U.S. troops’ quest for Kony yields no promise

As the days continue to inch on towards the six-month mark, the United States’ efforts to capture the malicious Joseph Kony have proven all but successful.

The United States Army is the strongest military on the globe. The fact that a single man can escape our elite military makes little sense. If the U.S. were truly out to find Joseph Kony, the man would be in custody. The claim that Kony can use “stone-age” tactics to outwit our technically advanced military is astonishing to say the least. In this day and age, with the technology that equips our military, the search for this mass murderer should be over. The difficulty of this mission must not be underestimated, but six months seem more than enough time to track down one person.

“I believe this act by the United States is solely a PR attempt,” said Dan Black, a freshman at DePaul. “In my opinion, America has no business in Africa, at all. I believe that as a country, we have bigger problems and issues going on in other countries, such as Iraq.”

If the military was working exclusively, the six-month time span would be plausible. However, the U.S. has teamed up with local African law enforcement to take Kony out of the public scene. Not only are the American soldiers intelligent and skilled, but they also have the tactics and awareness of the African soldiers to aid in this hunt. When the two are combined, Kony’s threat could easily be eliminated.

Unfortunately, Kony is still running free and another hopeless PR stunt by the United States government has been completed, much like the recent deployment of U.S. troops to aid Pakistan after their devastating avalanche. The rocky relations between Pakistan and the U.S. are widely known. The only logical reason to send troops over to Pakistan was to enhance our public image. Consequentially, the efforts of the U.S. troops in Africa appear to have the same motives.

This exemplifies the dichotomy that surrounds the visions of the American government. More often that not, the public image of our nation overpowers the safety and protection of the young men and women fighting to keep this country free.