According to a Wall Street Journal MarketWatch video (http://tinyurl.com/6yrjttx). the U.S. has about 100 "advisors" on the ground in Chad, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan.
The "advisors" - in 12-person units - are to provide training and advice to armies in the host countries.
According to the WSJ's MarketWatch, the U.S. troops are to help the locals counter the Lord's Resistance Army.
The Lord's Resistance Army, LRA, is endorsed by Rush Limbaugh as a Christian army (http://tinyurl.com/3ksrclw).
“They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan. And Obama has sent troops, United States troops, to remove them from the battlefield, which means kill them. So that’s a new war, a hundred troops to wipe out Christians in Sudan, Uganda,” Limbaugh insists.
Reports from the area, however, suggest that these "Christian" soldiers are no more than terrorists.
According to the GlobalSecurity.org (http://tinyurl.com/8bvop), "The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), led committed numerous abuses and atrocities, including the abduction, rape, maiming, and killing of civilians, including children. In addition to destabilizing northern Uganda from bases in Sudan, the LRA congregated in the Bunia area in eastern Congo. They linked up with the Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALIR) and other rebel groups that were battling with forces from the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD).
"The LRA sought to overthrow the Ugandan Government and inflicted brutal violence on the population in northern Uganda. LRA forces also targeted local government officials and employees. The LRA also targeted international humanitarian convoys and local NGO workers.
"The LRA abducted large numbers of civilians for training as guerrillas. Most victims were children and young adults. The LRA abducted young girls as sex and labor slaves. Other children, mainly girls, were reported to have been sold, traded, or given as gifts by the LRA to arms dealers in Sudan. While some later escaped or were rescued, the whereabouts of many children remain unknown."
The U.S. debacle in Vietnam, following on the heels of the French embarrassment, started off with Military Advisory Groups (MAGs) - U.S. military personnel assigned to advise the Vietnamese on how to combat the Communist effort to overthrow the U.S. backed government.
The questions that should be asked are
- "Why U.S. troops? Why not send in troops from the African Union?"
- Does anyone remember something called the Monroe Doctrine?
The African Union (AU) consists of 52 countries (list at end of entry). Even with the so-called "Arab spring," at least some of the member states could contribute troops and equipment to combat terrorist organizations regardless of their religious association.
To be fair, the question has to be asked: "Will a Moslem army treat non-Moslems civilly, humanely?"
If the U.S. must send in "advisors" let it send "advisors" into stable countries to train and advise those countries' troops. We cannot afford - in lives and in costs - to engage in another war.
What is going on in Africa is a disaster, but it is a disaster than should be ended by Africans, not Americans. If the U.S. must get involved, let it provide food and medical aid via a third party (and realize that a goodly portion of the U.S. aid will be diverted and more relabeled).
Food, yes.
Medicine, yes.
American presence, NO.
If European countries want to get militarily involved let them; after all, most of Africa was subject to European control at one time - Dutch, English, French, and German all had a presence - and the Europeans may bear some responsibility for the chaos in the continent.
Arab League members
Arab Republic of Egypt
Burkina Faso
Central African Republic
Democratic Republic of sao Tome and Principe
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Gabonese Republic
Great Socialist People`s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Kingdom of Lesotho
Kingdom of Swaziland
People`s Democratic Republic of Algeria
Republic Arab Saharawi Democratic
Republic of Angola
Republic of Benin
Republic of Botswana
Republic of Burundi
Republic of Cameroon
Republic of Cape Verde
Republic of Cote d'Ivoire
Republic of Djibouti
Republic of Equatorial Guinea
Republic of Ghana
Republic of Guinea-Bissau
Republic of Kenya
Republic of Liberia
Republic of Madagascar
Republic of Malawi
Republic of Mali
Republic of Mauritania
Republic of Mauritius
Republic of Mozambique
Republic of Namibia
Republic of Niger
Republic of Rwanda
Republic of Senegal
Republic of Seychelles
Republic of Sierra Leone
Republic of South Africa
Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Gambia
Republic of The Sudan
Republic of Uganda
Republic of Zambia
Republic of Zimbabwe
Somali Republic
State of Eritrea
The Republic of Chad,
Togolese Republic
Tunisian Republic
Union of the Comoros
United Republic of Tanzania
