Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
In regard to the LRA, they suppose that the Ugandan government will keep provoking violent resistance in the north, and that doesn't need to ttake the shape of the LRA at all.
Sorry, but no. The article does exactly what Carl says: it distorts facts to support the conclusion that the only way to solve the problem is to "fix" the governments involved... without, of course, proposing any reasonably possible way that this goal might be accomplished.

The conclusion of the article:

To finally get rid of Kony himself and the spectre of future Konys, the Ugandan political system needs to become more inclusive — and understanding African history would also help.
Changing Ugandas political system will not get rid of Kony, who separated from his Acholi base years ago and no longer relies on it for support. Understanding African history is a worthy goal, but in itself it isn't going to get rid of Kony or prevent the emergence of future Konies. The claim that Western understanding of African history will prevent this sort of problem assumes that the key to preventing such problems lies with the West, hardly a supportable proposition.

Transforming African governance would indeed reduce the spectre of further Konies, but it's not something that any amount of Western benevolence is going to accomplish.

Of course it's true that removing Kony would not completely eliminate the threat of the LRA, but the grouip is in many ways a cult, not a criminal or insurgent organization, and its coherence and identity depend largely on the personal charisma and aura of superstition that emanate from Kony. Take him away and you have a scattered bunch of armed men... a problem, but by no means an unfamiliar one, and a less serious one than currently exists.

"Get Kony" isn't an absolute or total solution, but at least it's possible, which I can't say for the "fix Africa" proposition.