K0NY 2012: Not What You Think

I've been hearing a lot about this K0NY 2012 campaign over the last couple of days. Time to set a few things straight.

Only 23% of their income goes to Africa. They made $13.7 million last year, of which $3.3 million went to Africa. $850,000 was spent on "Awareness Products", most of which was clothing. Another $1.1 million went towards a National Tour. $300,000 for their website and web advertising, and $5 million in pure profit (from a supposedly non-profit organization). A much more effective place for donations would be the International Red Cross.

The problem that Invisible Children set out to "fix" was largely solved before they ever got involved. The Lord's Resistance Army has been gone from northern Uganda for 5 years, and the group has signed a peace accord with the government.

Yes, Joseph Kony is still a free man. However, there is little evidence that he is still working to overthrow the Ugandan government, and he has very little support among the Ugandan people. Again, that war has been over for 5 years.

The Invisible Children organization has been working to get a law passed in Uganda called the "LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act". This law opens the door for foreign military involvement for a humanitarian mission that NO LONGER EXISTS.

You heard me right. This organization has opened the door for yet another US invasion of a sovereign nation. Any support of Invisible Children supports another unnecessary and unaffordable war.

Sources: http://www.blackstarnews.com/news/122/ARTICLE/6586/2010-06-02.html

http://c2052482.r82.cf0.rackcdn.com/images/830/original/AR11_small_final.pdf?1323127778 (pages 33-36)

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