The U.S. Defense Department divides the world up into different "commands." We hear a lot about Central Command because it has responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The newest part of the system is Africa Command, often referred to as AFRICOM. Previously, U.S. military operations in Africa were divided between three different command offices. AFRICOM is designed to give a coherent approach to America's presence across the continent... although the new designation has also been controversial.
AFRICOM was officially activated October 1. And last week, it carried out its first military exercise, a joint training event called Flintlock 2008.
AFRICOM is supposed to combine hard power (guns and bombs) with soft power (civil affairs). And Flintlock 2008 has both parts. It includes military-to-military training AND medical and veterinary clinics for locals in Mali. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
The United Nations is reportedly planning military action against east
African pirates. A source close to the UN Security Council told RT
it’s considering authorising a raid on bases along the Somali coast.
If this happens, armed strikes could target land bases of known
pirates threatening boats in the Gulf of Aden.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council the
surge in piracy against ships along the Somali coast has affected
trade, and contributed to a humanitarian crisis.
He also said the country’s transitional federal government is
suffering. The East African nation has been without a functioning
government since 1991 and has no navy to police its coastline.
In early June, the UN Security Council passed a resolution permitting
countries to enter Somalia's territorial waters to combat "acts of
piracy and armed robbery at sea."
The UN Charter allows the Council to order action like this if there
is a perceived threat to peace or security.
Now the UN Security Council is expected to pass resolutions to freeze
the assets and restrict the travel of individuals and organisations
who violate the country's arms embargo.
Pirates' trophies
The crew of at least seventeen ships are being held hostage by pirates
off Somalia, including three vessels seized in the past two days: a
Greek bulk carrier, a Thai fishing boat and an Iranian bulk freighter.
International concern over shipping safety in the region has risen
since a huge tanker, the Sirius Star, carrying up to 2 million barrels
of Saudi oil was seized on Saturday.
Nine ships have been hijacked in the area in just two weeks. Over two
hundred sailors are being held hostage by Somali pirates.
Indian warship sinks pirate vessel
On Wednesday pirates saw the first failure after a series of
successful seizures. An Indian navy warship Tabar sank a pirate vessel
in the Gulf of Aden when it attempted to ram Tabar.
The Indian ship is part of a multi-national force patrolling the
region where one in ten merchant vessels comes under attack.
It is a multi-purpose vessel built at a Russian shipbuilding plant in
St Petersburg. The ship entered the Indian Navy in 2004. Tabar is
capable of leading military actions against ships and submarines as
well as counter air attacks.
Earlier Tabar took part in battles with pirates. In early November it
countered the attack at the Indian cargo ship Jag Arnav, making the
pirates flee.
Indian military vessels were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden on October
3.
Joined: 13 Sep 2006 Posts: 2568 Location: One breath from Glory
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 10:50 pm Post subject:
Wonder if Obama will CHANGE this US imperialism. Do we know how many command areas US have divided the world into? Just finished watching a video ( Cup of Trembling) which suggests biblical prophecy is to see the world divided into 10 areas _________________ JO911B.
"for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places " Eph.6 v 12
Paul C. Wright writes: The United States’ intervention in Africa is driven by America’s desire to secure valuable natural resources and political influence that will ensure the longevity of America’s capitalist system, military industrial complex, and global economic superiority – achieved through the financial and physical control of raw material exports. While America’s prosperity may be waning due to a number of current factors, policy makers are bent on trying to preserve America’s global domination and will pursue policy objectives regardless of the downturn in the economy at large.
The U.S. has a long history of foreign intervention and long ago perfected the art of gaining access to other countries’ natural, human, and capital resource markets through the use of foreign trade policy initiatives, international law, diplomacy, and, when all else fails, military intervention. Typically and historically, diplomatic efforts have largely been sufficient for the U.S. to establish itself as a player in other nations’ politics and economies. While U.S. intervention in Africa is nothing new, the way the U.S. is going about the intervention features a new method that is being implemented across the globe.
The U.S. has followed a great deal of its diplomatic interventions with the establishment of extensive networks of foreign military posts - designed to influence other nations and protect what are defined as U.S. strategic national interests. This global reach is evidenced by an extensive network of over 737 military installations [1] all around the globe, from Ecuador to Uzbekistan, Colombia to Korea. The model for successfully accessing these nations and their critical financial and commodities markets is changing, however, particularly as it relates to renewed intervention in Africa. The new intervention is directly linked to two factors: the fast paced and heated battle with rivals China and Russia over their access to key natural resources, and the U.S.’ declining ability to manage a bloated international network of overseas military outposts.
I. Resources Rivalry
Access to natural resources – particularly oil and rare earth elements - is critical for the U.S. to remain a dominant industrial and military power, especially since the U.S. has experienced a decline in natural resource production while China’s production and foreign access to strategic materials has only increased. A sustained increase in oil imports has been underway since domestic U.S. oil production peaked in the 1970s, with oil imports surpassing domestic production in the early 1990s. Strategic metals, such as the titanium used in military aircraft, and rare earth elements used in missile guidance systems are increasingly produced by China or under the control of Chinese companies. The issue is of such importance that 2009 saw the creation of the annual Strategic Metals Conference, a forum designed to address concerns related to US access to metals with important industrial and military uses. The second annual conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio in January 2010, saw dozens of engineers and military personnel express heightened concern over China’s near monopoly over rare earth metals. [2] China controls around 95% of the world’s rare earth output and has decided to restrict the export of these metals, leaving international consumers short by approximately 20,000 tons in 2010. [3]
China’s rapidly developing economy, recently over taking Japan as the world’s second largest, continues to log nine to ten percent annual growth in Gross Domestic Product, and is fueled by a rapidly growing middle class as well as new export markets around the world. The demand for raw materials has led to new policy initiatives in which Africa has taken center stage for Chinese investment. China has gained access to Africa by, in large part, offering favorable aid packages to several nations which include loans, debt forgiveness, and job training. [4] In contrast to Western aid packages, Chinese aid has few if any strings attached.
China’s platform for developing trade with and providing aid to Africa was of such importance that in October 2000, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) was launched. Fifty African nations participate in the forum which serves as the foundation for building bridges of economic trade as well as political and cultural exchange. [5] The forum, and indeed China’s Africa strategy as a whole, has been so successful that Africans view China as an equal partner in trade and development, validating the politically and culturally significant “South-South” economic alliance that the FOCAC maintains is at the foundation of its engagement with Africa. This plays on the historical disparities that Western powers created and exploited in their former “North-South” colonial relationships with Africa and has been a key factor in developing strong bonds and a highly favorable opinion of China among Africans. Survey data indicates that most Africans share the view of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade when he says:
“China’s approach to our needs is simply better adapted than the slow and sometimes patronizing post-colonial approach of European investors, donor organizations and nongovernmental organizations. In fact, the Chinese model for stimulating rapid economic development has much to teach Africa. With direct aid, credit lines and reasonable contracts, China has helped African nations build infrastructure projects in record time—bridges, roads, schools, hospitals, dams, legislative buildings, stadiums and airports. In many African nations, including Senegal, improvements in infrastructure have played important roles in stimulating economic growth.”
“It is a telling sign of the post-colonial mindset that some donor organizations in the West dismiss the trade agreements between Chinese banks and African states that produce these vital improvements—as though Africa was naive enough to just offload its precious natural resources at bargain prices to obtain a commitment for another stadium or state house.” [6]
In fact, opinion polls clearly reveal that Africans see Chinese influence as being far more positive than U.S. influence. [7] China has clearly gained a substantive advantage in working with dozens of African nations as U.S. influence continues to wane.
Russia has also taken a renewed interest in Africa, reminiscent to some in the U.S. media as a revision of the Soviet Union’s Africa Strategy in which the Soviet Union created numerous “Soviet Treaties of Friendship and Cooperation” as a counterweight to Western capitalism and institutions like the United States Agency for International Development. [8] Russian President Medvedev, and Prime Minister Putin have been making their rounds in Africa with “legions of Russian businessmen, targeting diamonds, oil, gas, and uranium” and have been establishing commodities production agreements with several nations. [9] Putin’s push to restore Russia’s international stature, power, and prestige has led Russia to purchase in excess of $5 billion of African assets between 2000 and 2007. [10] Russia’s investments in and trade with Africa are quite small when compared with both the U.S. and China. Still, Russia has made an increase in trade and the acquisition of African raw materials a geostrategic imperative.
Chinese and Russian influence is quickly spreading and is seen in many cases as a viable and preferable alternative to the Western model which, particularly considering Africa’s colonial past, is seen to attach unfavorable conditions to aid and development that are designed to enrich the West at the expense of the people of Africa. Africans have in effect identified what sociologist Johan Galtung considers to be a “disharmony of interests” that the U.S. is trying to manage through new diplomatic efforts. The U.S. continues to lose influence in Africa to China and Russia, both of which are increasing their influence at a steady clip, and continues to be branded as imperialist in the eyes of Africans. The U.S. is well aware that it needs to improve its image in Africa in order to realize its strategic goals.
II. The Weight of Empire
While there is no reliable data on the precise cost of maintaining the United States’ network of over 700 military bases, it is estimated that the cost is $250 billion per year. [11] This is 38% of the entire disclosed 2010 budget for the Department of Defense of $663.7 billion. The cost includes facilities, staff, weapons, munitions, equipment, food, fuel, water, and everything else required to operate military installations.
In 2004, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated that the U.S global military presence had to change and adapt to the post-cold war world. The post-cold war world did not require large garrisons of heavy armor throughout the European theater – garrisons stocked with enough soldiers and armament to challenge the massive Soviet military and Warsaw Pact nations on the borders of Eastern and Western Europe. The new military would be lighter, faster, rely more on light infantry and special-forces, and would used to fight multiple smaller scale wars across the globe in what was branded as an eternal Global War on Terror (GWOT). In Rumsfeld’s opinion, the U.S. would save up to $6 billion of its annual operating budget by closing (or realigning) 100 to 150 foreign and domestic bases [12] and save $12 billion by closing 200 to 300 bases. [13] Clearly, the cost of maintaining America’s legions was central to the Rumsfeld’s transformation initiative and to the U.S. military’s new role.
This military transformation would reduce the number of heavy garrisons abroad and would increasingly rely on pre-positioned war materials managed by smaller staffs at foreign military installations. These military installations would be available for a massive influx of U.S. troops if needed. Bilateral treaties and Status of Forces Agreements created by the Department of Defense and host nations would ensure that these installations would be available, to the extent required, to the American military and would ensure that the American military could operate freely with few constraints on its activities, legal or otherwise.
In the case of Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, a key military outpost and strategically important piece of real-estate in the Horn of Africa, precisely where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, the United States government entered into an agreement [14] with the government of Djibouti that has several striking features:
· U.S. military personnel have diplomatic immunity
· The United States has sole jurisdiction over the criminal acts of its personnel
· U.S. personnel may carry arms in the Republic of Djibouti
· The U.S. may import any materials and equipment it requires into the Republic of Djibouti
· No claims may be brought against the U.S. for damage to property or loss of life
· Aircraft, vessels, and vehicles may enter, exit, and move freely throughout the Republic of Djibouti.
Such an agreement allows the U.S. to maintain a small permanent presence in Djibouti, but staff and stock up with as many military personnel and weapons as it deems fit for any particular operation inside or outside of Africa as needed. Additionally, the agreement gives the U.S. the flexibility it wants to operate freely without interference from or liability to the people and government of Djibouti.
