The Lord's Resistance Army is a stateless terror organization that has been marauding through Central Africa for more than two decades. They recruit -- no actually they kidnap children -- who are turned into soldiers. The LRA uses rape as a tool of terror. Among the LRA's many atrocities are cutting off people's mouths and burning down churches. Thousands of people have been killed and abducted over the past year. The top LRA leaders have been wanted international war criminals since 2005.
What does this have to do with cold college students in Oklahoma?
In subfreezing weather, several dozen dedicated young people have camped outside the office of Republican U.S. Senator Tom Coburn's office because he is single handedly blocking the legislation intended to neutralize the LRA and begin to bring peace and stability to the area.
These Oklahoma college students are the kinds of people that I think most of us would like to be. They are people who we wish many more of us had the courage and resolve to be as well. In a time when far too few of us are willing to do the right thing, by which I mean actions that truly need to be done -- these kids are freezing because they are heroes.
Let's celebrate and honor them by helping them persuade Senator Coburn to do the right thing -- that only he can do.
Sen. Coburn says he is holding up the bill because he feels that the source of funding for the bill has not been adequately specified. That point is in dispute. But what is not in dispute is that the other 99 senators support the bill, and that Senator Coburn, who is also a medical doctor, is the only person standing in the way of American efforts to help end the LRA' terror campaign in central Africa.
This kind of unanimity in the Senate is rare, and if anything, this is a response that has come very late. The depth and breadth of the depravity has been well known for years, as deaths and atrocities have mounted in an already impoverished and civil war torn region. The New York Times among others, has reported extensively on the LRA which is an outgrowth of a bizarre fundamentalist religious cult, that sees itself engaged in religious warfare.
Here is the description of the The Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 (S. 1067), sponsored by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI):
"A bill to support stabilization and lasting peace in northern Uganda and areas affected by the Lord's Resistance Army through development of a regional strategy to support multilateral efforts to successfully protect civilians and eliminate the threat posed by the Lord's Resistance Army and to authorize funds for humanitarian relief and reconstruction, reconciliation, and transitional justice, and for other purposes."
Here is a short list of what we can do:
Learn more by visiting the Enough Project and Resolve Uganda
Call Sen. Coburn’s DC Office (202) 224-5754
Find out if your senator is among the 63 co-sponsors of the bill.
Visit the campaign web site: Dr. No Please Say Yes
Join the campaign via Facebook: Dr. No, Please Say Yes
Use Twitter and other social media to promote this post and/or the campaign
Watch Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast's You Tube video message encouraging the young activists braving the cold outside Sen. Coburn's Oklahoma City office.
Don't forget to recommend this diary. The traditional media is not covering Coburn's holdout and the Oklahoma student's heroism. Let's do what we can to keep the story alive.
Here is the livefeed of the protest outside Sen. Coburn's office.
Ann Shannon viewed the live stream and commented on the live chat stream: "My daughter just spent a month in Dungu [Democratic Republic of Congo] interviewing those who have been heavily affected by LRA attacks. It isn't just child soldiers. I have photos of people with their mouths cut off. I wish that you could stand in front of Sen. Coburn's office holding these photos. People cannot farm their fields. There will be famine throughout the area being terrorized by LRA in DRCongo."
Meanwhile, the selfless heroes in Oklahoma City can use all kinds of help and encouragement. One activist said on the live stream:
"I think we bought out every store around here for hand warmers. We would not say no to more hand warmers."