Please be advised before reading that the following article is based only on my opinions and does not represent any side or facts. It is simply written for the sake of expressing my personal view on the matter. Thank you and enjoy!

Phony 2012: The deception

I’m writing this article to express my view on the current Kony 2012 movement that not only captured our attention but also got us donating and contributing towards Invisible Children (The charity behind all this). The Kony 2012 movement was started when a video uploaded to YouTube on the 5^th of March 2012 went viral. Capturing the interest of millions and grasping our attention, this video did NOT fail to send the message. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

I have to give it to the producers, the video was nothing but AMAZING! The “Hollywood” put into it was just top quality. For a 30 minute video, it was pretty impressive how it affected the way people think and reactions just varied widely!

Moving on to my story… It was around 1 AM and I was supposedly doing my homework. Yes, supposedly. A friend of mine linked me a video and at first, I was repelled to watch it after seeing “29:59” labeled on the time area. However, I had nothing better to do and decided that if the first 5 minutes were not great, I’d stop. So I began watching and 5 minutes passed by without me even noticing! I was so into it! The whole thing! The Idea! The music! The Movement! The ENERGY! I completed the 30 minute video and immediately started spamming my Twitter and Facebook pages with numerous requests to celebrities and law makers to watch and acknowledge the video! I even spammed my friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter for HOURS! I was not in bed until around 4 AM! I will not lie, until only a few weeks ago, I was fully supporting the Kony 2012 movement. I mean, don’t tell me as a teenager, doing “good” in this world so easily didn’t look appealing. And what the most appealing aspect of it all (To me at least)? COVER THE NIGHT! Cover the night is an event that will occur after midnight on the 20^th of April and will involve putting up posters all around your city so people wake up to Kony’s face all over the world! This I believe is absolutely brilliant! I loved the idea of such an event with such energy being done ALL over the world and couldn’t wait until I took part. Sadly, I won’t now as I oppose the movement.

So what’s wrong with the Kony campaign? I mean… It’s helping humanity! Getting rid of a man who has terrorized millions and killed thousands! Forced kids to kill their parents, become sex slaves and child soldiers! What could possibly be wrong with this? Well, where do I begin…? First off, why would there be sudden interest in a man who hasn’t been IN Uganda for over 6 years? A man who has an army of less than 500 people… A man who’s been left alone for 26 years and has suddenly become all over major news outlets all over the world! A man who became famous just in time with the discovering of huge oil reserves under Ugandan soil… You might not like conspiracy theories and quite honestly, I find most of them ridiculous but with this, no one can deny the existence of self interest from other governments. Think about it… What better way to go into another country than having the support of the world believing you’re doing something noble? This is nothing new… It was done when the Europeans colonized most of the world claiming that they were “civilizing” it. Also happened with Iraq and Iran and still happens in many other areas of the world.

Many of you will argue that leaving simply leaving the problem will simply change nothing and I honestly fully agree! Just ignoring the issue will do absolutely nothing. This is where many of the Kony 2012 critics would agree with me… I believe that training Ugandan soldiers (who by the way have a terrible reputation and have terrorized and killed many Ugandans in the past) should not be trained in Uganda as this gives a motive for foreign intervention. I believe that they should be travelling to the countries they are to train in and train there (This would also prove to be less costly with equipment, etc…). This does not only promote the training of these soldiers to eradicate Kony but also prevents any possible exploitation of the Ugandan resources.

Before I drift off or fall asleep, I’d like to conclude my first blog entry by stating that I am of FULL support for capturing Kony but if given the chance to vote, would object any form of unnecessary foreign intervention in any country or territory, as exploitations and returns are always expected.

Finally, I’d like to conclude my article by thanking you for taking the time and reading it! It’s been a pleasure writing my first entry and hope to continue even further. I’m interested to hear your comments whether it’s for or against. Please restrain yourself from posting comments that include swearing or slander as all comments are moderated.

Here is my absolute favorite article that supports my argument. Enjoy reading:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story