[Ben_in_Canada]

Originally Posted by Savvy27

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/r...at-s-the-story

For people interested, this blog has been following the reaction to the #stopkony campaign and it makes for very interesting reading. There is a pretty diverse range of opinion coming from people on the ground in Uganda.

I'll admit that it gives me pause that the only African person I've seen supporting the movement is Jacob from the video.

Hello.....

Izama says there's a crucial natural resource angle that's being overlooked, pointing out that Uganda recently discovered "significant deposits of oil" near its border with the DRC. "This is the one game changer in the history of conflict in that region" Izama said. He said joint military operations are increasingly concentrated in the oil-rich area.

"One of my issues with Invisible Children is that by providing such a truncated vision, and an unreal one, of what's happening today in our area right now, they missed the opportunity to cast this in much more broader and much more significant terms."

Izama pointed out that the Ugandan military – which the Obama administration legally committed itself to assisting one year after the oil discovery – has been increasing its oil-related security operations.

"For Uganda to exploit oil on that border region, it has to run a very large security operation. Part of that includes securing the border against rebels groups including the LRA, the Allied Democratic Forces, Congolese militias and several other Sudanese and Congolese groups that are all operating in that area," he said. "LRA is actually a minority."

"Governments that are motivated by exploiting solely this resource can be pretty excessive in their choice of policies. I think that Invisible Children really lost that wonderful opportunity," Izama added. "The big story in Uganda is about the oil."