Why Now for Hunting the LRA?

A lot have people have been asking “Why now?” for more robust measures against the LRA.  The LRA has been operating for two decades, and this represents the biggest US effort so far; what explains the change?  I don’t think that the answer is that complicated, however.  The US has very slowly but very steadily escalated its efforts against the LRA in the form of training and intelligence assistance to regional militaries.  These efforts have not been terribly successful at stopping the LRA thus far, so it’s not surprising that the Obama administration is trying something else.  I suspect that the withdrawal from Iraq also has something to do with the deployment now, not so much in terms of freeing up actual troops as in allowing a refocus of administration and Pentagon attention.  The regional situation remains in flux, with Kenyan intervention in Somalia, elections in Congo, and the independence of South Sudan, but it’s not as if this represents a particularly unstable moment in East/Central African politics. Also, it’s not at all impossible that Obama simply views the LRA as a more important problem than his predecessors (although as noted, Bush also took steps against the gang).

David Axe has some more thoughts, suggesting that there’s evidence that the LRA may be preparing a large scale series of attacks in Sudan and elsewhere.  Galrahn has some thoughts on the regional atmospherics of the deployment.

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