Obama sends troops to aid Africa anti-insurgency

WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (AP): President Barack Obama said Friday he has dispatched 100 US troops to central Africa to support a yearslong fight against a guerrilla group accused of horrific atrocities. Obama said they were sent to advise and not to engage in combat unless forced to defend themselves. In a letter to Congress, Obama said the troops will act as advisers in a long-running battle against the Lord's Resistance Army, considered one of Africa's most ruthless rebel groups, and help to hunt down its notorious leader, Joseph Kony. The first of the troops arrived in Uganda Wednesday, the White House said, and others will be sent to South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the size of the US footprint is small, Obama's announcement represents a highly unusual intervention for the United States. Although some American troops are based in Djibouti and small groups of soldiers have been deployed to Somalia, the US traditionally has been reluctant to commit forces to help African nations put down insurgencies. It demonstrates the Obama administration's escalating attention to and fears about security risks in Africa, including terror networks, piracy and unstable nations. The move was intended to show some engagement to lessen the impact of one of the worst protracted wars in Africa. Obama declared that his decision to send troops was in keeping with the national security interests of the United States. The White House announced it in a low-key fashion, releasing the Obama notification and justification of the troop deployment that the president sent to congressional leaders. Pentagon officials said the bulk of the deployment will be of special operations troops, who will provide security and combat training to African units. The move raises the profile of US involvement on the continent and represents an apparent victory for administration officials who have argued for more robust intervention in humanitarian crises. The change in policy could reflect the long-standing concerns of a number of high-ranking Obama advisers left scarred by the US failure in the 1990s to intervene to stop the genocide in Rwanda and the belated action to halt the violence in Bosnia. For a current parallel, the Lord's Resistance Army's 24-year campaign of rebellion, rape and murder represents one of the world's worst human rights crises today.