A Certain Fact about the LRA

One thing is clear: anyone who tries to make cheap political hay over the LRA is a fool.

Let me start with the policy issue first:  I am puzzled by the announcement that the US sending 100 troops to Uganda, and indeed my initial reaction is guardedly negative.  I am, however, reserving ultimate judgment until I have more information.

However, one thing is clear if one knows anything about the LRA (and I was aware of them prior to today, so this is not the results of flash research) and it is this:  do not try use the group as a means to score cheap political points (as I have already seen in comment threads here at OTB (for example) and as Rush Limbaugh did today on the radio).  Anyone who tries to make this into Obama going after the LRA because the LRA self-identifies as Christian in some weird counterbalance to Islamic extremism (or whatever theory is being preferred) is acting the fool.

The. Fool.

Please note:  anyone who regularly reads my writings knows that I am not prone to be so strident, but sometimes direct is the only way to go.

Here’s all you need to know (as I noted in the last post):  Jospeh Kony and the LRA have made it a common practice to raid villages, kidnap the children therein, and force the children that they abduct to kill their own parents.  This is done so that the children have no home to which to return, making escape a fruitless path.  It further has the effect of making the child a criminal and also beholdens them in a truly perverse way to the very persons who forced them into the heinous act in the first place.

Perhaps it is because I am a father or because I am a son, but this has to rank as one of the most horrible realities of which I can conceive.  It is hellish.

It is hardly hyperbole to call this evil.  Indeed, it is a tactic that defines the LRA as one of the worst militant groups in the world if we are to judge them by their actions.

One can, by the way, also include in the group’s list of crimes against humanity, mass rape and the sexual enslavement of the female children that it kidnaps.

It behooves us all to remember that true understanding of global politics needs to take place outside of the petty lens of partisan American politics.

It should be clear that the LRA is not the the kind of thing that talk radio host and flippant partisans ought to be trying to be clever about.

Period.

FILED UNDER: Africa, US Politics, World Politics,
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. anjin-san says:

    The. Fool.

    Better call crowd control. The knee jerk Obama haters are forming a line.

  2. John Burgess says:

    @anjin-san: You know, there actually are legitimate questions about the how and why of this. Not every question or critique comes from the fringes, perhaps not even most of them.

  3. anjin-san says:

    You know, there actually are legitimate questions about the how and why of this.

    Got legitimate questions? Fire away. That was not what I was talking about. What I am talking about is Rush and his legions of lemmings.

  4. EddieInCA says:

    @John Burgess:

    What is one legitimate question?

    Waiting…

    Waiting…

    Waiting…

  5. @EddieInCA: There are a host of legitimate questions with the two most salient being:

    1) Why now?

    and

    2) What’s the mission?

    Of course, neither is the point of this post.

  6. mannning says:

    The salient question is twofold: What is the mission, and are we sending enough troops and firepower for success.

  7. EddieInCA says:

    @Steven L. Taylor:

    Why Now?

    But this new Africa deployment, though modest in scale, would appear to bear the imprint of Secretary Clinton and Ambassador Rice in particular. Both women have dedicated special attention to addressing the mass atrocities committed by “terror armies” across portions of Africa, from the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda and South Sudan.

    And both women have insisted since the early days of the Obama administration that the horror for Africa’s women of mass rapes must not be left unaddressed.

    Early reactions to Obama’s decision suggest support from the “interventionist” wings of public opinion.

    “By deploying these advisers, President Obama is showing decisive leadership to help regional governments finally bring an end to the LRA’s mass atrocities,” said Paul Ronan, director of advocacy at Resolve, a public policy dispute resolution organization involved in Africa. “These advisers can make a positive difference on the ground by keeping civilians safe and improving military operations to apprehend the LRA’s top commanders.”

    Resolve’s statement was part of an announcement from a coalition of human rights and anti-genocide organizations applauding Obama’s deployment of troops.

    But the decision also garnered support from the right, particularly among some evangelical Christians involved in African issues.

    One of the first congressional responses to the announcement was from Sen. Jim Inhofe, (R) of Okla., who cited his own experience in Africa in applauding the military deployment.

    “I have witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by the LRA, and this will help end Kony’s heinous acts that have created a human rights crisis in Africa,” Senator Inhofe said. “I have been fervently involved in trying to prevent further abductions and murders of Ugandan children, and today’s action offers hope that the end of the LRA is in sight.”

    Inhofe noted that the steps Obama announced Friday were “outlined in our legislation” of 2009 that called for assisting in the “disarmament” of the LRA and in the “recovery” of northern Uganda in particular.

    Anything that can get the support of both Hilary Clinton and James Inhofe, at the same time, has to be pretty good.

    What’s the Mission?

    On Friday Mr. Obama informed Congress that he has dispatched the “combat-equipped US forces” to assist regional forces in their fight against the Lord’s Resistance Army, a group that has murdered, kidnapped, and raped thousands of Central African civilians and which Obama says continues to commit “atrocities” across several African countries.

    Obama said an initial team was dispatched to Uganda Wednesday, and that additional forces would deploy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan.

    Specifically, the American troops are tasked with assisting in “the removal from the battlefield” of Joseph Kony and other senior leaders of the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, Obama said in a letter to the leaders of the House and Senate.

    Although the troops will be equipped for combat, officials specified that their principal role would be advisory. “These advisers will not engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense,” said State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland in a statement Friday.

    In his letter, Obama noted that Congress has supported US efforts to “help mitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civilians and regional stability” in legislation in 2009 and 2010.

    Next Question.

  8. mannning says:

    It is enough?

  9. G.A.Phillips says:

    Next Question.

    Have you seen this months death toll, and why don’t I get a daily casualty list for our soldiers from every lib media source every freakin day like I did when they was trying to destroy Bush? oh and whats the exit strategy?Oh and why do we still need GITMO when Obama has all of our enemies executed on the Battle field?Oh and whats worse, being water boarded , being shot in the head and dumped in the ocean or being blown the **** up by fighter jets and drones along with the block you live on?