III. The New Model - AFRICOM
With all of the concern over U.S. access to key natural resources, it is hardly a surprise that United States conceived of and finally launched United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) in 2007. The unveiling AFRICOM was done under the auspices of bringing peace, security, democracy, and economic growth to Africans. The altruistic rationale for the creation of a new military command was belied by the fact that from the start it was acknowledged that AFRICOM was a “combatant” command created in response to Africa’s growing strategic importance to the United States; namely, “the size of its population, its natural resource wealth, its potential". [15]
Africans were aware of U.S. described strategic national interests in their oil and gas fields, and raw materials long before most Americans were had any idea that renewed intervention in Africa was being planned. In November 2002, the U.S. based Corporate Council on Africa held a conference on African oil and gas in Houston, Texas. The conference, sponsored by ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco among others, was opened by United States Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Walter Kansteiner. Mr. Kansteiner previously stated that, “African oil is of strategic national interest to us and it will increase and become more important as we go forward,” while on a visit to Nigeria. [16] In fact, President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe said at that time that he had reached agreement with the United States for establishment of a U.S. naval base there, the purpose of which was to safeguard U.S. oil interests. [17] The U.S. Navy has in fact proceeded with its basing plans in Sao Tome and recently reported on its activities in that nation on its website in July, 2010. [18] Since the establishment of AFRICOM, numerous training exercises have been carried out in Africa by U.S. military forces, and basing agreements have been worked out with several African partners across the continent – even in the face of strong dissent from the citizens of several countries. The U.S. has been able to create these relationships through the careful structuring of its operations, size and make-up of its staff, and public relations efforts.
The structuring of AFRICOM was a critical component in making AFRICOM palatable to Africans. After several nations objected to the presence of a physical headquarters in Africa, AFRICOM’s commander, General William E. Ward, went on record several times to say that a physical command presence was not needed in Africa (even though the U.S. initially did try quite hard but unconvincingly to establish a permanent headquarters there). The command is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany, and will remain there for the foreseeable future, mainly in deference to African objections.
AFRICOM’s size was also an important factor. It has no large garrisons, no sizeable staff beyond the headquarters in Germany and the small number of forces and civilian support personnel based at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti as part of Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), and no large armory to sustain division or brigade sized operations. The small size and staff of U.S. basing operations like CJTF-HOA is the new model for U.S. foreign intervention. Instead of large garrisons, the U.S. has is created a series of Forward Operating Locations (FOLs). FOLs are “smaller, cheaper, and can thus be more plentiful. In short, the FOL can lie in wait with a low carrying cost until a crisis arrives, at which point it can be quickly expanded to rise to whatever the occasion demands.” [19] Arrangements have been made with several countries, north, south, east, and west, including Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, Sao Tome, Senegal, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Zambia. [20]
AFRICOM’s staffing structure is a military-civilian hybrid for two reasons: to convey the message that the combatant command does not have an exclusive military purpose, and to gain influence over African nations’ domestic and foreign policies. AFRICOM has a civilian deputy commander and a large civilian staff, in part made up of U.S. State Department personnel. These civilian personnel include foreign policy advisors from the U.S. Bureau of African Affairs, humanitarian assistance advisors from the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as advisors from the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security. [21] Africa’s burgeoning relationships with China are seen as undermining Western “efforts to bolster good governance, improve respect for human rights, and reduce corruption,” [22] hence the need for civilian subject matter expertise to help the Africans manage their civil affairs and security.
U.S. officials have long been cognizant of African hostility to any efforts that could be perceived as neo-colonialist and imperialist. A number of missteps to rectify were (and continue to be) identified as the new command took shape. Several contradictory statements were made with respect to AFRICOM’s role, whether with respect to terrorism, natural resources, China, or the militarization of the continent. Even the timing of the command’s creation was criticized, it being created during a dramatically deteriorating time of war in Iraq. The actions of the U.S. government sent “mixed signals” [23] and fueled anti-Americanism among the citizens that would eventually become unwilling hosts of American forces. To overcome poor public relations, the command built several activities into the structure of AFRICOM, to include the building of schools in poor villages, air and sea port construction projects, the distribution of medicine and textbooks to children, military-to-military training programs, and legal operational support. Military personnel have also taken a more deferential tone in speaking about the way AFRICOM interfaces with African nations. Vice Admiral Robert T. Moeller explained: “We do not lead or create policy . . . . Our programs are designed to respond to what our African partners have asked us to do.” [24]
Public relations efforts have been of such importance to the military, the U.S. Army War College published a research paper in March 2008, entitled “Combating African Questions about the Legitimacy of AFRICOM”. The paper expressed Africa’s strategic importance to the United States, yet offense that the creation of AFRICOM prompted a “hostile” response from African leaders. [25] It urged the U.S. to learn more about African institutions and to engage them rather than ignore them. It also advocated that U.S. personnel gain a stronger understanding of Africa’s colonial past while pushing for African nations to become more multilateral in working towards a common goal. It called for the increased use of “soft power that could be leverage by the U.S. Department of State in winning the public relations fight for Africa. [26]
AFRICOM has certainly run into a number of roadblocks but it appears that the new command will flourish as a result of intensive diplomatic and public relations efforts by the United States government. The structure and domestic operations of AFRICOM also makes it more palatable to African leaders who can more easily claim that they have a harmony rather than a disharmony of interests with the U.S. while the U.S. is building roads, training military forces, and passing out textbooks to children. A leaner, smaller, less intrusive, and more culturally engaged network of military outposts is America’s new blueprint for foreign intervention and global domination.
Paul C. Wright is an attorney, business consultant, and legal researcher who has practiced both military and civil law. His legal practice areas have included criminal, international, insurance, and consumer law.
[1] Johnson, Chalmers, “737 U.S. Military Bases = Global Empire,” Global Research , March 21, 2009. Mr. Johnson continues: “The Pentagon continues to omit from its accounts most of the $5 billion worth of military and espionage installations in Britain, which have long been conveniently disguised as Royal Air Force bases. If there were an honest count, the actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases overseas, but no one -- possibly not even the Pentagon -- knows the exact number for sure.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=12824
[4] In Angola, for example, China secured future oil production rights by offering $2 billion in loans “for Chinese companies to build railroads, schools, roads, hospitals, bridges, and offices; lay a fiber-optic netword; and train Angolan telecommunications workers.” Hanson, Stephanie, “China, Africa, and Oil,” Council on Foreign Relations , June 6, 2008,
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9557/china_africa_and_oil.html
[14] “Agreement Between The Government Of The United States Of America And The Government Of The Republic Of Djibouti On Access To And Use Of Facilities In The Republic Of Djibouti,” February 19, 2003,
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/97620.pdf
[15] See remarks of Ms. Theresa M. Whelan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for African Affairs, “Foreign Press Center Briefing on U.S. To Establish New U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM),” US Fed News Service, Including US State News , Washington D.C., Feb 9, 2007. Ms. Whelan foreshadowed the structure of national vertical integration into the AFRICOM framework by stating that “AFRICOM isn’t going to be used to protect natural resources in Africa. To the extent that AFRICOM through its interaction with other African countries and through whatever help we can provide in terms of developing their capacities to promote security in their own country and in the region, if they will be able to protect their natural resources more effectively, then that will be a good thing.”
[17] Ibid. See also, “US naval base to protect Sao Tome oil,” BBC News , August 22, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2210571.stm in which President Menendez revealed the new model for U.S. military outposts abroad. He stated, "It is not really a military base on our territory, but rather a support port for aircraft, warships and patrol ships so that they can come to this port and stay for some time."
[20] Volman, Daniel, “Why America wants military HQ in Africa,” New African , London: January 2008, Iss. 469 (ProQuest)
[21] Schaefer, Brett D. and Eaglen, Mackenzie M., “U.S. Africa Command: Challenges and Opportunities,” Backgrounder , The Heritage Foundation, p.4, November 19, 2008
[22] Ibid, p.7
[23] Stevenson, Jonathon, “The U.S. Navy: Into Africa,” Naval War College Review , Washington: Winter 2009, Vol 62, Iss.1 (ProQuest)
[24] “AFRICOM Helps Nations Build Secure Future,” US Fed News Service, Including US State News , Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2010
[25] Dr. Putman, Diana B., “Combating African Questions about the Legitimacy of AFRICOM,” U.S. Army War College , March 19, 2008, pp. 1-2
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Centre for Research on Globalization. The contents of this article are of sole responsibility of the author(s). The Centre for Research on Globalization will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article.
Wonder if Obama will CHANGE this US imperialism. Do we know how many command areas US have divided the world into? Just finished watching a video ( Cup of Trembling) which suggests biblical prophecy is to see the world divided into 10 areas
5 I think
Cent-Com being the Middle East if that isn't the biggest clue to Zionist Globalization I dunno what is lol _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Disco; do the videos in the first post exist anywhere else as they have all been 'removed due to usage violation'
Something uncle sam does not want us to see then? _________________ In the end, it's not the words of your enemies you will remember, but the silence of your friends. Martin Luther King
It was a key plank of the peace deal brokered by Kofi Annan to end the country’s post-election violence in 2008.
Quote:
Chief among them are new policies which will take back unused land, or that which was acquired illegally, and redistribute it to landless Kenyans.
Oh the hypocrisy.
-----------------------------
Quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan
Once in power, the PDPA implemented a socialist agenda. It moved to promote state atheism,[78] and carried out an ill-conceived land reform, which were misunderstood by virtually all Afghans.[79] They also imprisoned, tortured or murdered thousands of members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment, and the intelligentsia.[79] They also prohibited usury[80] and made a number of statements on women's rights, by declaring equality of the sexes[80] and introduced women to political life. A prominent example was Anahita Ratebzad, who was a major Marxist leader and a member of the Revolutionary Council. Ratebzad wrote the famous May 28, 1978 New Kabul Times editorial, which declared: "Privileges which women, by right, must have are equal education, job security, health services, and free time to rear a healthy generation for building the future of the country ... Educating and enlightening women is now the subject of close government attention."
"One of its minor tenets seemed to be that the one thing more sinful than giving an order was obeying it. At least, that was what McGoggin said; but I suspect he had misread his primers."
The Conversion Of Aurelian McGoggin
Rudyard Kipling.
Barack Obama deploys US special forces to central Africa
Quote:
President Barack Obama on Friday announced he was sending 100 combat troops to central Africa to advise forces aiming to hunt down the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army, which stands accused of gross human rights abuses over the course of two decades.
In a letter to Congress, Mr Obama said: "These forces will act as advisers to partner forces that have the goal of removing from the battlefield Joseph Kony and other senior leadership of the LRA."
In an attempt to head off criticism from his war-weary country, Mr Obama stressed that the American troops would not act independently and would only fire on LRA forces "in self-defence".
"Although the US forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces," the president said.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Why is the US sending its troops to finish off a fractured band of bush fighters in the middle of Africa?
Political payback for the quiet sacrifices of Uganda's troops in Somalia could be one reason.
President Barack Obama announced Friday he is dispatching about 100 US troops, mostly special operations forces to central Africa to advise in the fight against the Lord's Resistance Army, a guerrilla group accused of widespread atrocities across several countries.
In this edition of the show we ask; American troops in Uganda: is it the thin end of the wedge?
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uploaded by youlawmaster on 20 Oct 2011
OIL FOUND IN UGANDA = TIME FOR US TROOPS TO DEPLOY TO UGANDA
US TROOPS DEPLOY TO UGANDA OIL FIND ALERTS AMERICA TO LARGE CORPORATE PROFITS FOR UNITED STATES NOT FOR AFRICA - LOOTING OF AFRICA IS NOW IN FULL SWING - FOREIGN WARS ARE DESTROYING US ECONOMY BIG TIME!
AS EVERY DAY PASSES, IT IS AS IF THERE IS A NEW FOREIGN WAR!
IN RETURN THE KENYAN BORN US PRESIDENT [IN BREACH OF ARTICLE 2 OF THE US CONSTITUTION] GOT THE POLITICAL "PEACE" PRIZE
Uploaded by invisiblechildreninc on 5 Mar 2012
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.
