It's a slick, cool, well-thought out campaign, that makes very effective use of some excellent graphic design and the power of social media. This campaign has been successful because it makes it cool to participate, and because the people operating the campaign are skilled at manipulating others. There's nothing to suggest that any less of the money that is raised by this campaign will go to good works than money raised by other charities....and nothing to suggest that any more money will be used effectively.
Yes, it adresses a real problem within the world...the LRA is a blight upon humanity. But this campaign leads me to ask a couple questions:
#1. What happens if the 100 US SF advisors aren't successful? Congolese, Sudanese, and Ugandan militaries have been actively working to hunt Kony and the LRA down since 2008. 100 SF advisors are going to make a difference in their first year on the ground? That supposition is naive in the extreme. Counter-insurgency campaigns are often measured in decades - not in years.
#2. ICC warrants have been out since 2005. The UN mission in 2006 was a miserable failure (US-trained Guatemalan troops that ended up dead. Every last one of them.) What does the presence of the US SF advisors REALLY change?
I applaud the sentiment that's part of this campaign....but I question the efficacy of the methods that they seek to embrace.
I also ask this question - and please understand that it's not intended to offend anyone....it's intended to get you to challenge yourself. Be brutally honest with yourself when you answer it.
If you're so eager to have US troops on foriegn soil to accomplish good in the world....what's stopping you from volunteering for the military? By asking for US troops to be deployed overseas, you're sending someone into harm's way. Asking them to spend months or years of their life in primitive and dangerous conditions - risking death by disease, gunfire, or dismemberment. Asking them to sacrifice the time they cherish with their families? Are you comfortable asking them to do something that you're not willing to do?
You should ask yourself this question because there is a REAL cost when soldiers go overseas. Saving lives in Uganda or Sudan or Afghanistan has a REAL price. Canadian or American or British or Danish or or Belgian or Guatemalan or Spanish sons and daughters have lives that are changed...or lives that are ended. I don't for an instant say that the military should never deploy overseas....but I want each and every person who supports a charity advocating military action to truly understand what that means. Don't go watch a movie to understand it...talk to someone that's lost a family member in Afghanistan.
I know what my answer was when I was asked if my name should be on the list for deployment to Rwanda in 1997. I said that I was willing to step into harm's way. There are many who's faith in their fellow man will bring them to do the same because our society asks them to do so. But before you raise your voice, asking for young men and women to go in harm's way....ask yourself what your response would be if you were asked to go to Uganda. Understand what that response tells you about yourself...and about your support for this campaign...and does it still "feel so good" to send away for an "action kit".
Topic: Watch this, and it will change you. (Read 9401 times)