    Date Country City Killed Injured Description
    2011.10.14 Afghanistan Spin Boldak 3 5 A Fedayeen suicide bomber murders three local police officers.
    2011.10.13 Thailand Pattani 3 0 A married couple and their relative are brutally cut to pieces in their own shop by Islamic gunmen.
    2011.10.13 Thailand Pattani 3 0 Two people riding in a pickup truck and a teenager standing nearby are machine-gunned by Muslim militants.
    2011.10.13 Iraq Sadr City 18 43 Eighteen people at a market are torn to shreds by Sunni bombers.
    2011.10.12 Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 1 4 Children are among the casualties of an Islamist drive-by and mortar attack.
    2011.10.12 Iraq Baghdad 14 28 A powerful Shahid car bomb blast leaves at least fourteen Iraqis dead.
    2011.10.12 Iraq Baghdad 9 27 Nine people are reported dead after a Sunni suicide bombing in a Shia neighborhood.
    2011.10.11 Pakistan Dasht 2 0 The Taliban set fire to an oil tanker, burning the driver and helper to death.
    2011.10.11 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Islamists send a mortar round into the maternity ward of a hospital, crushing a staff member.
    2011.10.10 Afghanistan Thangam 6 2 A road construction crew is the target of a vicious double bombing that leaves six dead.
    2011.10.10 Iraq Baghdad 13 22 Jihadi bombers murder thirteen Iraqis, including first responders, in a string of bombings.
    2011.10.10 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 2 Two Nigerians are killed by a Boko Haram bomb.
    2011.10.09 Egypt Cairo 26 212 Military and Islamist gunmen massacre over two dozen Christians peacefully protesting a church burning.
    2011.10.09 Somalia Mogadishu 12 40 At least a dozen civilians are killed during an al-Shabaab mortar attack on a residential area.
    2011.10.08 Yemen Aden 1 7 A local soldier is killed in a bombing by Islamic extremists.
    2011.10.08 Iraq Kirkuk 1 1 Muslim gunmen shoot an elderly Christian and a woman.
    2011.10.07 Pakistan Rawalpindi 0 24 About two dozen students and teachers at a girls school are thrashed with iron rods by fundamentalists for dressing “immodestly.”
    2011.10.07 Pakistan Malik Garhi 2 0 A man and boy are tortured, thrown off a 30-foot bluff, and then shot to death for engaging in homosexual sex.
    2011.10.07 Iraq Safiyah 5 20 Mujahideen set off a bomb along a crowded street, killing five Iraqis.
    2011.10.06 Afghanistan Gereshk 1 16 Taliban snipers pick off a child riding a bus. Sixteen other civilians survive with injuries.
    2011.10.06 Pakistan Faisalabad 3 0 Three women are dragged out of a house and shot by a relative in an honor attack.
    2011.10.06 Thailand Narathiwat 1 1 Islamic gunmen fire on a Buddhist couple sitting in their truck, killing the wife.
    2011.10.05 Yemen Abyan 2 0 Two people are dismantled by terrorist bombers.
    2011.10.05 Somalia Beled Hawo 1 0 A man sitting at a tea shop is shot to death by Islamic assassins.
    2011.10.05 Pakistan Mian Channu 1 38 A Christian trying to build a church orphanage is murdered by Muslims in a “land dispute.”
    2011.10.05 Thailand Narathiwat 1 5 A Buddhist woman is shot to death in her own house by Muslim militants.
    2011.10.04 Somalia Mogadishu 101 122 Over one-hundred people are blown to bits in a powerful truck bombing by Islamic fundamentalists. Many victims were students.
    2011.10.04 Pakistan Quetta 14 6 Fourteen Shia pilgrims are pulled off of a bus by Sunni gunmen, lined up and mowed down.
    2011.10.04 Nigeria Tanjol 1 1 Muslim militants gun down two Christian villagers.
    2011.10.03 Iraq Anbar 6 13 At least six people are killed in a bank siege by a suicide squad from the ‘Islamic State of Iraq’.
    2011.10.03 Pakistan Khuzdar 1 1 A schoolteacher is shot to death in a suspected sectarian attack.
    2011.10.03 Afghanistan Kandahar 2 19 A Shahid suicide bomber takes two civilians with him, including a child.
    2011.10.03 Iraq Arab Jabour 1 2 Hardliners open fire on a schoolteacher, killing him and injuring his wife and young son.
    2011.10.03 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 0 A tea seller and customer are shot at point blank range by local Islamists.
    2011.10.03 Iraq Baghdad 1 5 Terrorists kill a child with a bomb.
    2011.10.02 Iraq Mishahda 4 3 al-Qaeda bombers take down four Iraqis.
    2011.10.02 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 A pharmacist is murdered in his store by Boko Haram Islamists.
    2011.10.02 Dagestan Kizilyurt 2 1 A Shahid suicide bomber kill two local police officers.
    2011.10.02 Syria Damascus 1 0 The son of a prominent cleric is gunned down in a suspected sectarian attack.
    2011.10.02 Somalia Mogadishu 2 3 An al-Shabaab roadside bomb takes out two civilians.
    2011.10.02 Iraq Kirkuk 1 0 Islamists murder a 30-year-old restaurant employee in a targeted attack against Christians.
    2011.10.02 Afghanistan Gardez 9 4 Nine Afghan soldiers are torn to shreds by Sunni fundamentalist roadside bombers.
    2011.10.01 Pakistan Sheikhupura 1 0 A schoolteacher is quickly murdered in front of students after being labeled ‘liable to be killed’ by local clerics for embracing the Ahmadi faith.
    2011.10.01 Pakistan Torghar 4 15 Four police trainees are sent to Allah by Taliban bombers.
    2011.10.01 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslim gunmen assassinate a 50-year-old man outside a mosque.
    2011.10.01 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Terrorists shoot a truck driver to death near a tea shop.
    2011.10.01 Philippines Patikul 3 0 Abu Sayyaf militants claim credit for shooting down a helicopter and killing three people.
    2011.10.01 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 0 Two civilians at a wedding are taken down by a Boko Haram bomb.
    2011.10.01 Iraq Kirkuk 1 0 A 60-year-old Christian is shot to death by Muslim assassins.
    2011.10.01 Somalia Dharkenley 11 24 Eleven civilians are killed during an al-Shabaab attack.
    2011.10.01 Iraq Buhriz 3 5 Two family members are among three killed during an al-Qaeda home invasion.
    2011.09.30 Iraq al-Khafaji 17 30 Sunni car bombers blast a funeral procession for a Shia sheikh, killing at least seventeen mourners.
    2011.09.29 Afghanistan Herat 3 2 Two women are among three killed in a Taliban bomb blast.
    2011.09.29 Iraq Kirkuk 3 76 Jihadist detonate a massive truck bomb outside a bank. Two women are among the dead.
    2011.09.29 Pakistan Chora 1 0 The beheaded body of a young man is found three days after his abduction.
    2011.09.29 Egypt Tamia 1 2 A guard at a church is taken out by a Muslim drive-by.
    2011.09.28 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 8 3 Sunni hardliners roll up on a local police checkpoint and machine-gun eight officers.
    2011.09.28 India Batmaloo 1 0 An Islamist shoots a police officer to death in cold blood.
    2011.09.28 Dagestan Hajjalmakhi 8 4 An 11-year-old girl is among eight killed in a violent car bombing by Muslim extremists.
    2011.09.28 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 48-year-old trader is shot to death at a market by Muslim ‘insurgents’.
    2011.09.28 Iraq Abu Ghraib 5 7 Three children are among five family members brutally shot to death in their home by al-Qaeda intruders.
    2011.09.28 Thailand Narathiwat 4 3 A 6-year-old boy is among the casualties when Islamic terrorists open fire on guards outside a school.
    2011.09.27 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 2 26 A man and boy are torn apart by a Shahid suicide bomber.
    2011.09.27 Pakistan Salarzai 2 6 Two members of a peace committee are shot to death by Sunni hardliners.
    2011.09.27 Pakistan Islamabad 2 0 A woman seeking a divorce is shot to death along with her daughter in an ‘honor killing’.
    2011.09.27 Iraq Baghdad 3 10 Sunni terrorists detonate a bomb outside a popular Shia restaurant, killing three members of the night crowd.
    2011.09.27 Yemen Aden 2 10 A suicide bombing near a hotel leaves two people dead.
    2011.09.27 Philippines Sumisip 6 5 Abu Sayyaf members assault a village, killing six, including several residents.
    2011.09.27 Afghanistan Shindand 16 4 Eleven children and four women are among a family of sixteen shredded by Mujahideen bombers.
    2011.09.27 Pakistan Swat 2 0 Islamic radicals are suspected of making a bomb shaped like a toy that takes the lives of a young child and his grandfather.
    2011.09.26 Afghanistan Kabul 1 1 An American security analyst is gunned down by a Fedayeen working as a trusted employee.
    2011.09.26 Iraq Kirkuk 3 1 Holy Warriors take down three civilians traveling in a car.
    2011.09.26 Mali Bamako 0 7 Several people are hurt when fundamentalists armed with Molotov cocktails destroy a bar located too close to a mosque.
    2011.09.26 Iraq Diwaniya 1 1 An imam nearly loses his life to Religion of Peace rivals, who do manage to kill his companion.
