Word came from President Obama Friday that he's deploying 100 U.S. troops to Uganda to help combat the Lord's Resistance Army. Click here to see the president's letter of notice to House Speaker Boener.
The LRA is a brutal militia that has terrorized the people of northern Uganda and South Sudan for two decades. It's led by cult-like figure Joseph Kony.
He and his troops are now waging their campaign of murder and rape from base camps inside the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The White House says thousands of innocent women and children have been maimed and killed by the LRA, and it's time to help capture Kony and bring him to justice (He's wanted by the International Criminal Court.).
The significance of U.S. troops in central Africa may not be their small number, but rather the sophisticated tracking equipment (and possibly drones?) that they bring with them.
This is the first time U.S. forces have had a presence in Africa since the "Blackhawk Down" era in Somalia. Might it be a new base of operations for future U.S. military campaigns to combat terrorism in Africa?
I'm sure people like "Machine Gun Preacher" Sam Childers and the kids he's rescued from the LRA are elated by the news. They'll be much happier once Joseph Kony is brought to justice.
Here's my analysis from Friday's Newswatch on what this could mean:
I also traveled to northern Uganda and South Sudan six years ago to bring our viewers this story about the "Night Commuter" children and the LRA. Here's a cut-down version of the report that was broadcast in August 2005.
Take a look: