The Truth about KONY 2012, Invisible Children and the Ugandan Government.

Are you looking to get active about KONY 2012?

I was quick to jump on the bandwagon too and wanted to help; admittedly not the way Invisible Children put forward, but still I felt he should be stopped, but I also understood that he is just a scratch on the surface and that the second he is gone another will follow and I question the methods and form of the proposed solutions and whether it is sensible.
Since then I have read more and more about Invisible Children, KONY 2012, Yoweri K. Museveni, Joseph Kony, the US's involvement, the Ugandan Government, the recent Oil discoveries and economic advancements (of China and the US) in Uganda; and I have found that there is a lot more to the story.

Please read these before you jump on the bandwagon and you'll see that the actions taken to help the KONY 2012 campaign is a hindrance to, and maybe a negative affect on, Uganda and its people.
The stopping of Joseph Kony is a serious, valuable cause (if accusations are true) but helping spread KONY 2012 and Invisible Children is not going to achieve a positive outcome, in the grand scheme of things, for Uganda or even the world. It may raise awareness but they have wasted plenty of finance, resources and time on awareness and no action.
The only action they support; is not going to help the Ugandan people as is explained further on.
Please don't see this as me being anti-movement (I have been a human rights activist for many years and take part in many actions, as best I can, worldwide) but just that you are learning more about a charity which won your hearts with misinformation, false promises and good intentions only to betray the people of Uganda through their actions.

• The Blog that started it all.
• An analytical look at the entirety of this Campaign and how it is not actually making any progress in Uganda while these guys earn a salary.
• UPDATE: A fantastic video covering the many lapses in trustworthy activities in Invisible Children and the various hypocrisies and lies that they have committed. This young brilliant mind picks apart multiple statements and assessments of the psychology of Invisible Children's founders and propaganda.

• UPDATE: A great video covering many hypocrisies of the Invisible Children charity and the suspicious timing of events as well as a look at the similarities behind other actions like this in the past and what they led to.

• The way the Ugandans and other successful Ugandan activists feel about this useless campaign.
• A balanced but rather ambiguous article on KONY 2012 and Invisible Children. This is from the Washington Post a massive newspaper all throughout the US not tainted by the reign of Rupert Murdoch.
• UPDATE: Another well written thorough article pointing out the techniques used to confuse and distract the public away from lots of other issues that this campaign brings around. Apart from the section "Defining the Agenda" it is a flawless argument.
• UPDATE: A great thorough cover of Invisible Children and the complications behind KONY 2012. It points out the hypocrisy of IC, the Evangelical Agenda, the frivolous waste of donors money, the use of misleading information, the support of the other war criminal in power in Uganda and the uselessness of the campaign.
  
• UPDATE: A very enlightening interview with the photographer of the infamous picture, of the IC founders, and what he as a third party feels about IC and their minds and methods. 
• UPDATE: A long video that has snippets of information good questions on the situation but unfortunately a few incorrect facts. I have corrected them so i hope annotations are made. Worth a watch.

• UPDATE: An INTERVIEW with Joseph Kony by an independent journalist. He seems calm nice and shocked by the allegations. He openly believes children should have guns but he never said they should fight in his army but instead believes its a natural right/ability to fight (sounds like a constitutionalist/republican). The video's title suggests bias but the video is very balanced and has narrated doubt of Kony's claims. Good is a fairly subjective word. There are many complications about giving children guns but I still believe that shows a man searching for freedom of everyone rather than control.We don't know who is telling the truth, Kony or Museveni, but you can see the attitude of him and his soldiers; they are soldiers, they are killers but they certainly are not children or mindless drones. They stand for what he believes in too. Where as Museveni has been running a dictatorship for 7 years and has never sat down peacefully and when they tried they chased Kony out of Uganda and into Congo in 2006.

• UPDATE: An explanation of the disproportionate information supplied to give KONY 2012: Sensationalism; when the real threat is very very low and it would cause more damage to Uganda and the Central African Republic than Joseph Kony is currently causing.
  

• UPDATE: The voices of the people directly affected by this campaign and how they feel about it. THEY ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT VOICES.
• UPDATE: Information given by all of the parties in Uganda and the Oil Companies about the dangers and complications behind the oil find.

• A great vid about the corruption and some amazing reasons behind the actions about KONY 2012; if not a little dramatic (but then again so was KONY 2012). 

• An amazing video of a Ugandan American with personal accounts and relatives experience to point out how much this is blown out of proportion and completely helping the wrong people. 

• And intellectual giving his take on the reasons at play behind the US's actions in Africa. 

• A break down of the video and the reason it is presented in such a way and how the actions that most people are taking while noble are completely in vain as even the money raised is useless.
• A good video by Keith Harmon Snow, a war correspondent, using logical deduction (with some assumptions and accusations that don't have proof but do make sense) about the video and its numerous lies and twists of the information. He knows a lot about the subject and his involvement too. 

• An AMAZING article by an investigative newspaper (apparently the best in New York) with amazing points that show the hypocrisy of Invisible Children and the corruption of the current Ugandan government and the real threat: General Yoweri K. Museveni.
• A more balanced and sombre video about the tragedies in Uganda (blocked in some countries).
• Finally a video simply about thinking and doing your research before acting. About how we are all human and stopping your support of IC is not a sign of weakness or stupidity but one of intellect and courage. THIS DOES NOT MEAN SUPPORTING JOSEPH KONY, only not supporting IC or KONY 2012. 

• WARNING: This is a rather extreme article that doesn't quite show the other side of the story but its still got some nice facts.