    2011.09.25 Iraq Karbala 17 113 al-Qaeda devotees target Shiites with four bomb blasts that leave nearly twenty dead.
    2011.09.25 Iraq Khalidiya 2 6 Women and children are among the casualties when Mujahideen detonate a bomb outside a house.
    2011.09.25 Afghanistan Yahya Khel 2 2 A suicide bomber sends two local souls to Allah.
    2011.09.25 Indonesia Solo 2 20 A teenage girl is among two worshippers cut to pieces by a Shahid who wanders into a church service and detonates a bomb packed with nails and bolts.
    2011.09.25 Philippines Talipao 3 8 A villager is among three people killed in an Abu Sayyaf ambush.
    2011.09.24 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 Bombers kill a security guard outside a UN building.
    2011.09.24 Afghanistan Maywand 7 4 Two women and three children are among seven civilians disassembled by Mujahid bombers.
    2011.09.23 Dagestan Makhachkala 4 0 Two children are among four people shot to death by Islamic ‘separatists’ in a targeted killing.
    2011.09.23 Pakistan Quetta 3 2 Sunni gunmen identify and execute three Shia laborers after forcing them off a bus.
    2011.09.23 Iraq Baghdad 5 12 Sectarian Jihadis take down five Iraqis in a Sunni neighborhood.
    2011.09.23 Iraq Husseiniya 4 17 Four people are taken apart by a Shahid suicide car bomber.
    2011.09.23 Israel Kiryat Arba 2 0 An infant and his father are killed when their car crashes after Palestinians throw a rock through the windshield.
    2011.09.23 Pakistan Peshawar 2 0 Two policemen on guard duty are shot to death by Tehreek-e-Taliban.
    2011.09.22 Pakistan Chamarkand 5 8 A 10-year-old boy is among five people blown to bit by a Taliban bomb.
    2011.09.22 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A young nurse is machine-gunned while riding to work at a hospital.
    2011.09.22 Nigeria Madala 5 0 Five Christian traders are executed by Boko Haram gunmen when they are unable to recite Quran verses as ordered.
    2011.09.22 Pakistan Landikotal 2 1 Islamic radicals ambush a truck, killing the driver and a passenger.
    2011.09.22 Iraq Iskandariyah 2 20 Two Shiite pilgrims, a 5-year-old girl and her father, are murdered by Sunni bombers outside a restaurant.
    2011.09.22 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 ‘Insurgents’ shoot a man twice in the head and then set his body on fire.
    2011.09.21 Dagestan Makhachkala 6 50 A triple car-bomb attack by Muslim extremists leaves six dead and over fifty injured.
    2011.09.21 Pakistan Khwezai 3 0 The bodies of three abducted tribesman are found a month later – sans heads.
    2011.09.21 Israel Samaria 0 1 Palestinian stone-throwers hit a 20-month-old Jewish baby girl in the face.
    2011.09.21 Nigeria Maiduguri 2 0 Boko Haram gunmen riddle two men with bullets in their home.
    2011.09.20 Pakistan Mastung 26 6 Twenty-six Shia pilgrims are pulled off a bus, lined up and executed by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Sunnis..
    2011.09.20 Iraq Ramadi 4 17 Three Fedayeen suicide bombers murder four Iraqis at a government complex.
    2011.09.20 India Samba 1 1 Pakistani backed militants fire on a security-patrol, killing one member.
    2011.09.20 Iraq Baghdad 3 0 Terrorists gun down three policemen at point-blank range.
    2011.09.20 Afghanistan Kabul 1 3 The head of a peace council is killed by a Shahid who hid the bomb in his turban.
    2011.09.20 Pakistan Quetta 3 1 Three mourners, traveling to pick up bodies from an earlier Sunni ambush, are gunned down in route.
    2011.09.19 Pakistan Karachi 8 9 A teacher and her 8-year-old child are among eight who lose their lives to a Tehreek-e-Taliban suicide bombing outside a house.
    2011.09.19 Pakistan Khyber 1 1 A truck driver is riddled with bullets during an Islamist drive-by.
    2011.09.19 Pakistan Bajaur 1 0 Islamic militants abduct and execute a tribal elder and member of a peace committee.
    2011.09.19 Afghanistan Jowzjan 5 0 The Taliban take down five local policemen with roadside bombs.
    2011.09.19 Afghanistan Aqcha 4 9 A brutal suicide attack leaves four dead, including a woman and her child.
    2011.09.19 Pakistan Peshawar 5 33 Five people are killed when fundamentalists set off a bomb at a market selling DVDs and music.
    2011.09.19 Pakistan Miranshah 1 0 A man is taken from a marketplace by local Islamists and executed in captivity.
    2011.09.18 Dagestan Makhachkala 1 0 A local security official is gunned down by Muslim assassins.
    2011.09.18 Nigeria Bitaro 3 8 Muslim activists raid a village, pull members of a Christian family from their home and then hack and shoot them to death. The victims included children.
    2011.09.18 Pakistan Haider Khan 3 0 Three are killed when terrorists open up on a passenger bus with automatic weapons.
    2011.09.17 Iraq Mosul 3 0 Three children are killed by a homemade bomb found in their yard.
    2011.09.17 Afghanistan Faryab 9 1 Five children are among nine civilians ripped to pieces by a Taliban bomb.
    2011.09.17 Pakistan Akka Khel 5 3 Four members of a peace committee are among five killed at point-blank range by Jihadi gunmen.
    2011.09.16 Thailand Yala 2 3 Islamists gun down two persons at a mosque.
    2011.09.16 Thailand Narathiwat 6 118 Four tourists, including a 3-year-old child and his grandparents, are among six people blown apart when Islamist place a bomb outside a brothel,
    2011.09.16 Iraq Baghdad 4 2 Four people are shot to death by Muslim terrorists.
    2011.09.16 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 0 Boko Haram radicals kill one of their own for holding peace talks.
    2011.09.15 Dagestan Kadar 1 0 Muslim radicals enter an imam’s home and shoot him 57 times.
    2011.09.15 Thailand Pattani 5 1 ‘Islamic separatists’ set off a landmine under a vehicle, then drag out five injured soldiers and shoot them in the head.
    2011.09.15 Pakistan Lower Dir 45 62 A suicide bomber detonates in the middle of a packed funeral, killing at least forty-five mourners.
    2011.09.14 Pakistan Tirah 1 0 Islamists behead a civilian.
    2011.09.14 Iraq Hillah 17 46 Seventeen people die in a car bomb blast outside a restaurant, including three children.
    2011.09.14 Thailand Narathiwat 2 2 A Muslim soldier murders two Buddhists in a suicide attack.
    2011.09.14 Iraq Ramadai 6 10 Six Iraqis at an airport are sent to Allah by Jihad bombers.
    2011.09.14 Pakistan Bannu 3 1 The Taliban intercept a car carrying security officials and machine-gun them.
    2011.09.14 Afghanistan Helmand 2 8 Women are among the casualties of a Sunni car bomb.
    2011.09.14 Pakistan Lahore 1 0 A 15-year-old girl is strangled to death by her uncle for a suspected affair with a Christian boy.
    2011.09.13 Pakistan Matani 5 19 Sunni militants blast a school bus full of children with machine-gun fire, killing four kids and the driver.
    2011.09.13 Iraq Taji 1 9 A Shahid suicide bomber kills a civilian.
    2011.09.13 Afghanistan Kabul 21 31 Over twenty people are killed when a wave of Fedayeen assault the US embassy.
    2011.09.13 Somalia Dhusamareb 2 6 Two people are killed during an al-Shabaab attack.
    2011.09.13 Pakistan Lakki 2 0 The Taliban kidnap and murder two villagers.
    2011.09.13 Pakistan Khyber 3 3 Three tribal elders are executed by radical Muslims.
    2011.09.12 Nigeria Maiduguri 4 0 Boko Haram Islamists shoot two bar workers and two patrons.
    2011.09.12 Indonesia Maluku 6 80 Six people are killed when machete-wielding Muslims attack a Christian village on a false rumor.
    2011.09.12 Iraq Mosul 1 0 Mujahideen behead a man in his own home.
    2011.09.12 Yemen Aden 1 0 Suspected al-Qaeda gunmen assassinate a security official.
    2011.09.12 Iraq Anbar 22 0 Sunnis stop a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims and shoot twenty-two of them in the back of the head.
    2011.09.12 Nigeria Misau 7 7 A suspected Boko Haram assault on a bank leaves seven dead.
    2011.09.11 Afghanistan Charkh 6 0 The bodies of six civilian contract workers are found five days after being abducted by Sunni militants.
    2011.09.11 Afghanistan Wardak 5 94 Children are among the casualties when Fedayeen detonate a truck bomb.
    2011.09.11 Iraq Taji 3 0 Three civilians are shredded by a roadside bomb.
    2011.09.11 Kenya Lamu 1 1 al-Shabaab radicals are suspected of shooting an unarmed man on his honeymoon and kidnapping his wife.
    2011.09.11 Iraq Baquba 1 7 A journalist at a cafe bleeds to death following a Mujahid bombing.
    2011.09.11 UK London 0 2 Two activists are stabbed by Muslims after disparaging Islam.
    2011.09.11 Afghanistan Bermel 6 9 The Taliban take out six civilians, including two women, with a roadside bomb.
    2011.09.11 Afghanistan Gortepa 5 0 Three children are among five civilians disassembled by a homemade Sunni bomb.
