Kony 2012: Invisible Children spark very visible controversy
Ugandan soldiers search through thick vegetation around the Congolese jungle, a longtime hideout for renegade Joseph Kony, leader with a bounty on his head of the notorious Lord’s Resistance Army infamous for brutal mutilations on its human victims.
Live by social media, die by social media.
The San Diego based activists Invisible Children clearly have their collective heart in the right place in wanting to end the reign of terror of Joseph Kony, once of Uganda, now more likely to be found in Central African Republic. Or Congo. Or South Sudan.
And if their hugely successful fund-raising means they get to travel and make hi-def films that resonate with their high school and college-aged followers while they're at it, who are we to argue.
More from GlobalPost: Invisible Children responds to Kony 2012 video criticism
But the success of their recently launched viral campaign Kony 2012 on Twitter, YouTube and Facebook has attracted some criticism and triggered some unhappy repercussions for them.
One is forensic analysis of their financial records. Another is this photo, now making its way around the internet of the freshfaced lads with some very big guns:
Not a good snapshot for a group of well-meaning peaceniks.
But then again it was largely their advocacy for ending the war that persuaded President Obama to send 100 military "advisors" to Africa to "remove Kony from the battlefield" last year.
So who are we really calling peaceniks?
More from GlobalPost: 3D Printing: Your body parts, made to order