Obama Authorizes Deployment of US Troops to Uganda To Combat Lord's Resistance Army

Last week, President Obama sent a letter to members of both the House and Senate that he had sent a small number of American soldiers to Uganda to aid that country in its fight against the Lords Resistance Army and their leader, Joseph Kony.

The force is said to be less than 100 Special operations soliders who will be training local forces in counterinsurgency tactics against the Lords Resistance Army. Reportedly, the soldiers will not be directly participating in operations against the LRA. In addition to Uganda, military advisors are reportedly in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

U.S. troops have been deploying in central Africa to help the forces of Uganda and other nations fight the Lord’s Resistance Army [L.R.A.]. The deployment is the largest U.S. attempt yet to eradicate the group known for its ruthless campaign of killing, rape, and its use of child soldiers over the past two decades.

U.S. troops are landing in Uganda and from there may deploy to the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and southern Sudan - areas were the L.R.A. - a scattered force whose numbers are estimated to be around 400 - are operating.

The U.S. troops are combat-ready and have instructions to fight if attacked, but Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby said the U.S. troops’ mission is limited to helping Ugandan soldiers and the armies of other nations stamp out the L.R.A.

“The mission for these 100 or so special operations forces is really just advise and assist, and help train local forces to deal with that threat. That is the scope of what they’ are going to be doing. That is the limit to what they are going to be doing,” said Kirby.

The deployment culminates years of efforts by human-rights groups and others to raise awareness in the halls of the U.S. Congress and at the White House of the need for Washington to step in and tackle one of the most violent and vicious militia groups, and its leader Joseph Kony.

Jennifer Cooke, who directs the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies research group, said, “The U.S. Congress has passed in 2009 legislation calling on the president to lay out a strategy to protect civilians, to apprehend or remove Joseph Kony, and to improve humanitarian access to the region. And I think this is a concerted effort once and for all to help the governments of that region to eliminate the threat, the threat from the L.R.A."

That threat does not directly affect U.S. national security, but Washington sees Uganda as a solid partner in the region, most notably in peacekeeping efforts in Somalia.

Brookings Institution defense analyst Michael O’Hanlon said deploying a small number of U.S. troops to help Uganda fight the L.R.A. is a small investment that could yield big returns for the United States.

“To the extent the United States has any interest in Somalia being stabilized, it has an interest in seeing the Ugandan government able to keep its own country together, and able to keep it its own forces partially deployed to Somalia in order to help with that country where there have been al-Qaida related groups in the past.”

Advocate John Bradshaw prefers not to speculate on possible U.S. motives. He directs the Enough Project, a U.S. group that works to eliminate genocide and crimes against humanity, primarily in Africa’s Great Lakes region. To Bradshaw, what is important is that Washington is taking action, providing support that he said could help protect civilians.

“A lot of that is information-sharing, having communities get timely alerts about possible L.R.A. action, improving communications equipment, putting up cell phone towers so that vulnerable populations are forewarned when attacks might happen,” said Bradshaw.

For two decades, Uganda and other nations have been unable to wipe out the L.R.A. The group has broken up into smaller units and dispersed across borders through the jungle terrain. O’Hanlon said the U.S. military will bring some of the capabilities developed in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In addition to training, which we are obviously pretty good at with some of our special forces, we also know how to do things like listen to cell phone communication and watch people with drones. Watching them with drones in the jungle is harder than watching them with drones in the desert, but we have gotten better at some of these things and we may be able to impart some of our lessons and best practices to the Ugandans.

U.S. leaders hope that with this knowledge and technology, even 100 troops can make a difference.

I don't get it- if we're sending American soldiers to Africa- even if it's just to instruct local forces on counterinsurgency operations- then why not the horn of Africa to take on al Shabaab or the Somali pirates?

Unless we're training the Ugandan Army to further serve as a counter to al Shabaab in Somailia (and there are African Union peacekeepers present in Mogadishu), I don't see the national interest for the USA.

Uganda Plays Host to African Union Summit 2 Weeks After Bombings

Uganda's president called for stepped up efforts by African Union forces against Somalia's al-Shabaab militia during the AU summit in Kampala. The summit takes place less than two weeks after twin suicide bombings targeting an Ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club in Uganda's capital killed 76 people, most of them gathered to watch the championship game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Investigators found an undetonated explosive vest in the trash outside a nightclub, indicating a there was an attempted attack on a third location in Kampala.

Somalia's so-backwards-it-would-be-comical-if-they-didn't-have-RPGs Al Shabaab militia claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in retaliation for Uganda's participation with the AU peacekeeping force stationed in Somalia.

The lone American fatality was identified by the State Department as 25 year old University of Delaware graduate Nate Henn, who was active in the Invisible Children project. The project documents the use of child soldiers forcibly conscripted by rebels in northern Uganda during the ongoing civil war there while raising money for schools and job-training programs.

Uganda Bombing Update- Death Toll Rises; Investigators Find Explosive Vest; Somali Al-Shabaab Islamists Claims Responsibility

Police in Uganda had discovered and vest laden with explosives and ball-bearings at a dance hall in the capital city of Kampala, leading them to believe a third venue was targeted unsuccessfully in Sunday's twin bombings. The ball bearings were consistent with shrapnel and debris investigators found at the scene of the rugby club and Ethiopian village blast sites.

They say the discovery of the unexploded suicide vest has led them to detain 4 people, although the inspector general of police Kale Kaihura declined to release their names or nationalities.

An Al Shabaab spokesman in Somalia claimed responsibility for the bombings. "We warned Uganda not to deploy troops to Somalia, they ignored us," said Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage [Wow- a literal Islamic Rage Boy- NANESB!] al-Shabab's spokesman. "We warned them to stop massacring our people, and they ignored that. The explosions in Kampala were only a minor message to them. ... We will target them everywhere if Uganda does not withdraw from our land."

The death toll from Sunday's attacks has been revised upwards to 76, including an American aid worker from Delaware. This would make it the deadliest terror attack on East Africa since the 1998 twin bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.

Twin Blasts Rock Ugandan Capital During World Cup Final

At least 64 people are feared dead after two separate blasts ripped through the Ugandan capital city of Kampala on Sunday, including an Ethiopian restaurant packed with people watching the World Cup final. The second blast took place at a rugby club also in Kampala.

Police believe that the bombings were targeting foreigners and suspect they may have been orchestrated by Somalia's Islamic Al-Shabaab group.

Al-Shabaab seems none too enamored of soccer (or bras for that matter) so the timing of the attacks was probably by design on their part.

Ethiopia's military moved into Somalia at the end of 2006 and occupied the mostly lawless and chaotic country for more than two years. Uganda sent troops to Somalia in 2007 as part of a regional African Union Peacekeeping force and the current AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) commander is a Major General with the Ugandan Army.