Defense and State Department officials testified on President Obama’s decision to send 100 U.S. military advisers to advise local forces fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and its leader, Joseph Kony, in Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
Joseph Kony was under indictment by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, including mass rape and the use of child soldiers. A 2010 law authorized U.S. military assistance for multilateral efforts to suppress the group. During the hearing several members criticized the proposed deployment and expressed concerns about the mission parameters.