DIRECTOR: Jason Russell LEAD EDITOR: Kathryn Lang EDITORS: Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Jesse Eslinger LEAD ANIMATOR: Chad Clendinen ANIMATOR: Jesse Eslinger 3-D MODELING: Victor Soto VISUAL EFFECTS: Chris Hop WRITERS: Jason Russell, Jedidiah Jenkins, Kathryn Lang, Danica Russell, Ben Keesey, Azy Groth PRODUCERS: Kimmy Vandivort, Heather Longerbeam, Chad Clendinen, Noelle Jouglet ORIGINAL SCORES: Joel P. West SOUND MIX: Stephen Grubbs, Mark Friedgen, Smart Post Sound COLOR: Damian Pelphrey, Company 3 CINEMATOGRAPHY: Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, Gavin Kelly, Chad Clendinen, Kevin Trout, Jay Salbert, Shannon Lynch PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: Jaime Landsverk LEAD DESIGNER: Tyler Fordham DESIGNERS: Chadwick Gantes, Stephen Witmer
MUSIC CREDIT:
"02 Ghosts I"
Performed by Nine Inch Nails
Written by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor
Produced by Alan Moulder, Atticus Ross, and Trent Reznor
Nine Inch Nails appear courtesy of The Null Corporation
"Punching in a Dream"
Performed by The Naked and Famous
Written by Aaron Short, Alisa Xayalith, and Thom Powers
Produced by Thom Powers
The Naked and Famous appear courtesy of Somewhat Damaged and Universal Republic
"Arrival of the Birds"
Performed by The Cinematic Orchestra
Written by The Cinematic Orchestra
Produced by The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cinematic Orchestra appears courtesy of Disney Records
"Roll Away Your Stone"
Performed by Mumford and Sons
Written by Benjamin Lovett, Edward Dwane, Marcus Mumford, and Winston Marshall
Produced by Markus Dravs
Mumford and Sons appear courtesy of Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC
"On (Instrumental)"
Performed by Bloc Party
Written by Bloc Party
Produced by Jacknife Lee
Bloc Party appears courtesy of Vice Records
"A Dream within a Dream"
Performed by The Glitch Mob
The Glitch Mob appears courtesy of Glass Air
"I Can't Stop"
Performed by Flux Pavilion
Flux Pavilion appears courtesy of Circus Records Limited
The film Kony 2012 began because the filmmakers went to Uganda and met a young boy so traumatized by his experiences that he was contemplating suicide. Confronted with the grotesque reality of the atrocities, the Western filmmakers did what I hope I'd do, and resolved to help. No matter what. With that in mind, does it matter if they get paid well? Does it matter if they massage the facts? Does it matter that their charity isn't completely accountable? Does is matter that they're naive prats who think it's the white man's job to save Africa? Or is that all just pompous hypothesizing by Westerners with enough freedom, information, and education to look down on a simple, kind act?
Isn't it better to just stop criticizing and start helping children in need? Or is that the kind of blind interventionist attitude that throws countries like Afghanistan into very, very long wars?
The Solution to ALL Problems in Africa:
________________________________
*Get Western corporate/government tentacles the * out of Africa, stop supporting corrupt regimes, stop stealing their natural resources.
If we did this... genocide, child soldiers, constant conflict, and civil war would cease to exist.
IMAGINE a bunch of countries come to your country, rape your mom, sell your family into slavery and rob you of your natural resources... just to leave you to fight your neighbor for scraps from table, this is exactly what is happening in Africa. It is a history of imperialism that has caused all these problems.
Africa especially Uganda has some of the most concentrated oil deposits and rare mineral deposits in the world, and all of this happens right when were done in Iraq, coincidence?
"There are no coincidences. Only illusion of coincidence"
STOP BUYING INTO WESTERN BACKED PROPAGANDA.
KONY 2012 IS WHAT THEY FEED YOU
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Kony 2012: what's the real story?
A 28-minute film about the plight of children in Africa has been watched more than 21m times on YouTube. But the charity behind it is facing criticism for its Hollywood-style campaigning on the issue. Are the criticisms fair?
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Polly Curtis and Tom McCarthy
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 8 March 2012 23.32 GMT
Article history
The Lord's Resistance army leader, Joseph Kony, pictured in 2006. Photograph: Stuart Price/AP
Since Monday, more than 21m people have viewed this film – made by an American charity called Invisible Children – about the plight of children in Uganda at the hands of the warlord Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) guerilla group. His group is said to have abducted 60,000 children.
With its slick Hollywood production values, the film has been an almost instant viral success, dominating Twitter worldwide and having one of the fastest ever take-offs on You Tube. The hashtag #stopkony has had hundreds of thousands of tweets, and millions of people now know something about Uganda and what is happening to children there. Support for the campaign to end the conflict in the country this year is spreading.
We've reported on the video here:
Kony stands accused of overseeing the systematic kidnapping of countless African children, brainwashing the boys into fighting for him, turning the girls into sex slaves and killing those who don't comply.
His forces are believed to have slaughtered tens of thousands of people and are known for hacking the lips off their victims. Kony has been wanted by the international criminal court since 2005 on charges that include crimes against humanity. He has been living in the bush outside Uganda since that time.
The US designated the LRA a terrorist group after September 11, and in 2008 began actively supporting the Ugandan military. In October, the president deployed 100 combat-equipped troops – mostly special operations forces – to Uganda to advise regional military units in capturing or killing Kony.
But it has also attracted criticism: there are questions about the charity's funding, its targeting of US leaders instead of African leaders to instigate change, and accusations that it is failing to criticise the Ugandan government, with its poor human rights record.
This Tumblr page is collecting criticism of the project and this blog sums up a lot of the questions.
This morning, Invisible Children issued a detailed response to the criticism here.
We want, with your help, to investigate this further. Our principle approach is to attempt to gather views from Uganda about whether this film is the right way to go about campaigning on the issue. I'm going to be working with John Vidal, our environment editor, who has travelled extensively in the region and is on the phone now to his contacts there.
Do you have any relevant information? Get in touch below the line, tweet @pollycurtis or email me at polly.curtis@guardian.co.uk.
11.30am: This excellent post by Michael Wilkerson, a journalist who has worked extensively in Uganda, starts busting some of the myths around Kony and the situation in Uganda. He writes:
It would be great to get rid of Kony. He and his forces have left abductions and mass murder in their wake for over 20 years.
But let's get two things straight:
1) Joseph Kony is not in Uganda and hasn't been for six years;
2) The LRA now numbers at most in the hundreds, and while it is still causing immense suffering, it is unclear how millions of well-meaning but misinformed people are going to help deal with the more complicated reality.
It makes the following points:
• The LRA is not in Uganda but now operates in the DRC, South Sudan and the Central African Republic
• In October last year, Obama authorised the deployment of 100 US army advisers to help the Ugandan military track down Kony, with no results disclosed to date.
• The LRA is much smaller than previously thought. It does not have have 30,000 or 60,000 child soldiers. The figure of 30,000 refers to the total number of children abducted by the LRA over nearly 30 years.
It also makes the point that there is currently no threat to remove the US advisers who are working with the Uganda government to track down the army – Invisible Children's key aim is to force the US government to keep them there.
We're contacting Michael to ask him to write more about the background to this for us.
11.43am: Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian's film critic, has just filed his verdict on the Kony 2012, which will be up on the site soon.
I'm posting a taster below, partly in response to the reader who has just emailed me saying: "I am a mum in Devon with three kids, just about to run six miles for Sports Relief, please get behind this. Hollywood slick, who cares, support the kids – raise awareness and then start the criticism. It is a simple message which my 15-year-old son sent to me – Hollywood or not, it works!"
Peter Bradshaw writes:
Maybe Jason Russell's web-based film Kony 2012, calling for international action to stop the Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony, can't be considered great documentary-making. But as a piece of digital polemic and digital activism, it is quite simply brilliant.
It's a slick, high-gloss piece of work, distributed on the Vimeo site, the upscale version of YouTube for serious film-makers. And its sensational, exponential popularity growth on the web is already achieving one of its stated objectives: to make Kony famous, to publicise this psychopathic warlord's grotesque crimes – kidnapping thousands of children and turning them into mercenaries, butchers and rapists.
It does not stick to the conventions of impartial journalism in the BBC style. It is partisan, tactless and very bold. But it could be seen as insufferably condescending, a way of making US college kids feel good about themselves. And is Jason Russell scared to come out and admit that effective action entails an old-fashioned boots-on-soil invasion of a landlocked African country, with all the collateral damage that this implies?
12.32pm: I've just been speaking with Arthur Larok, Action Aid's director in Uganda.
He was previously the director of programmes at the Uganda National NGO Forum for nine years. He describes the NGO forum as independent of the government. We had a long conversation but, to be clear, he hasn't at this point seen the film though he does know about Invisible Children and its work in Uganda.
It was quite a bad line from Nairobi airport, but this is what he told me:
From what I know about Invisible Children, it's an international NGO, and it documents the lives of children living in conflict for international campaigning to draw attention to the lives of children in the north.
Six or 10 years ago, this would have been a really effective campaign strategy to get international campaigning. But today, years after Kony has moved away from Uganda, I think campaigning that appeals to these emotions … I'm not sure that's effective for now. The circumstances in the north have changed.
Many NGOs and the government, especially local government in the north, are about rebuilding and securing lives for children, in education, sanitation, health and livelihoods. International campaigning that doesn't support this agenda is not so useful at this point. We have moved beyond that.
There are conflicts in the north – several small conflicts over natural resources. Land is the major issue: after many years of displacement, there is quite a bit of land-related conflict.
But many organisations and governments are focusing on this. We need to secure social stability, health and education. These are the priorities. This is what we're trying to focus on. Poverty is high compared to the rest of the country. That's the practical issue that needs to be addressed.
I don't think this is the best way. It might be an appeal that makes sense in America. But there are more fundamental challenges. Kony has been around for 25 years and over. I don't think in the north at the moment that is really what is most important. It might be best on the internet and the like but, at the end of the day, there are more pressing things to deal with. If the Americans had wanted to arrest him, they would have done that a long time ago.
They [Invisible Children] are not a member of our forum. Many international organisations prefer to work and have direct contact with their quarters. They don't work so much within the structures we have in the country. There is nothing dramatic about them. They are like any other organisation trying to make a difference. At the moment I think the work of Invisible Children is about appealing to people's emotions. I think that time has passed. Their reputation in the country is something that can be debatable. There is a strong argument generally about NGOs and their work in the north.
It doesn't sound like a fair representation of Uganda. We have challenges within the country, but certainly the perception of a country at war is not accurate at all. There are political, economic and social challenges, but they are complex. Being dramatic about a country at war is not accurate.
If the international media want to be helpful especially for the conflict situation, they should exert more time and effort understanding practically what the needs are. It is fast-changing.
The video would have been appealing in the last decade. Now we just need support for the recovery rather than all this international attention on this one point. Getting the facts right is most important for the international media. That would help the situation as it is.
12.54pm: The Invisible Children film has now been viewed more than 26m times. These stats from YouTube show how it has taken off since Monday, where it's being watched and the age profile of those watching.
Invisible Children stats
12.59pm: The Ugandan journalist Angelo Opi-aiya Izama has written this blog, which makes a similar point to that of Larok about the Invisible Children campaign being outdated. He's been talking to our foreign desk and has just sent this as an addition:
One salient issue the film totally misses is that the actual geography of today's LRA operations is related to a potentially troubling "resource war".
Since 2006, Uganda discovered world class oil fields along its border with DRC. The location of the oil fields has raised the stakes for the Ugandan military and its regional partners, including the US.
