Obama official confirms continued U.S. support for regional military operations

In June - at the behest of people from across the country who joined the historic How it Ends Lobby Day - 23 U.S. Senators signed a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (in addition to 96 Representatives who signed a similar letter) requesting that the State Department report on how the U.S. is working to end LRA atrocities and urging immediate action to address the rebel group's escalating violence against thousands of children and families in South Sudan, DR Congo, and Central African Republic.

Richard Verma, Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, has responded to the Senators in writing, and Resolve Uganda has obtained a copy of the response. In his letter, Assistant Secretary Verma laments LRA atrocities and confirms that the U.S. continues to provide logistical support to ongoing military operations being conducted against LRA forces by regional governments.

However, the letter fails to address the need for any military strategy to only target top LRA commanders, as most LRA fighters were abducted as children or youth and forced to fight. Nor does it demonstrate that the ongoing operations - called "Rudia II" - have a viable chance of success that would justify the toll the ongoing violence has taken on civilian communities in the three affected countries.

Ever since Joseph Kony ordered his LRA fighters to resume attacks against innocent civilians in September 2008 - following a two-year lull during peace negotiations - Resolve Uganda has urged U.S. officials to help develop a viable strategy to apprehend top LRA leaders and for regional militaries to focus primarily on protecting their citizens from the rebel group's brutal atrocities. So far, President Obama is not delivering on this need. He is instead opting to perpetuate the international community's legacy of policies that fail to free LRA captives or end Joseph Kony's reign of terror. 

Click here to read what the Senators wrote to Secretary Clinton in June, and read below for the State Department's response:

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August 6, 2009

Dear Senator,

Thank you for your letter of June 30 expressing your concern about massacres and abductions being carried out by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in central Africa. We share your concerns and are working with the international community and Government of Uganda to put an end to the conflict.

The humanitarian consequences of the LRA’s attacks against civilians doubtless have been grave in the wake of December 2008 joint military operations by the governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Southern Sudan. The Administration is coordinating our diplomatic, economic, intelligence and military assets to assist civilian protection from retaliatory LRA attacks and foster peace in the region. However, international organizations and regional leaders believe that LRA attacks against civilians will increase in severity if military pressure against the LRA ends, underlining the need to sustain, and, where possible, strengthen support to the current operation.

Given the vast surface area of the operational theater, the difficulty of the terrain, insufficient military transportation capacity and lack of infrastructure, the militaries allied against the LRA face significant challenges in protecting civilians while also pursuing the remaining LRA elements, which is an essential task for the region’s long-term peace and stability. As such, the United States has helped facilitate improved coordination and information sharing between and among some of the countries involved in Operation Rudia II. The strong cooperative approach by these countries to the LRA threat is a positive by-product of the operation, which we hope can expand to include more successful protection of civilians in the area of operations.

We continually emphasize that civilian protection must be a critical and integral component of the planning of any military operation in the region. Likewise, we continue to urge greater coordination between MONUC and the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in order to counter the LRA threat, better protect local populations and ensure adequate humanitarian assistance reaches populations impacted by LRA activity. We continue to urge the UN Security Council to engage on the issue, and will call for increased international efforts to resolve the humanitarian crisis caused by the LRA.

With regard to northern Uganda, all U.S. Government agencies in Kampala, with support in Washington and elsewhere, are implementing a long-standing comprehensive plan to address the security and development challenges in the region. That plan includes weekly coordination of all policy and programs for northern Uganda by the Northern Uganda Working Group at the U.S. Mission in Kampala, which includes representatives from all USG agencies working in the region. Our Counsel General in Juba, Sudan, is also closely involved in tracking these issues as are our other U.S. Embassies and Consulates in the region.

We hope this information is helpful to you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of further assistance on this or any other matter.

Sincerely,
Richard Verma
Assitant Secretary
Legislative Affairs