Senator Tom Coburn Stands in the Way of Peace

by Michelle . · 2010-02-06 11:13:00 UTC
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Do you live in Oklahoma? Or have any friends and family in the lovely Sooner State? Then you need to get on the phone and tell Senator Tom "Dr. No" Coburn to stop blocking the passage of the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), under the leadership of self-proclaimed messiah Joseph Kony, has terrorized a wide swath of central Africa for over 20 years, and became particularly notorious for their use of child soldiers and child sex slaves. What started as a brutal rebellion in Northern Uganda has now spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Darfur, and the Central African Republic. In the past few months alone, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced, and thousands more have been either killed or abducted by LRA forces. According to an Enough Project researcher, as many as 400 people have been killed in the last two months. Recent waves of violence also threaten to further destabilize already-precarious situations in South Sudan, and possibly even Darfur.

According to Resolve Uganda Executive Director Michael Poffenberger, the bill will require President Obama to develop a strategy to end LRA attacks, apprehend Kony, and provide life-saving assistance to the LRA's victims.

"That’s the kind of leadership that has been missing for the 24 years and counting," Poffenberger writes.

Resolve Uganda is running a petition targeting Coburn -- sign the petition today to show your support (even if you don't live in Oklahoma) for this critical piece of bipartisan legislation.

Photo credit: U.S. Senate Office of Tom Coburn.

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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