President Obama recently dispatched 100 armed military advisers to Uganda to defeat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) (New york times article here!). Tom Malinowski, the Washington director of Human Rights Watch said that though the LRA is only a few hundred fighters, “they are incredibly vicious and have committed numerous massacres. It’s a group that seems to exist for no other purpose than to kill.” HRW and many other international human rights researchers strongly advocated the deployment.
Obama’s decision to act now was justified by a law passed in May by Congress, the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, which strongly favored “increased, comprehensive U.S. efforts to help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability.” Though the first deployment of these military men and women will be to Uganda, these advisers will also travel to South Sudan, Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo upon the approval of each host nation. For years LRA has killed, raped, and prevented economic development in the countries it passes through. With the mass murders of millions, it is clear that Uganda, Sudan, and the Congo are not able to protect their government and citizens alone. I'm glad to see the U.S. finally providing support for these countries to move forward. 
