Another opionon of a "talking head"!!
MK
July 30, 2006
Lessons that could end Uganda war (by Carolyn Davis)
Carolyn Davis is a member of The Inquirer Editorial Board
It is time to close the deal, to end the war, to give the children of northern Uganda the most miraculous gift they could get: peace, for the first time in their lives.
After sporadic attempts to negotiate an end to
the 20-year war in Uganda, leaders of neighboring southern Sudan are brokering peace talks between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony.
Talks could work this time thanks to a new political calculus in Sudan. The national government used to be Kony's biggest patron. Its assistance included giving him a safe haven in the south. Now south Sudan has its own regional government that wants Kony gone to end the instability he causes there.
Kony's new zeal for talks could be a ploy for gaining time to regroup so he can terrorize more innocents in more countries: LRA attacks have spread to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But it just could be that this moment - with south Sudan's new political arrangement, military pressure from Uganda, and pending criminal charges against Kony - is the best chance ever to end a conflict in which the LRA has abducted 30,000
children and forced them to be soldiers and sex slaves.
An unlikely group of young people is interested in this war: South Philadelphia High School students.
For a project last year, these kids studied the northern Uganda conflict. They learned that their lives had something in common with those of the children in that war zone: violence that kills and cripples everything around them.
"The children of northern Uganda, like in Philadelphia, face murder, rape, and... abuse," said 16-year-old Clara Myers.
I spoke with Clara last week. She remains curious about northern Uganda. So I offer these updated lessons on the war and how it could end.
Lesson One: Sometimes you have to go backward to go forward.
Last year, the International Criminal Court
indicted Kony and top aides for crimes against humanity and war crimes. They deeply deserve the charges. But since Kony and the government are talking, court officials should be silent for now about seeking Kony's arrest to give talks a chance to bear peace.
Lesson Two: Public attention and pressure help.
For several years now, more and more people in the United States, Canada and elsewhere have asked their governments and the United Nations to end the conflict. Their efforts have had an effect.
A year ago, the United Nations called the war one of the world's most ignored humanitarian crises. This year it has been discussed by members of the U.N. Security Council. In June, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent her assistant secretary for African affairs, Jendayi Frazer, to northern Uganda to recommend how the United States could help to end the war.
Frazer said doing so is now an administration
priority. That's great news, but it means that the United States can't be on the sidelines. President Bush could help by pressing his ally Museveni to stick with the talks, and by appointing a high-profile envoy to advise south Sudanese officials on the most productive strategy for the negotiations.
Lesson Three: Ending a war requires multiple plans for multiple scenarios.
If the peace talks fail, it is justice's turn.
The United States should prod Museveni to let U.S. surveillance capabilities locate Kony and his aides and send in Special Forces to nab them. Then it's time to stamp the address for the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands on their sorry behinds and send them to trial.
Lesson Four: The absence of fighting does not automatically erase the causes of war.
Whether it's after talks or through catching Kony, foreign donors must
insist that the Ugandan government step up its development plans for the north, which has not received the national resources it deserves.
And I don't mean Museveni's plan to set up smaller, less congested displacement camps. I mean giving northerners paid jobs and resources to rebuild their villages. That's the best way to avoid another Kony from rising up to sow more turmoil.
As you said, Clara, adults - in Uganda or Philadelphia - talk a lot about wanting to help kids, but don't listen to your ideas and dreams.
The dearest dream of children surrounded by violence is peace. In Philadelphia, that dream so often seems elusive. In northern Uganda, it could come true this year if the United States and others close the deal.
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2ยข/min or less.
_______________________________________________ Ugandanet mailing list [email protected] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet % UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way. ---------------------------------------
