---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: John Ashworth <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 12:33 PM
Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Rush Limbaugh and the LRA
To: Group <[email protected]>
Rush Limbaugh's reported understanding of the LRA ("Lord's Resistance
Army are Christians. They are fighting the Muslims in Sudan") is
astoundingly inaccurate, and one hopes it is not a widespread view in
the USA. In fact the LRA is not "Christian", it is not fighting "the
Muslims", and it is not fighting anyone at all in "Sudan". It is
killing, abducting and torturing ordinary citizens, originally in
Uganda, now mainly in South Sudan, DRC and CAR. Most of its victims
are Christians or followers of African traditional religion, although
that sort of labelling is hardly relevant - they are human beings. To
the extent that LRA has any relationship with Muslims, far from
fighting them it is actually supported by the Islamist regime in
Khartoum. South Sudanese churches have consistently called for a
negotiated solution to the conflict, along with increased protection
and humanitarian assistance for the affected populations.
John
BEGIN
Rush Limbaugh wrong about 'inhuman' LRA, says victim
Rush Limbaugh, the right-wing US radio talk show host, has been
criticised for describing the Lord's Resistance Army as nothing more
than "Christian freedom fighters".
The Telegraph
8:29AM BST 25 Oct 2011
Limbaugh earlier this month criticised President Barack Obama for
targeting the group in Uganda. The US president sent US military
trainers to the country to help shut down the group.
According to a transcript from his radio show, Limbaugh said: "Lord's
Resistance Army are Christians. They are fighting the Muslims in
Sudan. And Obama has sent troops, United States troops to remove them
from the battlefield, which means kill them."
In response to his attack, Evelyn Apoko, a 22-year-old who was
mutilated by the LRA 10 years ago when guerrillas snatched her from a
community centre near her home in Gulu district, Uganda, has spoken of
her three-year ordeal.
After the brutal treatment, where she was used as a "human mule",
walking through day and night carrying things, she was flown to Texas
where doctors reconstructed her jaw, removed scars and helped rebuild
her face.
She escaped the LRA in 2004 and was flown to the US the following year.
"Dear Mr. Limbaugh," Miss Apoko responded in a video message, "My name
is Evelyn. I am a former abducted child. My heart breaks when I hear
your message about the LRA."
She continues: "The LRA is not Christian," she told the talk show
host. "Joseph Kony and his commanders could hardly be considered
human."
The Lord's Resistance Army began waging war in northern Uganda in
1988. It stands accused of gross human rights abuses over the course
of two decades.
Since 2008 Washington has provided more than £25 million in logistical
support, equipment and training to "enhance counter-LRA operations" by
armies in the region, a spokesman for the State Department said. A
year ago, Mr Obama unveiled a plan to disarm the LRA and increase
humanitarian access to affected communities.
But these efforts have failed to tame LRA rebels, who are accused of
terrorising, murdering, raping and kidnapping thousands of people in
four nations.
Its leader Joseph Kony, accused of war crimes and wanted by the
International Criminal Court, has dropped any national political
agenda and in recent years his marauding troops have sown death and
destruction in the region.
Heading a movement based on a mix of religion and brutality, Kony a
self-styled mystic and religious prophet, claims to be fighting on
divine orders to establish theocratic rule based on the Biblical Ten
Commandments.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/8847487/Rush-Limbaugh-wrong-about-inhuman-LRA-says-victim.html
END
______________________
John Ashworth
Sudan Advisor
[email protected]
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