    2011.09.11 Afghanistan Herat 3 0 Three policemen are shot to death by Religion of Peace hardliners.
    2011.09.10 Nigeria Vwang Fwil 14 6 Fourteen Christian villagers from the same family, including a woman in labor, are hacked to death during a midnight Muslim raid.
    2011.09.10 Afghanistan Ghazni 1 0 Religious radicals assassinate a police chief.
    2011.09.10 Afghanistan Bagram 2 0 Two security guards are killed by a Taliban rocket.
    2011.09.10 Yemen Zinjibar 2 4 An al-Qaeda mine takes out two local soldiers.
    2011.09.09 Nigeria Barkin Ladi 9 0 A Christian father and his seven young children are among nine shot to death in a Fulani raid on their home.
    2011.09.09 Somalia Mogadishu 5 10 An al-Shabaab bomb left on the street sends five souls to Allah.
    2011.09.09 Afghanistan Manogai 4 0 Four local security personnel are killed by Taliban bombers.
    2011.09.09 Nigeria Kunsen Gashish 3 0 Three Protestant farmers are hacked to death by machete-wielding Muslims.
    2011.09.09 Pakistan Islamabad 1 0 A Christian imprisoned for ‘offending the Quran’ dies after being denied medical treatment by prison officials.
    2011.09.08 Afghanistan Herat 3 0 Sunni bombers take down an engineer and two other employees at a construction company.
    2011.09.08 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A man driving a pickup truck is shot in the head by Muslim ‘insurgents’.
    2011.09.08 Afghanistan Khost 5 0 Five Afghans lose their lives to roadside bombers.
    2011.09.08 Afghanistan Sangin 7 5 A Shahid suicide bomber takes out seven Afghans with a nail-packed car bomb.
    2011.09.08 Somalia Coast 1 2 Muslim ‘pirates’ shoot an unarmed French sailor on his own yacht.
    2011.09.07 India New Delhi 15 89 Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami cadres use a suitcase bomb to murder fifteen others outside a packed courtroom.
    2011.09.07 Iraq Baghdad 1 6 One Iraqi is killed when Jihadis bomb a marketplace.
    2011.09.07 Iraq Dujail 1 0 Terrorists enter a home and shoot a man to death in front of his wife.
    2011.09.07 Pakistan Quetta 26 80 Twin suicide bombers send over two dozen souls to Allah including a woman and three children.
    2011.09.06 Afghanistan Kabul 1 0 The Taliban are suspected of killing a U.S. citizen.
    2011.09.06 Thailand Narathiwat 2 5 A 9-year-old boy is among the victims of two attacks by Muslim gunmen, one at a teahouse.
    2011.09.06 Thailand Yala 1 0 Islamists kill a 38-year-old Buddhist teacher, then set his body on fire.
    2011.09.06 Nigeria Zakaleo 4 0 Four Christians are burned alive when militant Muslims set fire to their house.
    2011.09.06 Nigeria Kuru 14 13 Fourteen residents of a Christian village are hacked and shot to death in an orgy of Islamic violence that lasts an hour.
    2011.09.06 Yemen Abyan 5 3 An al-Qaeda attack leaves five local soldiers dead.
    2011.09.06 Iraq Anbar 9 0 Terrorists machine-gun a bus carrying Iraqi soldiers at point-blank range, killing all eight passengers and their driver.
    2011.09.05 Thailand Pattani 2 1 Muslim prisoners target and murder two Buddhist inmates.
    2011.09.05 Afghanistan Qaisar 5 0 Sunni militants take out five civilians with a well-placed roadside bomb.
    2011.09.05 Nigeria Tatu 8 0 A Christian family of eight including the parents and six children are hacked to death by Muslim militants in their home.
    2011.09.05 Afghanistan Parwan 2 0 The bodies of two German hikers are found three weeks after they were abducted and shot to death.
    2011.09.05 Nigeria Dabwak 4 0 An elderly Christian couple and their two grandchildren are shot to death in their home by Muslim raiders.
    2011.09.05 Iraq Kirkuk 2 0 Jihadis shoot a skilled neurologist to death along with his brother.
    2011.09.05 Pakistan Humrang Beebak 2 0 Two brothers are abducted and murdered by Islamic terrorists.
    2011.09.05 Pakistan Faisalabad 1 0 Islamic seminary students shoot an innocent member of the Ahmadi sect to death.
    2011.09.04 Iran Ahvaz 3 0 Three people are hung for ‘forbidden acts against religion’.
    2011.09.04 Iraq Mosul 1 1 A man is shot to death in his home by Mujahideen.
    2011.09.04 Afghanistan Kandahar 3 21 A Holy Warrior detonates in the prayer area of a security office, killing three others.
    2011.09.04 Pakistan Mariamabad 1 0 A Catholic pilgrim is kidnapped and murdered while walking to a shrine.
    2011.09.04 Nigeria Zannari 1 0 Boko Haram Islamists assassinate a local scholar.
    2011.09.04 Pakistan Godhra 5 7 Five people are killed when two rival Islamic groups work out their differences.
    2011.09.03 Yemen Aden 3 7 A Shahid suicide bomber kills three local cops.
    2011.09.03 Kenya Madera 1 3 Somali Islamists are suspected of a bomb attack that leaves a Kenyan dead.
    2011.09.02 Somalia Hudur 1 0 A convert to Christianity is kidnapped and beheaded by Muslim activists.
    2011.09.02 Ingushetia Nesterovskaya 1 0 A local religious figure is shot to death by suspected Muslim militants.
    2011.09.02 Iraq Baghdad 1 0 A government official is assassinated by Islamic terrorists.
    2011.09.01 Dagestan Khasavyurt 1 3 Women are among the casualties of an Islamist car bombing.
    2011.09.01 Pakistan Lakki Marwat 5 35 Five civilians are crushed under collapsing buildings during by a Fedayeen suicide car bombing.
    2011.09.01 Pakistan Kurram 7 1 Seven Shias riding a minibus are machine-gunned to death by Sunni rivals.
    2011.08.31 Pakistan Quetta 11 22 Children are among the victims of a Sunni suicide blast at a Shia mosque during worship.
    2011.08.31 Ingushetia Nazran 2 0 Salafi bomber kill two people with a car bomb.
    2011.08.31 Iraq Baghdad 5 22 Five shoppers at a mall are taken down by Jihadi bombers.
    2011.08.30 Chechnya Grozny 9 22 Three suicide bombers detonate among bustling street crowd, killing nine.
    2011.08.29 Iraq Mosul 2 9 A Shahid suicide bomber sends two other souls to Allah.
    2011.08.29 Iraq Baqubah 3 2 Three Iraqis are gunned down by Mujahideen.
    2011.08.29 Nigeria Jos 2 1 A pastor who preached religious tolerance is hacked to death by Islamic extremists along with his son at their church.
    2011.08.29 Israel Tel Aviv 0 8 A Palestinian shouting ‘Allah Akbar’ stabs eight nearby Israelis.
    2011.08.28 Yemen Dofas 17 45 Seventeen local soldiers die during the aftermath of an al-Qaeda ambush.
    2011.08.28 Pakistan Faisalabad 0 1 A 64-year-old maid is beaten by madrassah students for hosting a Christian prayer meeting in her home.
    2011.08.28 Afghanistan Takhar 2 0 A doctor and medical worker are murdered by Taliban bombers.
    2011.08.28 Iraq Baghdad 29 37 A Holy Warrior praises Allah before detonating at a Sunni mosque and laying out two dozen worshippers.
    2011.08.28 Pakistan Punjab 3 6 Sectarian Jihadis take down three rivals.
    2011.08.28 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Muslim ‘rebels’ kill a plantation worker with a bomb.
    2011.08.28 Iraq Salman Pak 1 4 ‘Insurgents’ shoot a woman to death at a checkpoint.
    2011.08.27 Iraq Baghdad 8 15 Sunni bombers take down eight Iraqis in three attacks.
    2011.08.27 Afghanistan Lashkar Gah 4 21 Three children are among four civilians torn to shreds by a suicide bombing outside a bank.
    2011.08.27 Pakistan Chitral 32 9 A massive Taliban assault across the border leaves dozens of security personnel and civilians dead.
    2011.08.27 Thailand Yala 1 0 A 24-year-old civilian is shot to death by Muslim gunmen.
    2011.08.27 Somalia Mogadishu 1 1 A woman dies from injuries suffered from an Islamic bomb attack.
    2011.08.27 Pakistan Kohat 1 0 A retired man is abducted by Muslim radicals and executed.
    2011.08.27 Iraq Fallujah 2 0 Two Sunni leaders are gunned down by Muslim rivals.
    2011.08.27 Algeria Ataq 2 3 Two guards at an oil facility are shot to death by al-Qaeda militants.
    2011.08.27 Afghanistan Kandahar 4 19 A suicide bomber manages to kill an Afghan child and three others.
    2011.08.26 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 Muslim ‘insurgents’ shoot a Buddhist laborer to death.
    2011.08.26 Thailand Narathiwat 5 1 Five rescue workers are blown apart by a bomb placed under their car.
    2011.08.26 Afghanistan Herat 1 10 A woman is blown to bits by a Taliban bomb hidden in a handcart.
    2011.08.26 Algeria Cherchell 18 26 Two al-Qaeda suicide bombers murder eighteen soldiers and civilians following the break of daily Ramadan fasting.
    2011.08.26 Somalia Mogadishu 2 0 Two young boys are beheaded by Islamic radicals.
    2011.08.26 Norway Jaeren 0 1 A Christian convert from Islam is scalded with boiling water and acid at a refugee center.
    2011.08.26 Nigeria Abuja 23 68 Over two dozen people at a UN building housing humanitarian agencies are crushed to death by a suicide car bomber.
    2011.08.25 Iraq Basra 3 50 Holy Warriors detonate a car bomb outside a rival mosque, killing at least three.
    2011.08.25 Thailand Yala 2 9 A 3-year-old girl and her father are shot to death by Holy Warriors.