While LRA is seen as a mindless evil force, its deceased deputy leader, Vincent Otii, told me once that their fight with President Yoweri Museveni was about "money and oil". This context is relevant because it allows for outsiders to view the LRA issue more objectively within the recent history of violence in the wider region that includes the great Central Africa wars of the 90s, in which groups like LRA were pawns for proxy wars between countries.
In LRA's case, its main support came from the Sudanese government in Khartoum and many suspect it still maintains the patronage of Omar el-Bashir, the country's president, himself indicted for war crimes by the ICC.
A reader has emailed in pointing us towards this Facebook page: PhonyKony 2012.
1.22pm: Recommended: this audio slideshow by our then Africa correspondent about the LRA related violence in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It documents child abductions happening there as recently as 2009.
2.05pm:
@Uglyflubb and others have been providing some information about the funding of Invisible Children below the line. John Vidal has been looking into this. He writes:
They call themselves "a movement" seeking to end the conflict in Uganda and stop the abduction of children for use as child soldiers, but behind the slick website and the touchy-feely talk about "changing the course of human history", there's a hard-nosed money-making operation led by US filmmakers and accountants, commuication experts, lobbyists and salespeople.
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.
Charity Navigator, a US charity evaluator, gives Invisible Children three out of four stars overall, four stars financially, but only two stars for "accountability and transparency". This would seem to be a vote of no confidence, but it is explained by Noelle Jouglet, communication director of Invisible Children, like this:
"Our score is currently at 2 stars due to the fact that Invisible Children currently does not have five independent voting members on our board of directors. We are currently in the process of interviewing potential board members, and our goal is to add an additional independent member this year in order to regain our 4-star rating by 2013. We are aware of this and trying to fix it."
The website suggests a staff of around 100 people, with the founders and senior staff mostly drawn from film-making and media industries. Jason Russell, the ceo and a co-founder, is described as Jason Radical Russell, "our grand storyteller and dreamer". He is said to be "redefining the concept of humanitarian work" and to believe "wholeheartedly in magic and the impossible". Laren Poole, another co-founder, is another filmmaker and the Ben Keesey, the chief finanacial officer, has been with Deloitte and Touche LLP, JP Morgan & Associates and Brentwood Associates Private Equity. He is described as "embracing the impossible and plots the course of our daring future".
2.27pm: This is really interesting detail from a reader about the process of what would happen if Knoy is arrested.
Caroline Argyropulo-Palmer writes:
I did my masters at SOAS last year, focusing on transitional justice. One aspect of the IC campaign that I would like to highlight is that it is not a given that Kony would be tried at the ICC [International Criminal Court]. The court works on a system of complementarity - if Uganda can try him they will be given preference. There is also a lot of academic discussion about whether the in country trials would have to be criminal prosecutions or if alternative justice processes, such as truth commissions, would be acceptable to the ICC. It might seem like a minor point, but to me it demonstrates a lack of interest on the part of IC on the specifics. And emphasising bringing Kony to the ICC rather than to trial more generally takes the justice process away from Uganda, where complex discussions about what justice would mean about the conflict more generally have been taking place.
Does anyone know any more about this? Do get in touch.
2.39pm: If you want to know where the Lords Resistance Army is doing now in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's well worth watching this film made by Simon Rawles for the Guardian last year.
This is Simon's take on the Invisible Children campaign:
I felt a little nauseous watching the film. Couldn't help but feel the director's concern was less about addressing the needs of those affected today by the LRA and the complexities of tackling the rebel group, than as serving as a very slick promotional vehicle for his charity.
Sure, it's great to raise awareness of the issue, but efforts need to be made today to help protect people in isolated areas that are vulnerable to attack. Pressure needs to be put on organisations like the UN to protect those in LRA-occupied areas. The film never addressed this point.
Villagers I interviewed complained why, despite a presence of over 100 UN troops in their village, the UN was consistently failing to protect them (there were several deaths in the days before I arrived there).
As those in my film explain, the LRA operate in groups or 2 or 3, and attack at random making ordinary life impossible. According to informed assessments, the LRA number little more than a few hundred and are scattered over an area the size of the UK. No one knows where Kony is, and most of his band operate independently. It'll be a hard nut to crack. And, frankly, I'm struggling to see what difference a mass social media movement can make.
2.54pm: A reader has written in pointing out there there is now thousands of pounds worth of Kony 2012 merchandise available of Ebay. On the American Ebay website 1,391 items come up under a search for "Kony" including keyrings, t shirts, posters and phone covers. This search shows 443 items for sale on the English version of the site. As far as I can tell from flicking through the sellers, this is not related to the Invisible Children campaign, but seems to be some sort of industry springing up around it. There's no indication that the profits will go to charity. One seller rgalle86rob is located in Wallasey, Merseyside and offering vinyl stickers for £1.49. M-u-s-k-y, also in the UK, is selling wristbands for £2.99.
Screengrab of Kony 2012 merchandise on Ebay.
3.04pm: We're been trying to get official views from other aid organisations through the day. This from Save the Children's director of policy and advocacy, Brendan Cox:
Anything which continues to pressurise world leaders to bring Joseph Kony to justice is to be welcomed. Joseph Kony's crimes against children are well documented. Murder, recruitment of children as soldiers, mutilation and rape. This viral film shows that even though Joseph Kony is in hiding his crimes will not be forgotten.
3.15pm:
Throughout today several people have recommended that I speak with the Ugandan journalist Rosebell Kagumire. She's just posted this response to the Kony 2012 campaign (hat tip @LionelBadal on Twitter) and you can read her blog here. She says: "The war is much more complex than one man called Joseph Kony."
3.48pm: I've just been speaking with Liz Wainwright, an English photojournalist who completed research in Uganda for an Msc in 2009. During her time there she worked with Invisible Children and she gives a really nuanced views of their work. To verify her relationship with Invisible Children, and her knowledge of the region, Liz sent me a copy of her thesis on "stakeholder perspective on how to holistically support children who have experienced conflict in Northern Uganda", which makes frequent references to her time with the organisation. She said:
Invisible Children have had a huge impact on the area. They are well respected by other NGOs. I worked alongside them and they were very solutions focused. They didn't sit around talking for too long and checked with experts and that the local people wanted what they were doing. So many organisations stomp in, do what they do and leave. It was very needs driven. My impression over the past few years is that they've got very shiny and slick. The media campaigning is a different type of work to on the ground project work they do. I think they need to decide whether they go down the route of media campaigns or do project work. The film is very sensationalist about the conflict in Uganda. But Uganda is in transition. They are in the aftermath of the war.
This film will have implications that we can't predict yet. It'll be children who are Kony's bodyguards. If they do get Kony there will be a wall of children to get through. How will they deal with that? I don't know whether those details are thought about. Any publicity is good publicity I suppose. But everything now seems to have very short term vision. In something which is the future of these children's lives you have to have a long term vision. Anything else is reactionary and frankly selfish.
Most of the people working for Invisible Children are media professionals not development professionals. That's important, but you need the expert input. It's hard, I'm caught in the middle; I do admire them. They are having a great impact in northern Uganda. They have some unique ways of working, a good mentoring scheme where they pair people who have come through the conflict with people who are coming out of it now. But then I don't agree in the film itself. It was a little self-indulgent, emotive, that's how they do things and it has had a huge impact. Perhaps development needs refreshing as an industry and this is new blood and it's causing a stir that they are doing something different.
In the north of Uganda women are still scared to go home, even though they are told it's OK. In terms of psychological day to day living Kony is the bigger barrier to people getting on with their lives. But the Ugandan and Sudanese army don't have a great track record. They also have very aggressive tactics and they are not squeaky clean.
3.51pm: Our New York based reporter Ryan Devereaux has been attempting to make contact with Invisible Children to put some of the concerns about their tactics to them. Do post any specific questions you'd like them to answer below the line or tweet @RDevro.
4.43pm: I've just been speaking to Teddy Ruge who runs Project Diaspora, an American group working to "mobilise the African diaspora in the states to engaged with the continent". He was speaking to me from New York, but spends half his time in Uganda. Teddy wrote this blog about the campaign. Thanks to all those who suggested I make contact with him. He said:
What I'd really like is for organisations like this to have a little bit more respect for individuals like ourselves you have the capability to speak for ourselves. By putting themselves as the heroes of our situation it debilitates our own ability to progress and develop our own capacity. Every time we take a step forward to rebrand ourselves, something comes along like this and uses us in their own game. We are left as the pawns in the game. Without a better brand we cannot develop better international relations. We need to change the image of Africa as a basket case.
The man [Kony] hasn't been in the country for over six years. You know that the majority of the audience is a bunch of teens and ideological college students who just want to do good. They don't understand the nuance of the situation. They will take it as the only story about that issue. If we don't stand up as members of the Africa diaspora, the educated elite of the continent, this story won't change. We recognise the situations, we know what they are, it's not everybody's responsibility to come and rescue us. We're not babies. We have to rise ourselves otherwise we'll always be the dependants.
All ill roads are built on good intentions. Meaning well doesn't give you the right to march into my house and tell me how to live. It does not offer you that right. Uganda is my country, my brothers, cousins and countrymen. Because I have the privilege to be in the States and I have a forum which is listened to, it's my responsibility to stand up and say something. Just because you mean good doesn't give you the right to control my life. I don't care if you mean good.
Uganda needs to be respected as an equal participant in this, we need to be respected as equal citizens of his world. We need to understand that there is more to us than the failures of our past. The US isn't defined by civil war or 9/11. Uganda is strong, vibrant, developing technology, industry, the resilient women are rising in civil groups, that's what I want to talk about.
Kony is nowhere near the top of the concerns for us Ugandans. If you go to Gulu, where the worst of his atrocities were committed, it's a different town. It's thriving, growing, people are trying to put their lives together. Kony is a sore in our history. We are not defined by him or Idi Amin
What will a $30 kit do? Did I ask you to sell my story for an action kit to make uninformed college students feel good?
5.00pm: Rory Carroll, who has reported from all over the world for the Guardian, has just filed a story reflecting on his experience meeting members of the LRA. He writes:
He wore tattered trousers, muddy wellington boots, a grubby anorak and avoided eye contact. The voice was soft. "Sometimes one blow is enough. You have to make sure the skull is crushed and the brains come out."
He was 17, still dressed in what passed for his Lord's Resistance Army uniform and still getting used to the idea he was no longer Ambush, his nom-de-guerre, but Patrick Ocaya.
For five years he had served as a corporal in Joseph Kony's ranks, tasked with leading groups of 11-year-olds in attacks on vehicles and, on occasion, clubbing prisoners to death.
Asked if he had felt sorry for those he abducted and killed Ocaya's eyes flicked from the azure sky to the red, baked earth of a ramshackle rehabilitation centre. He shrugged. "I didn't have pity. They were my orders."
It was June 2003 and I was reporting for the Guardian from Kitgum, a beleagured town of dirt roads and one-storey buildings in northern Uganda in the midst of a new LRA offensive.
Full story to follow on the website shortly.
5.05pm:
Lots of comment about this picture of the founders of Invisible Children, including on the left Jason Russell who features in the film. We've only just got the rights to use it.
The photo shows the founders of Invisible Children - Bobby Bailey, Laren Poole, and Jason Russell - posing with guns alongside members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The photo was taken at the Sudan-Congo border during the 2008 Juba Peace Talks by a photographer on assignment for the Associated Press Photograph: Glenna Gordon
This is IC's official explanation:
A story told by Jason Russell: The photo of Bobby, Laren and I with the guns was taken in an LRA camp in DRC during the 2008 Juba Peace Talks. We were there to see Joseph Kony come to the table to sign the Final Peace Agreement. The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) was surrounding our camp for protection since Sudan was mediating the peace talks. We wanted to talk to them and film them and get their perspective. And because Bobby, Laren and I are friends and had been doing this for 5 years, we thought it would be funny to bring back to our friends and family a joke photo. You know, "Haha - they have bazookas in their hands but they're actually fighting for peace." The ironic thing about this photo is that I HATE guns. I always have. Back in 2008 I wanted this war to end, like we all did, peacefully, through peace talks. But Kony was not interested in that; he kept killing. And we still don't want war. We don't want him killed and we don't want bombs dropped. We want him alive and captured and brought to justice.
