Enough’s latest strategy paper, “Finishing the Fight Against the LRA,” argues that the United States should take the lead in supporting a new Ugandan military operation against the ruthless Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, by providing solid planning, intelligence, coordination, and logistical support—and by taking greater responsibility for the execution and outcomes of the operation.
Operation Lightning Thunder, the joint military operation recently undertaken against the LRA, did not succeed in its goal of ending the LRA threat. Instead, it sparked harsh reprisals by the LRA against civilians in northeastern Congo, the site of the LRA’s current atrocities in central Africa.
In this paper, Enough argues that the only way to finally bring an end to the LRA’s terror is by apprehending or otherwise removing those key LRA leaders responsible for ongoing atrocities. However, any future operation must make civilian protection paramount.
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Abandoning the mission to end the LRA now will have disastrous consequences for civilians throughout central Africa. An angry, hungry, and violent LRA is on the loose, preying on civilians with frightening efficiency. Although Operation Lightning Thunder has not dismantled the LRA
leadership or seriously undermined the force’s ability to inflict harm, stopping the hunt now will result in more lives lost and communities destroyed in the months and years to come…Now is the time to redouble and reinvigorate international and regional efforts to finally bring an end to the LRA’s devastating reign of death and destruction.
Read the strategy paper and activist brief, and view a slideshow below of photos taken by Julia Spiegel in northeastern Congo during research conducted for this report.
Take Action: Help make resolving the LRA crisis a top priority for the U.S. government by joining Enough and our partners at Invisible Children and Resolve Uganda at “How It Ends: Rally and Lobby Day 2009” from June 22-23 in Washington, D.C. Stay tuned for more information on these events soon.