I hope the 100 U.S. military troops already sent, are doing their job to find Kony (and hopefully Museveni too), whether he is dead or alive and do what needs to be done for the sake of Central Africa. But:

"All this hoopla about Kony and his murderous activities is good in a sense that it helps inform those who didn't know the monster that Kony is. But of course, this is too late," Uganda's defence ministry spokesman Felix Kulayigye told Reuters.

AIDS has killed about 17.8 million (very hard to get exact figures but it is bound to be more) and 6000 more each day. Kony killed about 100,000 in 27 years. Why have we raised awareness on this and raised $13 million and counting (with only 32% going to Uganda [which has to pass through the Ugandan Military/Government who have their own allegations of rape and kidnapping; and a fair amount of genocide.]) and most who donated to KONY 2012 probably never even gave a thought about donating to AIDS? AIDS 2012?

The KONY 2012 campaign is a warmongering/profiting campaign whether they intended that or not.
Get Joseph Kony for sure and Museveni; but don't do it violently and don't support IC as they are a disorganised, dishonest and unproven charity with its ideals set in violent solutions which contradicts the very point of their campaign, which is children's rights and safety, so that they betray the reason people donate.

P.S: This POST will be updated regularly with new information so check back for more ways to fight against this grotesquely dishonest and corrupt and misleading campaign.

UPDATE: CAN YOU HELP ANOTHER WAY!?

A lot of people are bemoaning the perceived negative tone of my article, which wasn’t necessarily my intent. The article above is written to create discourse on issues I feel are important, and to a degree I am playing devil’s advocate.
People are looking at alternative ways to support Central Africa and those impacted more directly, with less focus on awareness and more on action.

One preliminary list of charities comes from the Daily What:

• http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4943
• http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3220
• http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8392
• http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8875

Each operates in central Africa.

An NGO which takes a radically different approach to peace: CISV International. CISV operates in over 60 countries around the world and is focused on bringing about peace through immersive educational programmes. Founded in 1951, over 200,000 people have participated in CISV programmes, which bring people from around the world together in programs for youth starting at age 11. If you know children or teens hungry to learn more about peace and conflict in an international context, I’d suggest that you check out CISV. It takes a very different, less direct approach to peace, but it’s an organisation worthy of your consideration, operated primarily by hundreds of volunteers and a very small group of paid staff. List of national websites here.

Defending Wikileaks

Dear Friends,
Sarah Palin wants Julian Assange hunted as a terrorist.¹ She’s among a swelling chorus of American politicians calling for the arrest – and even the death – of the Australian citizen who runs Wikileaks. It’s a shame that real terrorists, of the kind that we should be focusing our attention, don’t show up at British Police stations with their lawyers, as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange did yesterday.
Here in Australia, Prime Minister Gillard pre-emptively judged Mr. Assange “illegal,” even as the Attorney General confirmed that no Australian nor international crime by wikileaks has been identified.²
The death penalty? Judgment before trial? This isn’t the kind of justice system we have in Australia. If our Government won’t stand up for the rights of Australian citizens, let’s do it ourselves.
We’re printing ads in the Washington Times and the New York Times with the statement our Government should have made, signed by as many Australians as possible. Will you add your name to the signatories, and invite your friends to join too?
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Wikileaks

The statement:

Dear President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder: We, as Australians, condemn calls for violence, including assassination, against Australian citizen and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, or for him to be labeled a terrorist, enemy combatant or be treated outside the ordinary course of justice in any way.
As Thomas Jefferson said, “information is the currency of democracy.”³ Publishing leaked information in collaboration with major news outlets, as Wikileaks and Mr. Assange have done, is not a terrorist act.
Australia and the United States are the strongest of allies. Our soldiers serve side by side and we’ve experienced, and condemned, the consequences of terrorism together. To label Wikileaks a terrorist organisation is an insult to those Australians and Americans who have lost their lives to acts of terrorism and to terrorist forces.
If Wikileaks or their staff have broken international or national laws, let that case be heard in a just and fair court of law. At the moment, no such charges have been brought.
We are writing as Australians to say what our Government should have said: that all Australian citizens deserve to be free from persecution, threats of violence and detention without charge, especially from our friend and ally, the United States.
We call upon you to stand up for our shared democratic principles of the presumption of innocence and freedom of information.

We’re printing this statement in the Washington Times and the New York Times early next week – and the more Australians sign, the more powerful the message will be. Please add your name by clicking below, and forward this message to friends and family:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/Wikileaks
What has started with WikiLeaks being branded as terrorists won’t end there.
In fact, just yesterday U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman, Chair of the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee, said that the New York Times should also be investigated under the U.S. Espionage Act for publishing a number of the diplomatic cables leaked to Wikileaks.⁴ We can help stop such plans in their tracks, by showing how they are affecting the image of the US in the eyes of their staunchest friends and allies.
Click here to sign the statement before it’s published in the New York Times and Washington Times.
Thanks for being part of this,
the GetUp team.
—

¹ Beckford, M., ‘Sarah Palin: hunt WikiLeaks founder like al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders’, The Telegraph, 30 November 2010.
² Oakes, L., ‘Oakes: Gillard gushes over US leaks’, Perth Now, 4 December 2010.
³ The quote is widely attributed to Jefferson, but some now dispute whether he actually said it. We know, at least, that he said “knowledge is power,” even if Francis Bacon did say it first.
⁴ Savage, C., ‘U.S. prosecuters study WikiLeaks prosecution’, The New York Times, 7 December 2010.