KONY 2012

[Jubal]

Okay, for those who don't know, this video has been going viral on facebook. It focusses on the war crimes of Joseph Kony, an African terrorist leader:
http://vimeo.com/37119711

It's worth taking a look at this to get a counter-view and read some criticisms of invisible children, the group who made the video:
http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/invisible-children-founders-posing-with-guns-an-interview-with-the-photographer/2012/03/08/gIQASX68yR_blog.html

My own view, from FB:

Does Joseph Kony need to be stopped, and is he a bad thing? Undeniably. The question is how we achieve that. We cannot militarily defeat him, nor (given the main issue is child soldiers) would it be a humane thing to attempt. The Ugandan, Congolese and Sudanese governments are too corrupt, have appalling civil rights records, and their soldiers are as much of a menace to local people as Kony himself. We need economic and political pressure to clean up the region and its politics, and we cannot simplify our problems onto one man. It won't look as flashy as "Stop Kony", it won't happen by the end of this year, and it probably won't be pretty. But it's a solution, and "kill the bad guy" is not a solution. That, and only that, will be the key to solving this genuinely horrific situation.

What do you think? Is this a great cause and raising public awareness of a major issue, or is it trying to get people to buy into unworkable solutions and misrepresenting the problem?

[Phoenixguard09]

I'd say it's a good cause. It's not likely to work but at the very least raising awareness has to be a good thing.

Foolish yes. But it's foolishness with sincerity.

[Othko97]

I think that it is a good cause (when would stopping a war criminal NOT be a good cause?), but the solutions proposed by Invisible Children are far too oversimplified, as this is a complex and many-layered matter. The main reason it is a good cause is the awareness it spread of the situation - before this campaign began, neither my friends, the majority (if not all) of my year group, nor I would have known about Kony or the LRA. I believe that the situation in Central Africa has been ignored by the press too much - it may have been going on for a long time, but without news coverage the younger generations (like myself) had no idea about the situation - possibly why the campaign spread so quickly.

That said, I think that KONY 2012 could cause more harm than good, as corrupt governments receiving more powerful weaponry could be slightly problematic, resulting in more deaths and suffering.

[Son of the King]

Mostly the latter, obviously he is a bad guy and must be stopped etc. but the video is definitely trying to get people to buy into unworkable solutions and misrepresenting the problem. My views broadly match this article which expresses points far better than I would. One part of it I don't agree with though is this:

Suddenly, a man on virtually no Westerner's radar became the international bogeyman of the moment.

Surely more people than just me had heard of this before the video was released? Indeed Time (where the aforementioned article is from) has a 2006 article about the issue here.

Also the financial side of Invisible Children seems shady at best. Reportedly only around 30% of their income is donated, the rest going on large wages, travel costs and other things.

They support direct military intervention, which would be a terrible idea, and work with the Ugandan army who have done many things the LRA are being rightly opposed for (excluding the whole child soldier thing) and support them with money.

Also worth reading is this article by a prominent Ugandan journalist.

Overall, looking into ways to stop Kony = good, giving money to Invisible Children to achieve this = bad. The video itself will achieve little except maybe make some money for the 'non-profit' Invisible Children and get people angry until something else comes up. Governments were already working to bring him to justice, and this video and subsequent publicity won't change that either way.

Oh and the problem is far far bigger than just one man, the whole political situation in Central Africa is bad and will not be solved by killing or capturing one "terrorist".