By JASON STRAZIUSO
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press
KAMPALA, Uganda — The young American boy sums up what his father does for a living: “You stop the bad guys from being mean.”
Yes, the father says, but who are the bad guys? The child thinks, then offers a guess: “Star Wars people?”
Though half a world away from this preschooler’s American upbringing, the truth is far more sinister.
The bad guys are Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army, a brutal Central Africa militia that has kidnapped thousands of children and forced them to become sex slaves, fight as child soldiers and kill family members during a 26-year campaign of terror.
The father-son conversation is part of a 30-minute video that has rocketed through cyberspace since its release Monday on YouTube. It had been viewed more than 40 million times by late Thursday, propelled by celebrity tweets and fans on Facebook and Twitter, especially teens and young adults.
The video’s premise is that people here in America and the world beyond have the power to stop Kony, if only they are willing to spread the word through the power of social media. Called Kony 2012, the goal is to see Kony captured by the end of this year.
The father, Jason Russell, is the co-founder of Invisible Children, an anti-LRA advocacy group, and the film’s director. At one point in the film, he asks his son, Gavin, what he thinks should be done about Kony.
“Stop him,” Gavin responds.
Then, in one of the video’s many slick moments, the boy’s words are quickly echoed by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where Kony is wanted for crimes against humanity.
“Stop him,” Luis Moreno-Ocampo says on camera, “and (that will) solve all the problems.”
Despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant and the deployment last fall of 100 U.S. Special Forces to four Central African countries to help advise in the fight against Kony, until now, few Americans knew who he was.
To those 99 percent, Russell poses this challenge: Make Kony and his crimes so “famous” that governments view it as imperative that the mission to capture him succeeds.
Celebrities and teens have quickly joined the cause.
“Even if its 10 minutes … Trust me, you NEED to know about this!” tweeted Rihanna.