Reply #41: I know

[bigtree]

There's plenty out there about the U.S. diplomatic and economic initiatives for you to discover and digest. You don't need my opinion as a filter. I will say that I think it's an absurd *notion that 100 soldiers are being sent there to secure the oil for America. If there's a market for Ugandan oil, then I'm certain our nation's ambitious entrepreneurs are already there securing their own relationships with the Ugandan government. However, after a free-for-all of bribes and backdoor deals with government officials, this summer Uganda's dubious Parliament ordered an end to any new oil deals with foreign companies until a strict law governing the industry is in place.

Nothing in that atmosphere is going to be truly altruistic, in the sense that the assistance wouldn't have some political or economic motivation attached. I will say, though, outrage over the miniscule detachment which isn't expected to be directly involved in any military offensive is curious, considering there are myriads of similar U.S. military deployments around the globe which barely cause a ripple of concern. I gotta hand it to the President for remaining committed to the cause of Ugandan reconciliation and reconstruction aid and assistance, with the first foray of diplomatic activity actually occurring in 2008.

*edit