The Brave One Hundred

I'm not sure if this is reflective of how bad the situation is in central Africa, or if we just happen to have troops that are so well-trained that one hundred is all we need.

President Obama is sending a total of 100 troops into central Africa to help a resistance movement fight the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for committing atrocities across the continent.

The first troops left Wednesday and in the next month additional forces are set to deploy, including a second combat-equipped team, as well as communications and logistics personnel, Obama informed Congressional leaders in a letter sent Friday afternoon. The mission's goal is to remove LRA leader Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield, according to the letter.

The U.S. troops will be there to "enhance regional efforts against the LRA" and will not engage LRA forces unless its necessary for self-defense, Obama wrote.

"In furtherance of the Congress's stated policy, I have authorized a small number of combat-equipped U.S. forces to deploy to central Africa to provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward the removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield," Obama wrote. "I believe that deploying these U.S. Armed Forces furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa."

So is this better or worse than sending in ten thousand troops, for instance?  Yes, the Lord's Resistance Army and leader Joeseph Kony are pretty damn awful, but unless these guys are pure SPARTAAAAAA there's still only one hundred of them.  I'm not sure if a mini-deployment like this is going to make much of a difference.

Still, President Obama has made the right call on military matters before, you know?  If he says one hundred troops in an advisory capacity will do the job, then I'm inclined to believe him.