Remember Joseph Kony? Perhaps the catchphrase “KONY 2012” will ring a bell.

The African warlord and leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army is still at large. The United States has been hunting him in Africa since 2011, after the release of a viral video that tried to bring awareness to Kony’s horrific exploits, in an attempt to get somebody to bring the man to justice.

The video gained steam and millions of Americans supported the hunting of Kony, a call which President Barack Obama answered. Then the creator of the video was arrested for public indecency and nudity, and like most viral trends, the whole movement was forgotten.

The U.S. government continued the hunt, and after four years, Kony is still on the loose. Now the U.S. has to decide whether it should keep after Kony or cut the mission short. A new opportunity has arisen that may be the key to killing Kony, but it has made many U.S. officials nervous.

The Seleka, a Muslim rebel group responsible for toppling the government of the Central African Republic and igniting a civil war, is now possibly working with the U.S. in the hunt for Kony. The group is known for its rape, torture and execution tactics, similar to the actions of Kony. The Seleka even have ties to Kony’s army, trading and interacting with them, according to BBC.

The Seleka are on the inside and are perhaps the best candidates to finally end Kony’s reign of terror. The U.S. is not allowed in Sudan, where Kony is possibly hiding, but the Seleka are. Should the U.S. work with a known Muslim terrorist group, though?

With all of the problems America has with ISIS right now, the answer should be no. This feels too much like a shady military deal with too much potential to go wrong. There are 100 American military advisers and officials dealing with this in Africa right now, and according to The Washington Post, an anonymous official feels that the Seleka are playing the U.S. and will not actually assist in the hunt for Kony.

The U.S. has been criticized in the past for dealing with terrorist groups. America essentially created Al Qaeda years ago by giving aid to certain groups in the Middle East, and some even believe the U.S. helped to create ISIS. The last thing the U.S. needs to do is back a group similar to ISIS and give it aid.

Would it be for a good cause? Yes. Kony is a murderer and enslaves children into his army. He deserves to be brought to justice. However, working with a group that does the same things that Kony does in order to kill him seems counter-intuitive. Any aid given to the Seleka could potentially boost its numbers and make it a more powerful force in Africa and the cycle would begin anew.

If the U.S. simply works with the terrorist group rather than aiding it, then perhaps nothing will come of the situation. The less involved with the Seleka the U.S. gets, the better. This group cannot be trusted and the potential harm that could come from a mutual agreement with what is essentially an enemy to the U.S. is exactly that: Harmful.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer. They are not directly the opinions of The Slate, its staff or Shippensburg University as a whole. Concerns or letters to the editor can be sent to shipspeaks@gmail.com.

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