President Obama’s State of the Union speech championed a list of the his administration’s inspiring accomplishments, the goals the White House is striving to achieve, and the challenges our nation must overcome. But more than one hour was just not enough time to cover it all. So a group of policy experts and presidential advisors hit the cyber waves the following Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to not only deliver more information, but to provide answers to what people want to know.
These top experts and advisors opened up the @WHLive twitter account for a #WHChat driven by questions and comments from the public. On Friday, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speech writing, took the twitter floor to address questions regarding foreign policy.
While tweets flowed in with a range of pressing issues, advocacy groups like the Enough Project, Resolve, and Invisible Children as well as concerned activists nation-wide utilized this opportunity to draw attention to the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. Tweeters applauded President Obama for deploying military advisors to central Africa and vocalized their support for the United States government’s assistance in efforts to capture Joseph Kony and end the LRA’s terrorization of communities across northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic.
The public, however, also tweeted for answers. The administration has made an important commitment to helping establish security in central Africa, but tweeters asked @WHLive about the White House’s follow-up steps to demobilize the LRA in 2012.
Kasper Agger, the Enough Project’s own LRA field researcher, asked @WHLive about the administration’s 2012 plan regarding the LRA:
Rhodes responded directly to Agger, noting that the administration will “Build capacity and directly support partners in the region.” He added: “Must end LRA terror. Appreciate citizen activism for years.”
Hear that? Activism is making a difference! So, keep up the advocacy and make sure your voice is heard in support of the U.S. government’s engagement in central Africa to help stop the LRA.