    2011.08.25 Nigeria Gombi 16 12 Two banks and a police station are the target of ‘Allah Akbar’ screaming Islamists, who leave at least sixteen innocents dead.
    2011.08.25 India Baramulla 2 15 Two people die from splinter injuries after an Islamist tosses a grenade into a market.
    2011.08.25 Pakistan Nowshera 12 17 A dozen people at a restaurant are sent to Allah by bombers who hid their device on a child’s tricycle.
    2011.08.25 Somalia Mogadishu 1 0 A 19-year-old man is beheaded by al-Shabaab.
    2011.08.25 Iraq Jbela 3 1 Islamic militants fire on a vehicle, killing a boy, his father and an uncle.
    2011.08.25 Iraq Fallujah 9 34 A series of Jihad car bombings leaves at least nine dead.
    2011.08.24 India Avdesh 2 0 Two brothers are abducted and murdered by Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
    2011.08.24 Iraq Ramadi 2 7 Sunni snipers fire on a car carrying civilians, killing two.
    2011.08.24 Afghanistan Paktia 3 9 Islamists send rockets into a market, taking out at least three patrons, including a child.
    2011.08.24 Iraq Diyala 5 9 A woman and child are among five innocents exterminated by Jihadi bombers.
    2011.08.24 Thailand Songkhla 2 0 Two security personnel die during an Islamist ambush.
    2011.08.24 Thailand Pattani 1 0 Mujahideen gun down a school guard.
    2011.08.24 Iraq Ramadi 6 8 A suicide car bomber takes out a half dozen Iraqis.
    2011.08.24 Thailand Pattani 1 0 A 60-year-old man is shot in the head by Muslim ‘insurgents’ while walking home.
    2011.08.23 Thailand Pattani 2 14 Buddhist monks are among the casualties of two bombings that claim two lives.
    2011.08.23 Afghanistan Balkh 2 3 Sunni radicals kill two cops with a roadside bomb.
    2011.08.23 Algeria Taouarga 1 2 Fundamentalists machine-gun a local soldier to death at a checkpoint.
    2011.08.23 Nigeria Maiduguri 1 1 Boko Haram gunmen shoot a woman 7-months pregnant to death in her home.
    2011.08.23 Yemen Abyan 8 28 Eight security personnel are killed during an al-Qaeda ambush.
    2011.08.23 Pakistan Datta Khel 1 0 The Taliban shoot a refugee to death.
    2011.08.22 Iraq Mosul 4 3 A car-bombing and separate shooting attack leave four Iraqis dead, including a teenager.
    2011.08.22 Afghanistan Gereshk 2 4 A child and a shop owner are successfully killed by Mujahideen bombers at a market.
    2011.08.22 Thailand Narathiwat 1 0 A man is shot to death by Muslim terrorists while working a rubber plantation.
    2011.08.22 India Handwara 1 1 A housewife is killed when Muslim terrorists open fire on security forces at a village.
    2011.08.22 Pakistan Khyber 2 0 Tahreek-e-Taliban militants kidnap, bind and then shoot two rivals.
    2011.08.22 Iraq Baqubah 2 0 A 3-year-old girl and her father are shot to death by Islamic ‘insurgents’ in their home.
    2011.08.21 Nigeria Riyom 6 0 Fulani raiders attack a Christian village, hacking six to death, including women and children.
    2011.08.21 Yemen Moudia 4 0 Four people are torn to pieces by an al-Qaeda suicide bomber with a ball-bearing packed belt.
    2011.08.21 Yemen Arqoup 9 20 Nine members of a tribal gathering are sent to Allah by a Shahid suicide bomber.
    2011.08.21 Pakistan South Waziristan 3 6 Three defenders are killed during an assault by Islamic militants on their police post.
    2011.08.21 Thailand Yala 1 0 Islamic gunmen murder a 23-year-old man outside a shop.
    2011.08.21 Nigeria Bajju 2 3 Suspected Muslim radicals shoot two Christians to death in their homes, including a 10-year-old boy.
    2011.08.21 Dagestan Makhachkala 0 17 Children are among the casualties when Islamic ‘separatists’ set off two bombs at a grocery store.
    2011.08.21 Afghanistan Trekh Zaber 1 0 Religious extremists murder a 60-year-old Afghan farmer in front of his sons.
    2011.08.21 Afghanistan Helmand 1 0 Taliban gunmen assassinate a court official on his way to work.
    2011.08.20 Iraq Hadid 3 0 Three family members are killed by Mujahideen bombers.
    2011.08.20 Afghanistan Herat 2 8 Two Afghan security personnel are killed by fundamentalist bombers.
    2011.08.20 Afghanistan Ghazni 3 2 Religious extremists take out three civilians with a roadside bomb.
    2011.08.20 Nigeria Borno 4 0 Islamists burst into a home and murder four people watching television.
    2011.08.20 Israel Beersheba 1 8 Children are among the casualties when Hamas sends rockets into an Israeli town.
    2011.08.20 India Gurez 1 2 A local defender loses his life to an attack by Pakistani-backed militants.
    2011.08.20 Afghanistan Kunar 2 0 Two Afghan soldiers returning home leave are stoned, hanged and shot by the Taliban.
    2011.08.19 Somalia Mogadishu 7 0 Seven youth are beheaded by al-Shabaab fundamentalists.
    2011.08.19 Afghanistan Kabul 9 16 Two Holy Warriors detonate themselves in front of the British council, killing nine innocents.
    2011.08.19 Pakistan Kurram 3 3 A Taliban landmine takes out three locals.
    2011.08.19 Israel Ashdod 0 10 Gaza militants send rockets into an Israeli seminary, injuring ten.
    2011.08.19 Pakistan Jamrud 56 123 A devout Shahid detonates a ball-bearing packed suicide vest at a crowded mosque, slaughtering over fifty others.
    2011.08.19 Thailand Pattani 2 0 Two Buddhist mattress salesmen, father and son, are shot in the head by Muslim ‘activists’.
    2011.08.18 Afghanistan Herat 24 9 Seven children are among two dozen bus passengers torn to shreds by Taliban bombers.
    2011.08.18 Afghanistan Gardez 2 0 A Shahid suicide bomber kills two guards trying to stop him.
    2011.08.18 Egypt Sinai 6 0 Terrorists fire on Egyptian police, killing six.
    2011.08.18 Pakistan Quetta 1 0 A mosque official is gunned down by rivals.
    2011.08.18 Pakistan Tirah 1 0 The Taliban behead a man for ‘crimes against Islam’.
    2011.08.18 Israel Eilat 8 30 Eight Israelis, including four family members, die when Arab snipers open fire on buses and cars.
    2011.08.18 Ingushetia Nazran 1 0 Three Muslim extremists shoot a cop to death in his home.
    2011.08.18 Pakistan Karachi 3 0 Three people are kidnapped, executed and dumped outside a mosque in a suspected sectarian attack.
    2011.08.17 Thailand Pattani 1 0 An elderly Buddhist school bus driver is murdered by Islamic snipers.
    2011.08.17 Thailand Narathiwat 3 0 A rubber tapper is among three civilians shot to death by Muslim gunmen in separate attacks.
    2011.08.17 Iraq Baghdad 2 3 Jihad gunmen kill a cafe owner and marketplace patron in separate attacks.
    2011.08.17 Iraq Tarmiya 2 7 A suicide bomber takes down two family members in their own home.
    2011.08.17 Pakistan Chamarkand 2 0 A man and his son are gunned down by Muslim terrorists.
    2011.08.17 Algeria Beni Aissa 2 1 A bus driver is among two people who lose their lives to a fundamentalist ambush.
    2011.08.16 Pakistan Karachi 1 0 Nasabi-Wahhabi terrorists gun down a Shia shopkeeper.
    2011.08.16 Iraq Mosul 8 12 Eight local police are murdered in two separate bombings.
    2011.08.16 Afghanistan Uruzgan 8 8 Eight innocents are dismantled by a Taliban motorcycle bomb at a market.
    2011.08.16 Afghanistan Kandahar 1 0 Fundamentalist gunmen murder an 18-year-old teenager as she is getting into her car.
    2011.08.16 Iraq Buhriz 2 0 Two boys are shot to death in their own home by ‘insurgents’.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Kut 42 75 Over three dozen shoppers at a market are snuffed out by al-Qaeda bombers. The dead include twelve children.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Bani Sa’ad 12 33 Sunni car bombers take down eight Shia. Four other Iraqis are gunned down in a separate attack.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Karbala 3 41 Three Iraqis are taken down by Mujahid car bombers.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Tikrit 6 10 Suicide bombers send six Iraqis to Allah.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Najaf 11 74 Seven Shias are left dead after a brutal bombing by Sunni militants.
    2011.08.15 Yemen al-Jouf 14 5 An al-Qaeda suicide attack leaves fourteen Shiite tribesmen dead.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Kirkuk 0 14 Fourteen are injured when Muslims bomb a church.
    2011.08.15 Nigeria Heipang 9 1 Seven children are among a Christian family of nine brutally murdered in their home by Muslim raiders.
    2011.08.15 Nigeria Foron 3 0 Three people are hacked to death by angry Muslims with machetes
    2011.08.15 Afghanistan Spin Boldak 4 8 Four guards at a fuel depot die during a Fedayeen assault.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Yusufiya 7 0 al-Qaeda kidnap seven Sahwa members from a mosque and execute them in cold blood.
    2011.08.15 Iraq Karbala 3 41 A Jihad car bomb leaves at least three dead.
    2011.08.15 Nigeria Sokoto 6 0 A half-dozen Nigerians are taken out by Boko Haram terrorists.

