The notorious Lord's Resistance Army, the rebel group run by a crazed "Christian" lunatic who kidnaps children as soldiers and sex slaves in Uganda, may be down but it's not out. Unfortunately its dispersed forces have spread to surrounding countries, including Southern Sudan. This area will go to the polls in a referendum to determine whether they'll secede from Sudan and form a new nation. Incidentally, US President Barack Obama warned Sudan's leaders Friday to let the process go along smoothly. Instability and poverty are the main problems, and the first factor is why the LRA can affect proceedings.

Thought to be on the decline, the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda has killed about 2,500 people and abducted almost 700 children in the past 18 months, recently-released human rights reports have highlighted. Some interesting possible scenarios are mentioned, such as the US lending intelligence support, having an international or regional armed force go after LRA leader Joseph Kony and that the LRA might be looking for support from Sudan. Also interesting is the theory that the LRA continues to kill and terrorize civilians simply to maintain itself, "as a way to socialize and indoctrinate their soldiers." The LRA is a brutal rebel group and with not even a pretense of any ideological or territorial goals but killing and kidnapping children, the sooner regional authorities can cooperate to wipe them out, the better.