This Is My Rifle: The Harsh Reality Behind Kony 2012

"Hitler. Bin Laden. Kony".
 - Jason Russell, “KONY 2012”

From the moment I heard the tag line to the finely tuned propaganda piece, "KONY 2012", I knew something seriously awful was amiss. Like millions of other people around the world I was horrified by what I saw upon clicking the "play" button on my computer screen, but it wasn't the heart wrenching story of a former child soldier, forced to commit atrocious acts as a member of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army that had me in a state of shock, it was because I was bearing witness to a 30 minute commercial in which the British and United States governments covertly built their case for the expansion of AFRICOM and increased military presence in Central Africa.

The continent itself is a hard topic to discuss and even more confusing to explain. When you consider that this body of land is home to the largest abundance of minerals and natural resources on the planet, it's exhausting trying to come up with a legitimate explanation as to why Africa also suffers from poverty so extreme that many if it's citizens die from ailments that are not just curable but completely non-existent in the first world. I myself have spent most of my adult life steering clear of the subject mainly because I find it impossible to wrap my mind around it all. In every attempt I've made to educate myself on the issues they face I've found myself at a total loss when trying to disentangle the giant ball of death and corruption that has wrapped itself around the birthplace of human life for hundreds and even thousands of years.

But after watching "KONY 2012" I knew right away what I had to do. Even if it killed me, I was determined to tackle the massive cloud of chaos and provide some insight into what exactly was happening in Northern Uganda and the rest of Central Africa. I spent 2 weeks digging through articles, videos, books and encyclopedias searching for the big missing piece of information that would become the foundation on which I would build from, but all I found was that one answer led to more questions and it just continued on like that for eternity.

To try and simplify things, I began with the obvious point- Joseph Kony himself.

In 1986-87 the LRA was formed as an Acholi rebellion against Idi Amin's successor, and newly elected Ugandan President, Yoweri Musevini. In the years before his coming to power, the Acholi people were victims of a brutal genocide under the Amin regime, and when Amin was removed and replaced by Tito Okello, a member of the Acholi group, he was overthrown by Musevini and the National Resistance Army (NRA) during the Ugandan Bush War. With Musevini as President it became obvious that things were not going to get any better for the Acholi people, if anything they would get worse. So Joseph Kony formed the Lord's Resistance Army to protect the Acholi's and like all warlords he quickly grew to be more of a threat to his own people than the Ugandan military. Kony, convinced that he was the Holy Ghost and possessed magical powers, sought to purify the Acholi's and kidnapped thousands of children and forcing them into his Army; the boys were made to be soldiers and the girls were used as sex slaves. Over the course of 20 years (not all at once like “KONY 2012” suggests) it's been estimated that as few as 20,000 and as many as 66,000 children have been kidnapped in Northern Uganda. How many of these abductions the LRA is responsible for is unknown.

As a result of the kidnappings, and under the guise of protecting the Acholi people from Kony and the LRA, Musevini relocated the Acholi's to internment camps where conditions are so poor that most of the people held there will die of disease and starvation (if not at the hands of the Ugandan military). And while the Acholi people are left to literally rot in North Ugandan concentration camps, Musevini is experiencing a boom in wealth from the selling of Acholi land.

So why the sudden interest in Central Africa from Western nations?

In 2010 President Obama began to set his focus on Africa for reasons unbeknownst to most of us here in the West. What the majority of the population didn’t know was that for the past decade China had been successfully developing many of the African countries through aggressive investment and billions of dollars in aid. While the United States’ foreign policy in the recent years had been one of military force and corporate looting, China took a different approach in Africa. Instead of bullets and bombs, the Chinese were assisting the Africans in the development and advancement of their technological, civil and industrial infrastructure. Under the belief that it’s better to help a friend than make an enemy, China became a trading partner to Africa, importing technology, machinery and cheap goods in return for oil, copper, gold and hundreds of other natural minerals and resources.

Then in 2011 approximately 6 billion barrels of oil were discovered in Lake Albert in Uganda and almost instantaneously President Obama deployed 100 Special Forces military personnel into Central Africa to put an end to the LRA once and for all. Soon after, and coincidentally enough, “KONY 2012” debuted on YouTube and now a resolution is being passed through Congress, which will expand the American military power in Central Africa indefinitely.

Let’s make no mistake what this is all about; control over vital and highly profitable resources in Africa. Joseph Kony and the LRA were pushed out of Uganda 6 years ago and haven’t been spotted since. Some insiders have gone as far as to say that Kony is dead, while others maintain that the LRA has no more than 400 members spread out across South Sudan, the DRC and CAR. The LRA are by no means a large enough threat to warrant a full on US military insurgency and is a problem that could be handled quickly and quietly should the United States government deem it beneficial to do so.

What we’re seeing here is another elusive boogey man being created to perpetuate wars that serve no purpose other than feeding the Military-Industrial Complex and fattening the pockets of the mega wealthy multi-national corporations. The conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and now Iran and Central Africa have all been manufactured to make us believe that there is some sort of external danger threatening to end the world as we know it unless we go in there and exterminate it. The inescapable truth behind it all is that, as hard as it is for us to believe, we are closer to the mentality of the villain than the hero. We take what we want, whatever the cost and with reckless abandon. In the quest for world domination the West will undoubtedly destroy it.

The silver lining, if there is one, is that the people are waking up. Ever since 9/11 I’ve watched as North America and Great Britain has slowly come out it’s slumber and now the people are demanding some answers. As suspicious as the “KONY 2012” documentary was, just as equally questionable was the number of views it had on YouTube within hours of its release and the rapid pace in which it was distributed across the Internet. To be blunt, we in the West have never given a flying fuck about child soldiers in Africa before, so why was the entire world suddenly and simultaneously captivated by the story of Joseph Kony? The truth is, we weren’t. It was an unseen, anonymous force pumping up hype that made us want to participate. Then Rihanna, Angelina Jolie, Bono and a handful of others nodded in approval and the rest of the sheep joined in. But this time it didn’t work. This time there was enough of us awake that we effectively disassembled the machine before it could do any permanent damage (hopefully).

If we’ve learned anything from “KONY 2012” it’s that we (as in Canada, the United States and Britain) need to get past our arrogant attitude and ignorance in believing that we know what’s best for the rest of the world. I’ve spent 2 weeks researching the LRA and Central Africa and I can honestly say that I am no more knowledgeable on the subject as I was a month ago. The African continent has been ruined by British, American and French colonialism and I haven’t the slightest clue how they will ever recover. Could they use our help? Sure. But instead of giving your money to idiots like Bono (who only donates a little over 1% of the total money he raises for African charities) or Invisible Children (a CORPORATION that refuses an external audit and whose background is highly suspicious to say the least), do your own research and find a way to get your money and goods directly to the people that need it. Joseph Kony is just a tiny part of a very large problem, and I believe that both him and Yoweri Musevini will get what they deserve some day. Whether here or in another life, both men will have to pay for the thousands that Kony has murdered and the millions that Musevini has slaughtered in Uganda and the DRC (the worst genocide since World War II).

The universe always gives back what’s put in. Just ask Jason Russell from Invisible Children. He found out the hard way just a few days ago.

(Jason James is an artist, freelance columnist and writer for RefinedHype.com. You can listen/download his most recent album, "Marvelous World Of Color", here and you can contact him here and here.)