Phony Kony 2012 – It’s all about Oil

I’ll spare you the details of the Kony 2012 video, as around 85 million (and rising) of you have already seen it. I do wish however, to shed some light on the truth behind why the U.S decided to take military action in Uganda in October 2011.

Granted, Joseph Kony is an evil and sick individual, who needs to be stopped. I am not denying that by any means. But did the U.S really send troops in to “provide the logistical support'' that is needed, ''the advice, the training” to the Ugandan military as claimed by Obama? Is there more to this military intervention than what is being fed to us? We must question the real reasons for sending troops into Uganda. Tea-party-backed presidential candidate, Michele Bachmann questioned the wisdom of Obama’s move to send U.S. troops to Uganda.

“When it comes to sending our brave men and women into foreign nations, we have to first demonstrate a vital American national interest before we send our troops in,” she said at a campaign stop in Iowa.

A little further research into the matter reveals some interesting facts about the Kony 2012 campaign, that has suddenly made every teenager want to ‘fix Africa’. In 2009, allAfrica reported that oil reserves as much as that of the Gulf countries has been found in Uganda. 2 billion barrels of oil have been found thus far, with estimates going as high as 6 billion. How convenient. All of a sudden oil has been found in Uganda and the U.S decided to take military action against a terrorist organisation led by a man that isn’t even in Uganda anymore.

Remember the last time we were told about a ‘big bad man’ who was killing innocent civilians? You remember how Saddam Hussain had Weapons of Mass Destruction and the U.S had to take military action to stop him. How many times will the U.S feed us a story about an evil man and how it is their duty to go in and save the day? Every time the Unites States has invaded a country there has always been an ulterior motive – oil.

This time is no different. What is different however, are the propaganda techniques being implemented to push this cause. This time they know the public are clued up. They know people are not going to be duped into supporting a bogus war against a 'terrorist' or 'terrorist organisation'. The American public are tired of war. They are fed up with their government constantly intervening in other countries affairs and causing more damage than good. This time they had to be a bit smarter about how they would propagate their mission. Enter Kony 2012.

By disguising the real mission as a humanitarian cause, they have been able to get the public on their side. A video that was a complete flop back in 2006, has suddenly taken the social media network by storm. How the video became a viral sensation is no mystery, as the boss of the 'Invisible Children Feature Film LLC' is Jedidiah Jenkins, Kristen Bell’s boyfriend. Neither Kristen nor Jedidiah were mentioned in the credits however. When you have a Hollywood A-lister like Kristen Bell as one of the Board of Directors, it only takes a few celebrity friends to tweet and share the video for it to become viral.

When the video was able to spread like fire, gaining public support was simple. This very support is what was needed for the government to make the decision to have a military presence in Africa, using the tax payer's money. The government and corporations in power know how to use the media and mass movements to manipulate the public into supporting their cause. By targeting people’s inherent nature to stand up to injustices being inflicted on people, especially children, they have been able to gain massive support to send military into Africa.

So, what is the vital American national interest that Michelle Bachmann said needs to be demonstrated? The US need to take control of the oil reserves in Africa to establish AFRICOM (African Command). At present, there is no base in Africa for AFRICOM – establishing it in Uganda will serve well in protecting the oil interests of the West.

Hopefully, now you can see the true reasons for why the US has taken military intervention in Uganda; in reality he is the perfect excuse the US need to go into Africa. Before you make up your mind about the Kony 2012 campaign, just remember Iraq.