates just like all our other enemy countries we give foreign aid to. If we can take out Osama by violating the sovereignty of another country, why can't we take out Kony next week in a very 3rd world country? It should be very militarily easy to do, in and out. But we have no interest in the area so we, and the world, let it happen and continue. Kinda like a repeat of Rwanda in the 1990s. No one cared that there was genocide going on, especially the U.S. This is no different. We need to stay out and let the others in the World community take care of it, especially regional neighbors.

[dcan]

Let's be painfully, brutally honest here.

If Uganda discovered oil tomorrow, Kony would have a bullet in his head by Tuesday.

Or more likely, he would be a convenient bogeyman to justify a permanent state of emergency, solidifying the corrupt government's power while it held court for all the nations of the world to suck up to it while jockeying for favorable stakes of the oil fields.