5.22pm: Ryan Devereaux in our New York office writes:
I managed to speak to Ida Sawyer, a Congo researcher with Human Rights Watch currently based in Goma. Sawyer has studied the Lord's Resistance Army for several years. She made a number of positive comments regarding Invisible Children's work in the region outside of Uganda.
"From out perspective at Human Rights Watch, we definitely support the message of the film and we think it's great that they're bringing so much attention to the film with Kony's crimes and the phenomena of the LRA," Sawyer said.
"Hopefully this will create a movement for more pressure so that real action, effective action is taken to end the LRA, and arresting, capturing Kony is a key component of addressing the LRA problem," she added.
Sawyer commented on the Ugandan military forces that the United States is cooperating with in its efforts to eliminate Kony.
"We have always had concerns about the Ugandan army and they have tried to go after the LRA for 25 years and have not succeeded in ending the problem. They pushed him out of Uganda but didn't effectively weaken the actual strength of the group. We've had concerns about Uganda's human rights record domestically, within Uganda," Sawyer pointed out.
"We think that if the US is supporting them, they need to make sure that the Ugandan troops that they are supporting are not committing any abuses," she said.
While reports of abuses committed by regional military forces pursuing Kony have surfaced, Sawyer said Human Rights Watch has not documented any committed by the Ugandan troops working with the United States.
"We have not, so far on the LRA operation, we haven't documented any serious abuses committed by the Ugandan troops," she noted. "They are probably the most capable force in the region now compared with Congo and Central African Republic armies."
"And hopefully, the idea of having these American military advisers working closely with them, they can help insure that protections of civilians is prioritized and intelligence is acted on effectively and that any potential threats to civilians, or possible retaliation attacks are avoided."
Sawyer praised Invisible Children's work in north eastern Congo–an area impacted by LRA activity–in setting up an early warning system.
"I think Invisible Children is starting some of the best work there, in terms of setting up the early warning mechanism."
The system relies on a two-way radio network, "They're training these two-way radio monitors who can report immediately when there's LRA presence or there's an attack."
Sawyer described the network as "crucial" in terms of circulating information in effected areas. "These are areas that don't have phone networks and the roads are really bad."
"That's been one of the key programs on the ground addressing that issue," Sawyer added.
She also praised Invisible Children's rehabilitation program–a partnership with the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission–for former child soldiers abducted by the LRA in Congo. While such programs have taken hold in Uganda, Sawyer noted "a gap" in similar support networks for Congolese victims.
In Congo and Central African Republic, Sawyer said Invisible Children has been "some of the quickest organizations to respond to the needs on the ground, very flexible and willing to work with and listen to the local communities."
"I think they recognize that they are people from California coming in, they don't understand the Congo context immediately and all the facts, but I think since they've come into Congo and CAR they've worked to make sure they don't move too quickly."
5.24pm: Rosebell Kagumire in Kampala writes for us:
The invisible Children's video Kony2012, its producers said it was an attempt to get the world to become more aware of Kony's war. A video, which features the producer and his son, his trips to northern Uganda and the need for an urgent action, however has not received the applause that it saw in western countries. In Uganda many have seen it as a misrepresentation of conflict and attempt to bring down the conflict just to American action, ignoring other actors.
Victor Ochen, the Director of African Youth Initiative Network (AYInet) based in Lira which was the site of one Kony's worst massacres in Uganda said that though the campaigners have good intentions they don't seem to seek a lasting solution.
"They are focusing more on an American solution to an African conflict than the holistic approach which should include regional governments and people who are very key to make this a success," says Ochen, "Every war has its own victims. They are advocating for a mechanism to end war with more attention to a perpetrator not victims. Campaigning on killing one man and that's the end is not enough."
Javie Ssozi a digital media consultant in Kampala commented on his facebook wall "They are responding to the right cause with a wrong approach! It's a good thing to raise awareness and let the world know what is happening but its a bad thing to start fromvery far away from where "what" is happening!".
He added this video is very fit for the Western world but we must not forget that there is another side of the story. Action cannot be based on one-sided-facts or thoughts. The people of this country can speak for themselves. KONY IS A BAD GUY. Yes! Can we at least hear from the victims?
Barbara Among, a Ugandan journalist at the independent Daily Monitor said the video simplifies the war against Kony and downplays realities on the ground. "He shows the fighting Kony is like Ramble in the movie and there's no reality," she says, "You would be forgive to think the war began with him (producer) and will end with him"
Among who also hails from the north says there's a lot of ego in the video and he ignores the past initiatives of people like Betty Bigombe, the Jub peace process which is wrong. Among also points out that it is not first time that celebrities have been brought on board for the cause of ending war in northern Uganda. In 1996 after Kony's rebels attacked Aboke girl's school and abducted many girls, the then deputy head rallied around the world and made calls for peace. In fact the late Pope John Paul sent a message to Kony which is inscribed on a stone in the school in northern Uganda.
Among says the whole approach doesn't respect victims of this war.
"Asking people to buy an item written on Kony is out of this world. Even if you are trying to help just imagine parents whose children have been killed, mutilated or abducted and the emotional pain the name brings to them."
The other criticism has been that the video heavily relies on images shot in Uganda more than 6 years ago and presents it as the current situation. Yet northern Uganda is dealing a whole lot of fresh challenges of resettlement and dealing with broken systems.
Ochen adds that "To me even a bullet alone isn't good enough for Kony, killing him alone will not be enough. There are many people who are caught up in this war. Invisible Children has good access to international media but they have no connection with the community they claim to represent."
5.27pm: I'm signing off now and handing over to Tom McCarthy in our New York office who is going to continue this blog. Many thanks for all your contributions today.
7.21pm GMT / 2.21pm ET: Tom McCarthy here in New York taking over for Polly Curtis. Wolfgang Zeller of the Centre of African Studies in Edinburgh refers us to a report his colleagues published on northern Uganda in Foreign Affairs that has been widely cited in the current debate. Here's an excerpt of his email:
I am a researcher based at the Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh University and have been working on northern Uganda since 2009. This includes field work, academic publishing, advising the Foreign Ministry of Finland on the topic (I was based in Helsinki until 2010), and using the case in postgraduate courses I teach on the topics 'Development & Security in Africa' and 'Mineral Extraction in Africa'.
Your blog already cites other experts pointing out that the LRA has been outside Uganda for several years, is far smaller than Invisible Children try to make believe, and that the Ugandan government and army are a deeply problematic ally in their campaign. I second all these points, based on my own research and that of my colleagues.
The Guardian has widely reported recent electoral violence and the persecution of opposition leader, homosexuals and journalists in Uganda. This is clearly sanctioned, even driven by the country's leadership. The persecution of homosexuals is also strongly driven (and funded) by American-based Christian fundamentalist groups, who also see Uganda as a frontline in the cultural war against Islam, thanks to the Museveni regimie's outspoken (and military-strategis) support of the US 'War on Terror'.
There is also wide consensus in the scholarly community on the following facts:
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.
The Ugandan army and military, including members of the family of the president, are known to have cashed in on the country's sending of troops to participate in the civil war of Congo DRC in the 1990s. The enrichment schemes involve the plundering of timber and high-value minerals like gold, diamonds and coltan in eastern DRC and the creation of false payment and pension schemes for army sections that do not exist ('ghost soldiers'). The DRC case led to a high-profile investigation by the UN and in the final report from 2001 Uganda was singled out for its involvement.
7.27pm GMT / 2.27pm ET: We've produced a video capturing the reactions of children from London aged 14 and 15 to the Invisible Children documentary.
7.44pm GMT/2.44pm ET: For readers just tuning in, or for readers in the United States who missed it, I want to repost a video reaction to KONY2012 by the Ugandan journalist Rosebell Kagumire (here's her blog). She criticizes the Invisible Children video as propagating sterotypes about Africa.
"Basically my major problem with [the Invisible Children] video is that it simplifies the story of millions of people in northern Uganda, and makes out a [misconception] that is often heard about Africa, about how hopeless people are in times of conflict."
7.51pm GMT / 2.51pm ET: More from Ugandan journalist Angelo Izama, from his post at Ch16.org, the international blogger network. Izama writes: "For many in the conflict prevention community including those who worry about the militarization of it in Central Africa, [the KONY2012] campaign is just another nightmare that will end soon. Hopefully."
If six years ago children in Uganda would have feared the hell of being part of the LRA, a well documented reality already, today the real invisible children are those suffering from "Nodding Disease". Over 4000 children are victims of this incurable debilitating condition. It's a neurological disease that has baffled world scientists and attacks mainly children from the most war affected districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu.
8.01pm GMT / 3.01pm ET: Here's a voice of support for the Kony 2012 initiative from someone close to the matter indeed.
Jacob Acaye, the Ugandan former child abductee at the heart of the film Kony 2012, has defended the video and its makers. He rejected widespread criticism in Uganda and abroad that the American-made film calling for Kony's arrest is out-of-date or irrelevant, my colleague Julian Borger writes.
A still from the so-called Kony2012 initiative, launched by the non-profit group Invisible Children which demands the removal of Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Rao Kony. Pic shows Jacob Achaye Photograph: .
"It is not too late, because all this fighting and suffering is still going on elsewhere," Acaye, now 21, told the Guardian in a telephone interview from Kampala.
"Until now, the war that was going on has been a silent war. People did not really know about it.
"Now what was happening in Gulu is still going on elsewhere in the Central African Republic and in Congo. What about the people who are suffering over there? They are going through what we went through."
You can read the full interview here.
8.23pm GMT / 3.23pm ET: A reader writes:
Surely any exposure of such a man is positive, no matter how much money is spent on the medium in which the message is contained? The fact that the Invisible Children group is doing anything is better than doing nothing. I believe that, living in an age where media and social-media are engrained from the youngest to the oldest, the best way in getting a message across is by using them as a tool to do good. This is nothing new in political circles - why should it be any different when it comes to charities?
– Dan from Cardiff
8.39pm GMT / 3.39pm ET: The Guardian's Ryan Devereaux just spoke to Steven Van Damme, Oxfam's protection and policy advisor for the whole of eastern Congo. He is currently based in Goma. Van Damme said his organization is concerned about potentially violent consequences for the local population from the Kony2012 campaign. Here is Ryan's report:
"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."
According to Van Damme, military operations targeting Kony would present a host of risks. "They should take into account the protection of those people living in the areas where those military operations would take place, and at the same time [we're] concerned about the fact that Kony has surrounded himself with a lot of civilians around.
"The LRA is able to operate in that part of DRC because it is a remote area, because it's cut off, because it's isolated. There is very limited infrastructure, very limited amount of roads, schools, hospitals, very limited communications. The state authority is very weak and is absent. ... There's a lack of political acknowledgment of the presence of the LRA in the area."
Van Damme said the challenge of helping people impacted by Joseph Kony and his LRA forces requires focus on issues that are bigger than one man.
"What we want to highlight is the lack of development in the area that we're talking about, where people have a lot of concerns – including the lack of access to hospitals, roads and schools – with this impacting massively on these people," Van Damme said. "And so, any solution has to look at wider development in the area, and that seems to be where there's a lot less attention and a lot less funding and political support.
"The LRA problem goes way beyond a purely military solution and has to tackle all of these matters that basically boil down to a very underdeveloped region."
