Demagogue

To complete a trio of East African stories, consider the rather bizarre video released by the Lord's Resistance Army of Uganda. Actually, this story ties into the religious theme of my two posts on Kenya, as the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, claims to be a prophet. I know there was a certain amount of smiting in what I call the Bible (and what Christians call the Old Testament), but Kony's activities don't comport with my notions of what prophets are supposed to do:

"[The LRA is] notorious for massacring villagers, mutilating survivors and abducting thousands of children....LRA fighters have spread terror on both sides of the Uganda-Sudan border, targeting remote communities and torturing survivors by slicing off their lips and ears."

The children abducted by the LRA are turned into soldiers and sexual slaves.

Not surprisingly, Kony is the first, and to my knowledge only, prophet subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

He says now that he wants to make peace. I fervently hope that this really is the end of the LRA's c ampaign, but something tells me Kony isn't entirely to be trusted.