I've had a couple of people ask me what I think about the president using American forces to help capture Joseph Kony, a fair question in light of my well-known (at least for people that actually read my articles) anti-war, non-interventionist views.
The short answer?
Joseph Kony is an evil monster. President Obama has charted a reasonable course of action in sending military advisers to help the Ugandan army capture him. Rush Limbaugh is an idiot for defending Kony and accusing Obama of sending American troops to kill Christians. (In Limbaugh Land, with Obama being a Muslim and all, of course he's out to kill Christians)
If you're unfamiliar with Kony's crimes, watch this video:
KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.
As for how do I reconcile my (semi) pacifist views with supporting the use of (limited) force to capture a war criminal....
That's a much bigger discussion, but if I could sum it up in a few words I would say that every ideology has its limits. Ideologies are useful only to the extent that they promote actual justice in the real world. When ideological purity gets in the way of justice, that's when ideological purity needs to be set aside.
Posts