8.55pm GMT / 3.55pm ET: Guardian environment editor John Vidal critiques the Kony2012 video, from its rhetorical strategy to its production values to its call for donations.
"Kony2012 is aimed at children... it is a very, very persuasive, manipulative film, beautifully made."
"I think it's very successful because it doesn't ask very much of people. It doesn't ask people to understand much more than 'There is good, and there is bad.'"
Video is here.
4.56pm: My colleague Ryan Devereaux has had a longer conversation with Ugandan journalist Angelo Izama. Izama was born in Kampala, Uganda and is currently a Knight Fellow at Stanford University. He specializes in security issues in Central Africa, and argues for a more nuanced and complex look at the region than the picture painted by Invisible Children. Here's the latest from Ryan:
Izama says there's a crucial natural resource angle that's being overlooked, pointing out that Uganda recently discovered "significant deposits of oil" near its border with the DRC. "This is the one game changer in the history of conflict in that region" Izama said. He said joint military operations are increasingly concentrated in the oil-rich area.
"One of my issues with Invisible Children is that by providing such a truncated vision, and an unreal one, of what's happening today in our area right now, they missed the opportunity to cast this in much more broader and much more significant terms."
Izama pointed out that the Ugandan military – which the Obama administration legally committed itself to assisting one year after the oil discovery – has been increasing its oil-related security operations.
"For Uganda to exploit oil on that border region, it has to run a very large security operation. Part of that includes securing the border against rebels groups including the LRA, the Allied Democratic Forces, Congolese militias and several other Sudanese and Congolese groups that are all operating in that area," he said. "LRA is actually a minority."
"Governments that are motivated by exploiting solely this resource can be pretty excessive in their choice of policies. I think that Invisible Children really lost that wonderful opportunity," Izama added. "The big story in Uganda is about the oil."
Izama believes Invisible Children was mistaken in "going back into history and casting this in terms of what happened five, six years ago, which is no longer the case."
"If they had taken the story to where it is now, which is DRC, I think that you could still raise the question of Kony's atrocities, which are still ongoing now, but also raise the important issues that come with that, including the fact that DRC is where in 90s six or seven armies fought. Those are resource wars."
10.47pm GMT / 5.47pm ET: My colleague Ryan Devereaux spoke with comedy writer Jane Bussman, who has been traveling to Uganda since 2005. Bussman said Invisible Children did what it had to do to draw attention to an important issue. Here's Ryan's report:
"I think they really sat down and worked out the best way to get attention to what should be the biggest news story in the world but never is because the children involved are black," Bussman said. "Everyone is going ballistic on the Internet today," she added, "because they say the film is white-focused."
People need to realize, Bussman said, that "it's really bloody difficult to get the media to give a damn about stories with black people in the middle. ...The fact that they managed to make it an issue took some real some real brains."
Bussman takes issue with those who criticize the film for oversimplifying the situation in Central Africa. "If they got 27 million people watching it, it ain't that f**ing stupid," she said.
10.52pm GMT/5.52pm ET: The White House has congratulated Invisible Children, the makers of the Kony 2012 video.
11.09pm GMT / 6.09pm ET: President Obama talks about Joseph Kony. Jake Tapper of ABC News has posted video in which he asks the president about the LRA. The exchange is below.
Tapper: On Friday we learned that you authorized the deployment of 100 Special Forces troops to Central Africa. The Lord's Revolutionary (sic) Army that these troops will be helping to remove their leaders from the battlefield, they are known for using child soldiers, and I'm wondering — the process of agreeing to deploy troops in a situation like this where you know that these special forces might have to return fire and they might be firing upon child soldiers — how difficult is that as a decision to make?
Obama: Well none of these decisions are easy, but those who are familiar with the Lord's Resistance Army and their leader, Mr. Kony, know that these are some of the most vicious killers. They terrorize villages, they take children into custody and turn them into child soldiers, they engage in rape and slaughter in villages they go through. They have been a scourge on the Uganda and that entire region, eastern Africa. So there has been strong bi-partisan support and a coalition, everything from evangelical Christians to folks on the left and human rights organizations who have said it is an international obligation for us to try to take them on and so given that bipartisan support across the board belief that we have to do something about this, what we've done is we've provided these advisors, they are not going to be in a situation where they are called upon to hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army or actively fire on them, but they will be in a position to protect themselves. What they can do is provide the logistical support that is needed, the advice, the training and the logistical support that hopefully will allow this kind of stuff to stop.
6.31pm: We're going to wrap up our live blog coverage of the controversy surrounding the Kony 2012 viral video. Thanks for reading – and thanks especially to all those who wrote in with valuable context and ideas. Check out the Guardian tomorrow for more, including an interview with Buzzfeed founder Jonah Peretti on why this video, of all activist videos, went viral.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
In response to Kony 2012 video made by InvisibleChildren, I do not think the LRA or Kony is good and I do not support them.
I trust the 100 U.S. military troops already sent are doing their job to find Kony, whether he is dead or alive and do what needs to be done for the sake of Central Africa.
I am just promoting the education one should do before they believe everything they see. The Kony 2012 Video is not the only information you should rely on. Research. I am all for the cause, just not the video that was made.
Kony 2012 Video Response
Link _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uploaded by davidchilderley on 10 Mar 2012
Educate Yourself... http://www.mygenie.tv
Pls mirror. Images gratefully shared from the charity video promoting KONY 2012. I trust they will allow my use under the youtube creative commons attribution licence.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Uploaded by PsychoD12 on 12 Mar 2012
COPY SHARE DOWNLOAD UPLOAD!! Do Not let them get away with this AMERICA...
The heart string tug is a great deception used by our twisted government to get people involved.. Maybe we should send over some "PEACE" Cruise Missiles to help them, ya think? Although I agree it is horrible.. I think KONY will become another Osama invisible and hard to find to justify a military presence in Africa. Just as this video describes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SanIGIomf8w
We could easily take this man out and they have plenty in Africa just like him!
Cont..
"There has not been a single soul from the LRA here since 2006. Now we have peace, people are back in their homes, they are planting their fields, they are starting their businesses. That is what people should help us with."
Kony's army fled Uganda six years ago and the strongman and his fighters are now spread throughout many neighbouring countries, it was reported.
Ugandan journalist Rosebell Kagumire agreed with Mpora, saying, "This paints a picture of Uganda six or seven years ago, that is totally not how it is today. It's highly irresponsible."
Uploaded by LimamyFilms on Mar 8, 2012
I made this video because i was tired of people supporting something that is a fraud and has two faces.Made by Zyad Limamy
NO COPYRIGHT INTENDED
(C) All rights reserved to the artist and thier prodution company
Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Kony 2012 campaigner Jason Russell detained for public rampage
Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children, allegedly vandalised cars and made sexual gestures while wearing his underwear
Jason Russell was recovering in hospital suffering from malnutrition and exhaustion, Invisible Children's chief executive said. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
Paul Harris in New York
guardian.co.uk, Sat 17 Mar 2012 02.42 GMT
One of the co-founders of Invisible Children, the San Diego-based charity that is campaigning for the arrest of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, has been hospitalised after police said he was detained for running around the streets screaming in his underwear.
Jason Russell, 33, was picked up by police in San Diego at around 11.30am on Thursday after they received numerous calls from the public about a man vandalising cars, being apparently under the influence of a substance and making sexual gestures.
San Diego police dispatcher transcripts show neighbours began calling around 11.30am on Thursday to report that a man was running around in his underwear in the city's Pacific Beach neighbourhood. "[Subject] is at the corner, banging his hands on the ground, screaming, incoherent," the transcript continues. "People are trying to calm him down, he's been stopping traffic."
Police Lieutenant Andra Brown said a 33-year-old man was detained and taken to a hospital for medical evaluation. He was never arrested and no charges were planned. "At this point the police department's involvement in the matter is done," Brown said.
According to local TV station NBC, San Diego police spokeswoman Lieutenant Andra Brown told a press conference in the city that Russell was co-operative as he was detained by officers. "He was no problem for the police department. However, during the evaluation we learned that we probably needed to take care of him. So officers detained him and transferred him to a local medical facility for further evaluation and treatment," she said.
Invisible Children has shot to fame after one of the videos it produced in order to publicise the atrocities of Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army went viral. Viewed more than 76m times, the video gave a high profile to the group's cause but also put the tiny charity at the centre of global scrutiny.
Critics have condemned the group for a perceived lack of transparency in its financial records and for over-simplifying a complex issue. They accused the group of being fame-seeking and of having an overtly western focus on what is a regional African problem. Some also pointed out the group had taken large donations from rightwing Christian fundamentalists groups in the US, who have also funded anti gay-rights causes.
However, the group and its many defenders mounted a strong defence, detailing its financial history and saying that their sole aim was to highlight a dreadful and ongoing human rights cause that had garnered little attention for decades. They were also hailed for using social media to engage young people in social activism.
Scores of support groups have sprung up all over the US and the world and a resolution of support for the groups' aims has even been introduced in Congress. The group is planning a day of mass action in protest at Kony for next month that aims to distribute more than a million posters bearing the logo Kony 2012 across the US.
A brief statement by the group in the wake of Russell's detention said that being at the centre of a massive media storm may have taken its toll. "Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalised suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition. He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better," said Invisible Children's chief executive Ben Keesey in the statement.
"The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday. Jason's passion and bis work have done so much to help so many and we are are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue."
Hmm Masturbating in the nude is not making suggestions in underwear????
'Kony 2012' Honcho Jason Russell's NAKED MELTDOWN VIDEO
As we previously reported, Russell was detained by police yesterday ... after witnesses say he was running around naked and making sexual gestures.
Russell was held on a 5150 psychiatric hold ... so authorities can decide if he poses a danger to himself or others.
A rep for Invisible Children says Russell was suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition as a result of a strenuous PR campaign.
Quote:
'KONY 2012' HONCHO JASON RUSSELL
Detained for Allegedly
Masturbating in Public [Updates]
3:26 PM PST: We just got footage of Jason's naked meltdown on a public street ... pounding his fists in anger and screaming maniacally.
2:15 PM PST: Law enforcement sources tell us ... there are NO plans to charge Russell with a crime for yesterday's incident.
2:08 PM PST: Law enforcement sources tell us ... Russell is being hospitalized on a 5150 psychiatric hold so authorities can assess his mental state. The 5150 hold allows authorities to keep Russell for up to 3 days to determine if he represents a threat to either himself or others.
1:45 PM PST: The CEO of Invisible Children, Ben Keesey, tells TMZ ..."Jason Russell was unfortunately hospitalized yesterday suffering from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnutrition."
The statement continues, "He is now receiving medical care and is focused on getting better. The past two weeks have taken a severe emotional toll on all of us, Jason especially, and that toll manifested itself in an unfortunate incident yesterday."
"Jason’s passion and his work have done so much to help so many, and we are devastated to see him dealing with this personal health issue. We will always love and support Jason, and we ask that you give his entire family privacy during this difficult time.”
The mastermind behind the now-famous "Kony 2012" video was detained by police in San Diego yesterday for allegedly being drunk in public and masturbating.
Jason Russell was taken into custody by San Diego cops. In addition to allegedly masturbating, cops say he vandalized cars.
Cops told NBC7 in SD they received several calls around 11:30 AM ... reporting a man in "various stages of undress."
Sources tell us ... Russell was dancing around the Intersection of Ingraham and Riviera wearing "speedo-like underwear" ... and eventually removed the underwear and began to make sexual gestures.
We're told ... it appeared Russell was under the influence of some kind of substance.
Cops told NBC, "Officers detained [Russell] and transferred him to a local medical facility for further evaluation and treatment."
Russell is the father of two, and says he wants to have 9 more kids.
Russell is the co-founder of Invisible Children as well as the filmmaker of the ultra-viral video which has set records on the Internet -- with more than 80 million views (below).
