THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate Release October 14, 2011TEXT OF A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENTTO THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESAND THE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE OF THE SENATEOctober 14, 2011Dear Mr. Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)For more than two decades, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)has murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of men,women, and children in central Africa. The LRA continues tocommit atrocities across the Central African Republic, theDemocratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan that have adisproportionate impact on regional security. Since 2008, theUnited States has supported regional military efforts to pursuethe LRA and protect local communities. Even with some limitedU.S. assistance, however, regional military efforts have thusfar been unsuccessful in removing LRA leader Joseph Kony or histop commanders from the battlefield. In the Lord's ResistanceArmy Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, PublicLaw 111-172, enacted May 24, 2010, the Congress also expressedsupport for increased, comprehensive U.S. efforts to helpmitigate and eliminate the threat posed by the LRA to civiliansand regional stability.In furtherance of the Congress's stated policy, I have authorizeda small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy tocentral Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that areworking toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield.I believe that deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S.national security interests and foreign policy and will be asignificant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in centralAfrica.On October 12, the initial team of U.S. military personnel withappropriate combat equipment deployed to Uganda. During the nextmonth, additional forces will deploy, including a second combat-equipped team and associated headquarters, communications, andlogistics personnel. The total number of U.S. military personneldeploying for this mission is approximately 100. These forceswill act as advisors to partner forces that have the goal ofremoving from the battlefield Joseph Kony and other seniorleadership of the LRA. Our forces will provide information,advice, and assistance to select partner nation forces. Subjectto the approval of each respective host nation, elements of theseU.S. forces will deploy into Uganda, South Sudan, the CentralAfrican Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.The support provided by U.S. forces will enhance regionalefforts against the LRA. However, although the U.S. forces arecombat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice,
Search History:
Result 00 of 00
00 results for result for
p.
Letter from the President regarding the Lord's Resistance Army
This is the text of a letter from the President to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate regarding the Lord's Resistance Army. In it the President tells Congress that the US Military has deployed a small number of troops to Uganda to aid in the removal of the LRA leader Joseph Kony from the battlefield.
580
Reads
0
Readcasts
0
Embed Views
More From This User
Notes
Load more