  10. G.A.Phillips says:
  11. ponce says:

    G.A.,

    Looks like the Christian LRA have killed more people than the Muslim fanatics have this year.

    But who’s counting, right?

  12. Ben Wolf says:

    We could be talking about flavors of dirt and G.A. PhiltaFish would bring up Muslims. He’s kinda weird.

  13. Ben Wolf says:

    Is anyone really surprised the “fool” in question considers the LRA to be christian? Apparently

  14. @anjin-san: Better call crowd control; the knee-jerk Obama supporters who screamed bloody murder during all the Bush years for this sort of overseas military intervention are now obediently falling into line behind their Dear Leader.

  15. Hey Norm says:

    A conservative teacher confuses attacking and occupying Iraq at a cost of 4000 troops killed and a couple trillion dollars with 100 troops sent to Africa.
    Glad I’m not his/her student.

  16. john personna says:

    @A Conservative Teacher, @Hey Norm:

    I’m sure it depends on whether you feel “called.”

    (Religion is great, but the “mission from God” thing is at the center of this, in more ways than one.)

  17. William Teach says:

    One point being missed is that there is nothing unusual about sending military advisers to other countries. We’ve been doing it for a long time.

    The LRA is a brutal guerrilla group, and in no way bears any true resemblance to real Christianity. They are as fringe as it gets. As a conservative, I don’t have a problem with Obama sending advisers over. Hopefully, there are some snipers among them

    What I do think is that Obama was being a smart*ss with his letter to Boehner, in the way it was released, because of all the bipartisan condemnation about Obama committing American military assets to the Libyan conflict without notifying Congress.

    Personally, I wish Obama would commit troops to Darfur, and stop the genocide there.

  18. mattb says:

    In hopes of getting this thread back on track, a question for Steven L. Taylor

    As I was thinking about this news last night, I suddenly began to think about past US interventions in the Southern and Central Americas. In some ways is this similar to US military history/advising in places like Columbia and Nicaragua (among other locations)?

  19. BigFire says:

    @ponce:

    Please note, the count does not include Sudan.

  20. @mattb (to repeat from the other thread): It is extremely different than the Nicaragua situation, where the US trained an insurgent group and launched them from foreign territory (Honduras) into Nicaragua).

    There is a parallel with Colombia (as well as probably a dozen other examples). It would be a lesser involvement than is currently the case in Colombia.

  21. Tlaloc says:

    What is one legitimate question?

    why is the LRA our problem? Aren’t we intervening in more (as in way way more) than enough parts of the world, and doesn’t it usually end badly? Aren’t our military forces already stretched thin, granted 100 troops is a tiny force, but does anyone really believe it’ll stay at 100 troops? The Vietnam War also started with a couple hundred advisers to native forces faced with a pernicious insurgency. In what way does this help us? Has there been any international authority established?

  22. Lit3Bolt says:

    My question is why are conservatives letting Rush Limbaugh speak for them?

    Your silence in condemning his idiocy is damning.

  23. michael reynolds says:

    @Tlaloc:
    Why our problem? While we cannot stop all the evil in the world, evil is every human’s problem. When a child is murdered in your neighborhood is it your problem? What if they’re only in your city? Your state? What is the distance at which the murder of a child stops being your problem?

    The LRA is a particularly malevolent force. When you scrape the bottom of the barrel you find these creatures.

    Will it escalate? Probably not. The same worries were put forward on Libya and yet we inserted no combat troops and indeed lost not a single man.

    Will we likely take casualties? Yes. Jungle war is nasty.

    Are we likely to rid the world of this monster? Who knows? 50-50?

    If we succeed will the world be a better place? Yes. And we will have earned the gratitude and loyalty of Uganda which has stepped up on more than one peacekeeping mission. Consider this a returned favor.

    For all the rhetoric Obama has drawn down in Iraq. He escalated in Afghanistan but killed OBL and broke Al Qaeda in the process. He intervened in Libya and took down Gaddafi without (so far) serious pain to the US or its allies. Now he’s sending 100 special forces which, sorry, is not Vietnam redux.

  24. EddieInCA says:

    @Tlaloc:

    100 Troops? Are you freaking kidding me? We have 100 troops in probably 30 different country. The only difference is that Obama decided to let Congress know about it in advance this time. The USA has been doing this – sending in “100 troops” – for probably forty years all around the globe. This time, however, they’re going after a genocidal madman.