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Friday, March 16, 2012
Globalists Pull Plug on Kony 2012 with Spectacular Crash and Burn
Tony Cartalucci, Contributing Writer
Activist Post
Over the past week, as Invisible Children and their corporate sponsors performed desperate damage control, ties between the alleged "charity" and the US State Department, Wall Street speculator George Soros and his Open Society Institute, and a myriad of corporate-funded foundations began surfacing and spreading just as quickly as their documentary Kony 2012 rose to fame.
Image: (via Infowars) A visual representation of Invisible Children's true backers and master minds. They will gladly shed their front group in the name of self-preservation and making a clean escape.
Perhaps most importantly, the term AFRICOM began gaining wider notoriety as did the mission of AFRICOM - the neo-colonial plundering of all of Africa. And as this single backfiring propaganda stunt threatened to unhinge a continent-spanning corporate-military industrial campaign, the plug was abruptly pulled with news of Invisible Children's director Jason Russell being arrested for lewd behavior in public.
Image: The coat of arms of the British South Africa Company (BSAC) - a predecessor of modern neo-imperialism. The BSAC was a company chartered by the British Empire, lent the resources and capabilities of the Empire, to help loot the natural wealth of Africa. This mirrors exactly AFRICOM and the legion of corporations and NGOs carrying out the modern-day looting of Africa. Note the terms "justice" and "freedom" used upon the company's coat of arms. Clearly masking exploitation with good intentions is nothing new.
The growing legions of critics and skeptics arrayed against this latest Wall Street-London psychological operation will undoubtedly seize this irresistible bait laid out, either by chance or by design, to focus on finishing off the already mortally wounded "Invisible Children" organization. It is already turning out to be a spectacular crash and burn.
However, the focus must be maintained on the mechanics behind Invisible Children, the fact that they are backed by USAID and that they participated in the US State Department's Alliance for Youth Movements (Movements.org) summits which laid the groundwork years in advance for the US-engineered "Arab Spring." It must also be remembered that while they pretend to be a movement of the people, Invisible Children is in fact backed by (page 22) Soros-funded foundations, JP Morgan, Chase, and others.
And as satisfying as many will find it to stomp Invisible Children out of existence for intentionally misleading them, preying on their emotions, insulting their intelligence, and literally lying to them, they must remember that all they've managed to do is hack away but a tentacle of a much larger monster. While we have a firm grip on Invisible Children, let's pull up the whole monster from its murky lair.
Let us expose the International Criminal Court and its fraudulent head, Luis Moreno-Ocampo who enthusiastically supported the fraud that is Kony 2012. And the Hollywood propagandists who abused their fame and the misplaced trust of millions to promote Invisible Children, as well as other, more established but equally fraudulent NGOs like Soros-funded (annual report page Amnesty International and the Neo-Con run Freedom House who skillfully rode the wave of publicity Invisible Children created, but ran concurrent anti-Kony/pro-AFRICOM invasion campaigns of their own, safely isolated from what they knew was experimental, unpredictable, and potentially disastrous propaganda.
As the plug is pulled on Invisible Children, the system will gladly sacrifice an easily replaceable tentacle in exchange for its overall self-preservation. Do not allow the writhing tentacle pulled into the boat distract us from the grander prize at hand.
Tony Cartalucci's articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at
Land Destroyer Report. Read other contributed articles by Tony Cartalucci here.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
NAIROBI, Kenya — The leader of the military coup that toppled the democratic government of the West African nation of Mali this week underwent basic officer training in the United States, the Obama administration acknowledged Friday.
Capt. Amadou Sanoga, who is the apparent leader of the group of junior officers that toppled the government of President Amadou Toumani Toure, "participated in several U.S.-funded International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs in the United States, including basic officer training," the U.S. military's Africa Command said in an email to McClatchy.
The State Department confirmed Sanoga's U.S. connection in a separate email.
It was not immediately known which training courses Sanoga had participated in. The IMET programs can include a wide range of activities, including human rights training and study at one of the U.S. military's war colleges.
Whether U.S. officials have been in touch with Sanoga, who declared himself the head of the National Committee for the Restoration of Democracy and the State, since the coup also was unknown. In an email, State Department African affairs spokeswoman Hilary Renner said only that U.S. diplomats in Mali's capital, Bamako, are "seeking to contact the mutiny leaders to express the U.S. and international position that the civilian elected government must be fully restored without delay."
Sanoga's U.S. ties complicate what was already an inconvenient development in the regional counterterrorism strategy for the United States, which now will have to decide how to deal with a military junta that it's vowed to reject in a country that's a significant front in the war against terror.
"At this moment the United States is pausing any planned military equipment or training programs to the Malian military," Renner wrote. "We remain committed to building the long-term counterterrorism capacities of our partners in the region, including Mali. The restoration of a strong constitutional process and good governance at all levels is a critical priority for counterterrorism efforts."
The whereabouts of President Toure remain unknown, though Renner said "we have seen reports" that the president is safe. She urged the coup leaders to protect the "well-being" of all those they had detained.
Sanoga and his fellow officers have moved quickly to consolidate power. Unless they face a backlash among their military peers or a regional effort to unseat them, the international community might have no choice but to deal with the young new rulers, like it or not, analysts said.
"Mali is what many consider the poster child for democracy in West Africa. It is also an aid darling. What are all these donor countries going to do? It's completely unclear," said Benjamin Soares, a Mali expert at the African Studies Center in Leiden, the Netherlands.
"Of course, there is a long history of coups in the region. Western donors usually say they won't deal with these governments, but they almost always eventually do so," Soares said.
The U.S. military has supported the Mali military extensively over the past decade, and the country has become a significant partner in the U.S. efforts to curb North Africa's shadowy al Qaida affiliate, al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM.
In addition to its involvement in the International Military Education and Training program, Mali has also participated in the Trans Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership, which is intended to strengthen bilateral military ties with the U.S. and supports counterterrorism coordination across the region's different militaries. Mali also recently hosted U.S. soldiers in a joint logistical exercise named Atlas Accord 12.
"We have regularly had small teams traveling in and out of Mali to conduct specific training that has been requested by the Malian government and military," said Nicole Dalrymple, a spokeswoman for the Africa Command, known as Africom, in an emailed response to questions.
Renner said in her email that the U.S. government "provided almost $138 million dollars in foreign assistance for Mali." Most of that money went to development assistance and global health programs. About $600,000 was allocated for military training. The overall allocation had been expected to rise this year to about $144 million, Renner said.
Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb started in Algeria to the north, but it has made steady inroads into the less-governed regions of the southern Sahara Desert and the Sahel — the swath across Africa directly south of the Sahara — as it faced increasing pressure at home. Northern Mali has proven a prime base for its southern operations, which include taking Westerners hostage for ransom.
If the U.S. suspension of its counterterrorism programs continues for a lengthy period of time, it risks a weakened effort to counter AQIM as the Malian military tries to push back a major revolt by nomadic Tuareg tribesmen who've seized much of the country's north. Tuareg control of the north could also give AQIM a safe haven there.
But if the U.S. re-establishes its close military ties, it would be bolstering a regime it has vowed to reject in line with longstanding diplomatic precedent to discourage military coups. Mali had been a functioning democracy for 20 years and Toure was expected to step down without complaint with April 29 elections.
"We are hopeful that the mutiny leaders will see that it is in the country's interest to end their mutiny so that elections can be held as scheduled, " the State Department's Renner said.
The link between the Algeria-based al Qaida affiliate and the rebel Tuaregs, many of whom served in the army of deposed Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi and moved into Mali after Gadhafi's fall, are fluid and opaque, but they both take advantage of the weak controls regional governments exert over the inhospitable Sahara Desert.
Experts differ on how serious a threat AQIM poses to the Western interests in West Africa and beyond. Some even question the group's commitment to the global jihad, since most of its activities have focused on continued attacks back home in Algeria while running lucrative criminal schemes through ransoms and illicit smuggling.
The group's push southward from Algeria has alarmed some diplomats and terrorism experts, who fear the group could bring al Qaida's brand of militant anti-Western Islam deeper into Africa. Washington believes the group already has forged ties to the Nigerian Islamist movement Boko Haram, which was behind the suicide bombing last year of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
(Boswell is a McClatchy special correspondent. His reporting is underwritten in part by a grant from Humanity United, a California-based foundation that focuses on human rights issues.)
TAGS: Conflict, Military, Africa, Politics, Human rights
A US Africa Command official confirmed on Friday the leader of military coup d’état in Mali has visited the US on several occasions, receiving professional military education.
Captain Amadou Haya Sanogo participated in the America’s International Military Education and Training program, sponsored by the US State Department, Public Affairs representative Patrick Barnes revealed to The Washington Post.
Foreign officers are handpicked for the program by US embassies in respective countries. The Malian army is very small, consisting of only 7,000 personnel. With the given small number of officers in this army, it is no wonder that Sanogo had a good chance to get to the US.
On March 22, just a month before a presidential election in the country, Sanogo and soldiers loyal to him stormed the presidential palace in the capital Bamako and overthrew President Amadou Toumani Toure.
The reason for the rebellion was stated as the existing leadership’s relaxed attitude towards Touareg tribes’ insurrection in this north-western African country.
The coup claimed three lives, leaving about 40 wounded.
Amadou Haya Sanogo has made a statement saying he is not going to stay in power for long. He promised that as soon as the army manages to contain a Tuareg insurgency in the northern part of the country a new election will be called.
The captain said he will be glad to continue to serve in the army after the election.
He also claimed the country’s deposed president is being held safely not far from the capital, and promised to bring Amadou Toumani Toure to court.
The rebel soldiers are currently busy looting throughout the city of Bamako.
Despite condemning the coup, the US is not planning to reconsider its $140-million aid program to Mali in 2012.
Conversely, on Friday the African Union suspended Mali’s membership of that organization.
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Intervention in Mali
Once again western powers are using anti-Islamist rhetoric to justify colonial interventions. Two days of French air strikes have already killed many civilians and is only likely to inflame instability across the region already in chaos after the West's attack on Libya.
France's intervention in Mali is part of a growing scramble for Africa. France occupied Mali until 1960. It was at the centre of its historic colonial empire and now at the heart of its effort to control a mineral rich area including Senegal, Burkino Faso, the Ivory Coast - all former colonies in which the French once again have troops.
That Britain was the first to support the French adventure with two RAF planes only shows how keen the government is to participate in a new rush for influence on the African continent. The danger is too, as fighting intensifies, that Britain will get further drawn in to an intervention that has already been backed by the US government. Stop the War condemns this intervention that will only intensify the crisis in the region.
More information
Stop the War's statement on the intervention in Mali can be read here: http://bit.ly/VFS7io
Glenn Greenwald: The bombing of Mali highlights all the lessons of western intervention http://bit.ly/WWQYP2
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 12:39 am Post subject:
Algeria: hostages feared dead after troops storm jihadists at BP gas field
Thirty hostages reported killed during rescue operation, while David Cameron says Britain should be 'prepared for bad news'
Julian Borger and Patrick Wintour
The Guardian, Thursday 17 January 2013 23.53 GMT
Thirty hostages were feared dead after Algerian troops stormed a desert gas field seized by a jihadist group in a disastrous end to the worst international hostage crisis of recent years.
Reuters news agency quoted an Algerian security source as saying that the 30 victims included eight Algerians, two Britons, two Japanese and one French national, and that the nationality of the remaining 17 hostages killed in the battle had not been confirmed. Earlier in the day, the militants claimed 34 western hostages had lost their lives in the Algerian rescue attempt. Eleven jihadists were also reported to be killed.
One British contractor died in the initial jihadist attack on the In Amenas gas field on Wednesday morning, but prime minister David Cameron warned that the country "should be prepared for further bad news in this very dangerous, fluid situation". The Foreign Office called it "an appalling tragedy".