    Let’s find him. Let Seal Team Six do their work, or, better yet, let a drone take care of him.

  25. G.A.Phillips says:

    Looks like the Christian LRA have killed more people than the Muslim fanatics have this year.

    But who’s counting, right?

    I would put my money on the baby murdering democrat party and their 1 out of every 2 black babies dead for population control brain washing efforts.

  26. EddieInCA says:

    @michael reynolds:

    You said what I wanted to say. Thank you.

    Guess that’s why you write and I produce.

  27. Davebo says:

    It’s really sad. G.A.Phillips was forced to have an abortion as a child by… I don’t know who but I’m sure he was a democrat politician.

    At least it wasn’t a black baby. Superdestroyer commends you!

  28. ponce says:

    As a conservative, I don’t have a problem with Obama sending advisers over.

    But I bet you have a problem with Obama following the teaching of Jesus and trying to bring decent health care to the poor, right?

    I would put my money on the baby murdering democrat party and their 1 out of every 2 black babies dead for population control brain washing efforts.

    Don’t be modest, G.A.

    You Christians had Anders Behring Breivik batting cleanup for your team this year.

    77 killed and 79 wounded…didn’t see that on your list.

    And I bet that guy who just shot up the salon in California kissed the cross, too…

  29. jukeboxgrad says:

    G.A.Phillips:

    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

    The internet is packed with all sorts of fictional crap masquerading as fact. That site presents no source for those items, and there’s no reason to treat them as something other than fictional. Let us know when you’re in a position to demonstrate that the ‘news stories’ listed on that site are authentic and can be corroborated by some other source.

  30. Tom Hilton says:

    “Acting the fool” is an extremely generous way to describe Limbaugh’s vile demagoguery on this. What he does here is a) express support for the LRA (approvingly quoting their manifesto), and b) accuse the President of planning “to wipe out Christians in Sudan, Uganda, and [Egypt]”. That’s the single most disgusting set of lies I’ve seen this side of Holocaust deniers.

  31. Wayne says:

    Re “We have 100 troops in probably 30 different country. The only difference is that Obama decided to let Congress know about it in advance this time. “
    Why did Obama decided in this case to do so?

    If you think the LRA are the only groups in Africa that are committing atrocities then you are being the fool. The Muslims have been committing atrocities against Christians in the area for centuries. Ask some Ethiopian Christians about some of the shit that has been done against them.

  32. Wayne says:

    As for Rush, many people accused Bush and his supporters for going after terrorist groups because they are Muslims. Many say it is an attack on a religion. Anytime someone mentions that a terrorist group is Muslim, there is a big outcry that they are attacking all Muslims.

    Turn around is fair game right? If we play the conspiracy games like the left, we could ask questions like why go after Christian groups in the area and not the Muslim groups who committing the same atrocities. Why are we setting by while Muslims in the places like Egypt are killing Christians?

    Oh I forgot Christians can be attacked and smeared all the time and it is OK but we can’t say anything negative about Muslims. Why is it wrong to mention a terrorist group is Muslim but it is OK to mention if they are Christians? Double standards anyone? If you actually listen to Rush’s program that was Rush’s point but Rush haters are blinded by their hate.

  33. ponce says:

    Kudos for not ranting about the “War on Christmas” Wayne.

    That took courage.

  34. michael reynolds says:

    @EddieInCA:
    Hah. I like producers. They hire writers.

  35. michael reynolds says:

    @Wayne:
    Actually, I would deny that these people are real Christians or representative of Christians — just as I deny that Al Qaeda are real Muslims or represent that faith. Which would make me consistent and you not.

    I’m an atheist so all dogma is gibberish to me, but I know a lot of Christians and a few Muslims and you know what? None of them go around committing atrocities. Pretty sure the Muslim folks who live next door with their two little kids are not Al Qaeda, and I’m equally sure my Dad’s wife (the best Christian I know) is not LRA.

  36. Rush may knock Obama for this, but I don’t, and a lot of conservatives shouldn’t either. We’re better than liberals and shouldn’t stoop to playing partisan politics with issues like this one- my earlier point was that liberals are all sorts of hypocrites to be screaming and crying about Bush in Iraq but yet say nothing about Clinton’s involvement in Serbia and Somalia or Obama’s involvement in Omen and now Uganda.

    But on the other hand, conservatives like Rush are wrong for doing the same thing- we’re better than that, and I for one am not going to knock Obama for using the power that we have to kill bad people who do bad things, whether they are Islamic Taliban in Afghanistan or ‘Christians’ in Uganda. Oh, I know that many of you will screech ‘there are differences’, but the difference is that it is your guy doing something and another guy doing something else, and we should all look at and judge what is being done on its merits, not on who is doing it.

    Obama made a good call on this one, give him credit.

  37. anjin-san says:

    We’re better than liberals

    Ummm, really? How exactly?

  38. ponce says:

    Actually, I would deny that these people are real Christians or representative of Christians — just as I deny that Al Qaeda are real Muslims or represent that faith.

    Aaah, the “No true Scotsman” defense.

    It is evergreen.

  39. G.A.Phillips says:

    Got to love the Abortionist Censorship Party…

    Ya, thats some funny crap, making jokes about the tens of millions of babies you guys support murdering….

    jukeboxgrad I could stick your face in everything I tell you and you would learn nothing just like the rest of the libs on this site.

  40. Dazedandconfused says:

    I have a wild hunch that nobodies religion endorses the forcing children to kill their parents so they have no home to run back to, and are thereby more easily made into soldiers.

    Let’s not clutter our heads with Limbaughian fallacy’s (motioning a hasty sign of the cross).

    Uganda’s role in the “War On Terror” in Somalia factors large, I suspect. If we must guess about what is in Obama’s and Clinton’s heads.

  41. jukeboxgrad says:

    G.A.Phillips:

    jukeboxgrad I could stick your face in everything I tell you and you would learn nothing just like the rest of the libs on this site.

    I guess this is your way of admitting that the site you cited has no sources, and that their claims can’t be corroborated, but you accept all their claims anyway.

    Unlike you, I don’t define “learn” as ‘blindly accept whatever unsubstantiated crap I can find on the internet as long as it’s congruent with my preconceived notions.’

  42. Wayne says:

    @Michael
    And where have “I” been inconsistent?

    Yes not all Muslim are representative by what some sub group of Muslims does. The same applies to Christians. I hope the left remembers that instead of trying to label the whole religion when some Christian does something stupid.

    Having said that to ignore that religion has a good deal with why many groups fight in Africa and the Middle East would be foolish. The fact is many groups attack other groups because of their religion. Many groups hate and attack the U.S. because they consider us Christian infidel. Yes it would be foolish to go overboard and think all Muslims want to kill us. However it just as foolish to go overboard the other way and think that for many that do want to kill us that their religion has nothing to do with it.

    Trying to define who is a true Muslim or Christian means little. It is like saying that Mormons are not true Christians. In the end it is a personal opinion. Those who you say it about, probably disagrees. In the end it doesn’t change the fact even if you define them as not being a true whatever that they are still using that faith to define who to attack. Some Christian groups attack Muslims because that is who attack them and vice versa.

    @ACT
    Rush did it to demonstrate how ridiculous the left are for doing so. The left do it because they believe it. That is not the same thing.

  43. ponce says:

    Ya, thats some funny crap, making jokes about the tens of millions of babies you guys support murdering….

    Plenty of Republicans get abortions, too, G.A.

    In fact, as a rule, Republicans are usually the ones doing what they’re trying to outlaw.

    The states with the highest rates of alcoholism, teen age pregnancy, divorce and any other kind of deviancy you can think of are tend to be in the Confederacy.

  44. G.A.Phillips says:

    Unlike you, I don’t define “learn” as ‘blindly accept whatever unsubstantiated crap I can find on the internet as long as it’s congruent with my preconceived notions.’

    But, but, your a liberal….

    The states with the highest rates of alcoholism, teen age pregnancy, divorce and any other kind of deviancy you can think of are tend to be in the Confederacy.

    dude your so crazy….

    I don’t need to discuss such things with infanticide deniers anyhow, let me know when you grow a mind a hart and a soul…

  45. Catfish says:

    I thought that is what the drones are for.