Algeria's state news agency APS saidthe military operation to free hostages had ended, quoting an unnamed official source who gave no further details.
Mohamed Saïd, the Algerian communications minister, earlier confirmed that several hostages had been killed but said troops had been forced to act to free them due to the "diehard" attitude of their captors. "The operation resulted in the neutralisation of a large number of terrorists and the liberation of a considerable number of hostages," Saïd said, according to the New York Times. "Unfortunately, we deplore also the death of some, as well as some who were wounded. We do not have final numbers."
Officials said 600 Algerian workers at the site had been freed and more than 20 foreigners had survived.
Norway's Statoil company said it was unable to account for nine Norwegian employees who had been at the In Amenas gas field at the time of the raid.
The Algerian government said it was necessary to take instant action to end the standoff as the jihadist group, known as the Signers in Blood, had intended to take the hostages out of the country.
An Algerian source quoted by Reuters said three Egyptians, two Algerians, two Tunisians, two Libyans a Frenchman and a Malian, were among the 11 militants killed.
"The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels," one survivor, a 53-year-old local man called Abdelkader, told Reuters.
The British government complained it had not been informed before the military operation was launched. Cameron was only told once it was under way and immediately demanded an explanation from Algiers. Washington and Paris indicated they too had been left in the dark.
There were also questions about the tactics used by the Algerians to break the hostage standoff. Several reports from the scene describe helicopter gunships strafing the workers' living quarters where the hostages were being held. The militants claimed they still held seven hostages: two Americans, three Belgians, one Japanese and one British citizen.
One of the survivors was Stephen McFaul, an Irish national, who called his wife, Angela, in west Belfast at 3pm to say he was alive and free. McFaul said the Algerian army bombed four jeeps carrying fellow captives and probably killed many of them, his brother Brian told Reuters. McFaul told his family that he survived because he was on the only one of five jeeps not hit by Algerian bombs.
"They were moving five jeep-loads of hostages from one part of the compound. At that stage, they were intercepted by the Algerian army. The army bombed four out of five of the trucks and four of them were destroyed," Brian McFaul said.
"The truck my brother was in crashed and Stephen was able to make a break for his freedom. He presumed everyone else in the other trucks was killed."
Brian McFaul said he did not speak to Stephen directly, but got an account from Stephen's wife Angela after she spoke to him. The hostages had their mouths taped and explosives hung from around their necks, McFaul added.
The White House said it was concerned about the loss of life and was seeking clarification. A senior official told journalists travelling with the US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, in the UK: "Details remain very murky over this raid and what has happened. We're assessing reports that the Algerians may have conducted some kind of action in connection with the incident, but cannot confirm precisely what happened."
French president François Hollande told business leaders the hostage crisis "seems to be heading towards an end in dramatic conditions" and the violence in Algeria justified his decision last Friday to launch a military campaign against Islamist militants in neighbouring Mali.
The Algerian raid, thought to have been spearheaded by the army's special intervention group, was carried out only hours after Britain had said its "focus is on working through the Algerian government and BP", a partner in the gas field.
According to Downing Street, Cameron learned of the rescue attempt from British officials in Algiers in touch with London by satellite link. He then rang the Algerian prime minister at 11am to be informed that the operation was already under way, despite an earlier appeal by the British prime minister that no substantial action be taken without first consulting him.
"The prime minister explicitly told the Algerians he wanted advance warning of any military operation, but they just went for it," a Downing Street source said.
One source described the 10-15 minute phone call as businesslike, but stressed that no British judgment would be made on the operation while it was still under way. However, a spokesman said: "The prime minister explained we would have preferred to be consulted in advance."
The prime minister made that view known first in a phone call on Wednesday, but Algerians countered thatit had not been possible since, in its judgment, it had been imperative to act immediately.
The prime minister's spokesman said "the aim of the British government had been to work with the Algerian government and the company to resolve the situation peacefully".
According to two separate reports, many of the casualties were caused when an Algerian helicopter gunship opened fire on one of the jihadists' vehicles, which was carrying militants and hostages. It is not clear whether the vehicle was attempting to flee the scene at the time.
Even before the main Algerian army attack, the jihadists told al-Jazeera television that the army was firing on the complex, and a Japanese hostage reported he and a Norwegian hostage had been wounded by army snipers. Another hostage warned the "message does not seem to be getting through", al-Jazeera reported, and Algerian troops were continually firing at the camp.
The Signers in Blood militant group that attacked the gas field before dawn on Wednesday also called itself the Masked Brigade and owed allegiance to Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a one-eyed veteran jihadist who until last year was a deputy leader in al-Qaida in the Maghreb. He broke away from the group to start his own faction, pledging to fight western influence in the region. One of the hostage survivors said that members of the group spoke Arabic with Egyptian, Tunisian and Syrian accents.
"The terrorists told us at the very start that they would not hurt Muslims but were only interested in the Christians and infidels," another survivor, a 53-year-old local man called Abdelkader, told Reuters news agency. "We will kill them, they said." He added: "The terrorists seemed to know the base very well … moving around, showing that they knew where they were going."
"Up until the overthrow of the western stooge Shah Reza Palhavi of Iran, a strictly Islamic based mass movement had never overthrown a modern non-secular Nation State backed by the Western Imperial powers. Needless to say the Iranian revolutions sent shock waves throughout the region & shook regional Sunni comprador classes (Oil Sheikdoms) across the region to their reactionary roots. But to the masses of Muslims on the streets of Arab capitals the Iranian revolution was a ray of hope – but its Shia dimension served the US & Europe's historical fallback tactic of divide & conquer. We now see how effective the West's early divide & conquer strategy of containment has been & how it has the region tittering on the brink of war. Many Arab Sunni rulers, with US blessings, covertly intensified their alignment with the European settler-state of Israel to contain Iranian geopolitical influence even as Israel gears up for military strikes against the Islamic Republic. US & NATO troops are stationed in Muslim lands, military bases across the Mid-East are designed to project Western military power into the region. All this is a consequence of US divide & conquer fear tactics in the region."
[...]
"The use of the contextual term 'Arab Spring' to characterize the mass uprising of North Africans against the rule of despotic Arab elites is purposely & artfully crafted to discourage sub-Saharan Black Africa & its Muslim populations from emulating their North African counterparts while appealing to the Anti-Arab sentiments among many Pan-Africans & within the Black Diaspora. ECOWAS & the African Union's recent support of French military intervention in Mali &, as US surrogate, in Somalia & elsewhere on the African continent, are testimony to how eagerly Africa's political elite are utilizing the West's 'war terror' to secure their positions & prop up their power while ignoring persecuted & marginalized Muslim minority populations.
"In countries like Nigeria the US is on the ground supporting the Christian dominated government's 'anti-terrorist' actions in the North of the country against an Islamic insurgency. In Somalia, the US drone war has spilled over into neighboring countries, like Eritrea & Yemen, & has led to tribal unrest in Northern Kenya. While the US & its European Allies seemed appalled by the Muslim insurgencies in the North of Mali (consistently failing to mention that this crisis was long in the making & connected to [NATO's] deposing of Libya's Ghadaffi & the silent collusion of Black Africa’s leaders) neither the US nor Europe are horrified or outraged by events in the Eastern Congo."
Former political prisoner @[554493762:2048:Dhoruba Bin-Wahad] just penned a serious article that breaks down what's cracking off in Mali, the Congo and amongst ourselves in the African Disapora. He raises some serious sobering questions about who and why we are aligning ourselves with certain forces.. He pushes for us to seek clarity of global happenings and warns us about cuddling dictators and despots who look like us but are at oppressing their own.. You can peep the article and interview here---> http://bit.ly/11UfEiT
Former political prisoner Dhoruba Bin-Wahad just penned a serious article that breaks down what's cracking off in Mali, the Congo and amongst ourselves in the African Disapora. He raises some serious sobering questions about who and why we are aligning ourselves with certain forces.. He pushes for us to seek clarity of global happenings and warns us about cuddling dictators and despots who look like us but are at oppressing their own.. You can peep the article and interview here---> http://bit.ly/11UfEiT _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
CLICK ON THE SUBTITLE ICON for the TRANSLATION in ENGLISH.
Belgian MP LAURENT LOUIS stands against war in Mali and exposes the international neo-colonial plot at the Belgian Parliament.
On January the 17th, 32 years old Belgiam MP Laurent Louis, the most controversial and demonized national political figure ever, explained why he voted against the belgian support to war in Mali. Meanwhile, he expressed his disgust and wrath against the criminal foreign policies of the belgian elite and its submission to foreign financial and interests groups. For the first time at the Belgiam Parliament, he evokes that 9/11 was made up and says what no one before him has never dared to speak out!
Please share this exceptional moment of truth. There were other interventions as powerful from that man regarding the necessity to re-open the DUTROUX CASE, since he has been confronted to official pictures of the pedophile's little victims that dramatically contradicted the official version of the cause of their death.
I'll translate his intervention on that subject within the next days because too many dark secrets are poisoning our democracies, and because it seems like in the heart of EUROPE, dark secrets have become a raw material.
Thank's for sharing. This man needs and deserve our support.
Category
News & Politics
License
Standard YouTube License
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Was machen wir in Mali? Was machen wir in Afrika? Und wer ist überhaupt „WIR"?
Die dritte Welt ist eine Erfindung der Ersten. Sie dient uns, dem „Westen", als Rohstoff-Lager. Was immer wir brauchen, holen wir uns, auch in Afrika. Wir erobern durch betreten, und das Hissen unserer Nationalflagge soll den Eingeborenen vor Ort signalisieren, wer der neue alte Chef am Set ist. Wer nicht spurt, sich nicht korrumpieren lässt, bekommt unter dem Vorwand „Krieg gegen den Terror" Besuch von mindestens einem der NATO-Partner. Dann wird mit Bombenteppichen und Bodentruppen „humanitär geholfen." Die schweren Waffen, die wir heute zum Beispiel in Mali wieder einsammeln müssen, haben wir vorher in Libyen an Gaddafi verkauft. Unsere embeddeten Massenmedien seifen uns 24/7 auf allen Kanälen ein. Das geschieht derart dreist, dass man sich die Frage stellen muss, ob wir überhaupt noch etwas merken. Nur ein Beispiel: Die „bewa...See more
Quote:
www.kenfm.de/wordpress/2013/01/27/mali what are we doing in Mali? What are we doing in Africa? And who is ever 'we'?
The third world is an invention of the first. It serves us, the "West" as stocks of raw materials. We get what we always need us, in Africa. We Conquer by enter, and the hoist of our national flag to signal the natives on the spot who is the new old boss on the set. Who does not spurt is not corrupt can be, gets a visit from one or more of the allies under the pretext of the "War on terror". Then with carpet-bombing and ground troops "humanitarian help." We have previously sold the heavy weapons, we must gather again today, for example, in Mali, to Gaddafi in Libya. Our embeddeten mass media SOAP us 24/7 on all channels. This is done so brazen that one must ask the question, if we remember anything at all. Just one example: "Armed Islamists", which we have now in Mali to fight better, are parallel to this same "armed Islamists", which we celebrate in Syria as a hero and heavy equipment support. The gist is our economic system. Capitalism has a permanent procurement problem. It is him harder those raw materials to supply with the throw-away society, which are necessary to keep the cycle going. The hardest fought over energy sources such as oil and uranium. We find abundant both in Mali and the immediate neighbours. This is the real reason of our local presence. Excluded from the question of what role our mass media in this farce play a complete and detailed inventory of Kriesenherdes Africa of. What can do individual which to depart from this insanity? This post sees itself primarily as a call to thinking, new to action! (Translated by Bing)
_________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
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Part 1