  46. An Interested Party says:

    …my earlier point was that liberals are all sorts of hypocrites to be screaming and crying about Bush in Iraq but yet say nothing about Clinton’s involvement in Serbia and Somalia or Obama’s involvement in Omen and now Uganda.

    A point that is quite foolish, as Bush’s enormous misadventure in Iraq is not comparable to those other military engagements…

    Ya, thats some funny crap, making jokes about the tens of millions of babies you guys support murdering….

    Actually, the only person being made fun of was you…

    Rush did it to demonstrate how ridiculous the left are for doing so.

    Translation: Rush Limbaugh is a douchebag because of the left…

    dude your so crazy….

    So then disprove ponce’s claim, if you can…

  47. anjin-san says:

    I hope the left remembers that instead of trying to label the whole religion when some Christian does something stupid.

    Really Wayne, WTF are you ranting about? You do realize, I hope, that millions of the people you define as “the left”, are in fact Christians. Some of them probably much better Christians than you.

    You might want to dial down the persecution complex and forgo standing in judgement. Try some charity and forgiveness instead. Making noise about Christianity is easy. Actually following the teachings of Jesus is a bit more difficult.

  48. ketchup or salsa says:

    Why do you allow GA Phillips to continue to post here? In the few months I have been reading here, this person still has not learned the difference between “your” and “you’re”. I mind so closed off to grammar itself cannot be swayed by facts nor form a coherent opinion. Alcohol could be a factor…

  49. michael reynolds says:

    @ponce:

    I don’t think this is a case of “no true Scotsman.” I think this is a case of psychopaths wanting to give themselves a respectable label.

    i don’t believe murderers like the LRA or AQ kill for religious reasons, or for ideological reasons. I think they’re murderers who enjoy murder and use ideology as an excuse, as an advertising tool, as a salve to their stunted consciences, or to extend their influence, but are, at heart, no different than Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy.

    A certain percentage of the human race are just violent, evil bastards. They’ll always find an excuse. And they’ll always need someone to come along and put a bullet in them.

  50. G.A.Phillips says:

    Why do you allow GA Phillips to continue to post here? In the few months I have been reading here, this person still has not learned the difference between “your” and “you’re”. I mind so closed off to grammar itself cannot be swayed by facts nor form a coherent opinion. , if you can… alcohol could be a factor…

    lol…… you got the message grammar Nazi! And it is a mind. not “I mind”, you stupid!

    So then disprove ponce’s claim, if you can…

    he, her, it or a mixture of the three is a brain washed liberal, therefor X’s claims are irrelevant, plus I don’t respond to infanticide deniers, I just tare em up…

    oops..

  51. An Interested Party says:

    he, her, it or a mixture of the three is a brain washed liberal, therefor X’s claims are irrelevant, plus I don’t respond to infanticide deniers, I just tare em up…

    Oh, in other words, you can’t disprove Ponce’s claim…keep typing those “lol”s though…

  52. mattb says:

    @michael reynolds:

    i don’t believe murderers like the LRA or AQ kill for religious reasons, or for ideological reasons. I think they’re murderers who enjoy murder and use ideology as an excuse

    Perhaps some do… but I have to disagree with the general thesis here MR. I do think these people do things for Ideological reasons and that must be appreciated. OBL/AQ had an expressed goal since the beginning involving the US presence in the near east and the establishment of a certain type of power structure. And there was a specific (retrograde) vision of Islam tied into that.

    The key thing to understand with AQ and the LRA is that Religion was twisted to match ideology (not the other way around). That’s the key thing (btw the KKK in both of it’s major configurations did the same thing with Christianity). To that degree Religion is just another tool — the end point, not the starting one.

    I totally agree with calling it Evil, btw.

  53. c.red says:

    As a long time reader I’ve always welcomed G.A.’s comments as the silly conservative opinion as well as superdestroyer’s as the racist conservative comments. It gives me a baseline to judge more reasonable conservative comments. I would hate for them to have to change their screen names.

    As for the LRA sorry I can’t get myself worked over our deployment there, if we can support an ally with a few specialists and possibly target a drone or two at someone so reprehensible then I’m all for it. If we escalate; then yes this needs to be revisited.

  54. Tlaloc says:

    When a child is murdered in your neighborhood is it your problem?

    It’s a police problem. If I decide to go out playing vigilante I’ve only made things worse. And yes that’s a direct analogy to us playing cowboy.

  55. Ben Wolf says:

    Anyone else noticed G.A.’s posts have become increasingly venomous over the last six months?He used to be a harmless stoner-type: always wrong but nice about it.

    Why does he hate God and America?

  56. michael reynolds says:

    @Tlaloc:

    It’s a police problem. If I decide to go out playing vigilante I’ve only made things worse. And yes that’s a direct analogy to us playing cowboy.

    Dude, seriously? Who are “the police” in the back woods of Uganda? That’s just a silly answer. And no, in the absence of law or police you “playing vigilante” to stop evil men is not making matters worse. There is no “worse” than the LRA.

  57. Ben Wolf says:

    As someone who has relentlessly criticized Obama’s foreign policies, I support the decision to increase assistance in ending the LRA. So long as we’re supporting the African forces hunting them, and not taking the lead, it’s the Christian thing to do.

    And with my critical endorsement the controversy is over, so can we move along?

  58. Rob in CT says:

    I’m reserving judgment for a while.

    I was against the Libyan intervention and, so far, it hasn’t turned out terribly (long-term impact: unknown). It was fairly small in scale – nothing like Afghanistan or Iraq.

    100 troops is also very small in scale (not for the 100, though!). As others have pointed out, the question is whether 100 troops is sufficient for the job. I hope so. While I’m generally anti-intervention, if you’re gonna intervene to do something, this is a job that’s worth doing. The LRA’s depravity is amazing, and they’ve been at this for 25 years.

    Something that occurs to me:

    How utterly awful would it be to be one of those 100 troops and find oneself in the position of having to gun down child soldiers? Holy shit that’s awful.

  59. anjin-san says:

    It’s a police problem

    Interpol will take care of everything…

  60. Tlaloc says:

    Dude, seriously? Who are “the police” in the back woods of Uganda? That’s just a silly answer.

    Yeah, I get that you think the right answer is to blow up brown people without regard to silly things like law or human rights. What appalls me is that this is no longer unconventional thinking for the dems.

    Interpol will take care of everything…

    Ditto. Look if you hate the rule of law just come out and say so, it’ll save us ever so much time. Similarly if you have a huge boner for involving ourselves in local insurgencies just say so. But please stop trying to pretend you give a ^%$# about the very people you are advocating murdering in record numbers, and please don’t be so pathetic as to deny that’s exactly what you advocate when you call for the US military to deal with an insurgency.

    Congratulations, you’ve become neo-cons a mere decade after they’re world view was shown to be startlingly wrong.

  61. Rob in CT says:

    @Tlaloc:

    There is no rule of law where the LRA roams. That’s rather the point.

    I don’t see anyone here hatin’ on The Rule of Law. I think we all like it. The question is: how does this endanger said Rule of Law? If successful, it would seem the Rule of Law gets a little bonus (only a little, as I gather that the Ugandan government/army isn’t exactly a collection of saints).

    If your concern is “collateral damage,” I understand that fear. I share it. But my fear is mitigated by the fact that the LRA creates a whole lot of (non-)collateral damage of its own and the Ugandan Army, when it goes after the LRA, creates collateral damage of its own. It’s not like the status quo ante is peaceful.

  62. Tlaloc says:

    I don’t see anyone here hatin’ on The Rule of Law. I think we all like it. The question is: how does this endanger said Rule of Law? If successful, it would seem the Rule of Law gets a little bonus (only a little, as I gather that the Ugandan government/army isn’t exactly a collection of saints).

    We are unilaterally choosing to take sides in a foreign country’s internal matters. We’re picking sides in an insurgency that in no way involves us. We’re sidestepping all the international organizations that have that responsibility.

    Rule of law does not mean “when we feel like it.”

  63. Rob in CT says:

    So if this was blessed by the UN, you’d be ok with it?