A young soldier defending against the LRA (Photo by John and Mel Kots, Creative Commons)

President Barack Obama announced in a letter to Congress Friday that 100 U.S. military advisers will be sent to Uganda to aid regional efforts in overtaking the Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group known for inhumane tactics.

The Washington Post said the president hopes to help African allies who are seeking to eliminate the leader of LRA, Joseph Kony, 50, who "styles himself a prophet and spirit medium and practices a blend of mysticism and apocalyptic Protestant Christianity" though known more for his army's brutal violence.

"The LRA continues to commit atrocities across the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan that have a disproportionate impact on regional security," Obama said according to Reuters.

Some of those atrocities include violently cutting off victims' body parts, kidnapping young boys to be part of their army and young girls to be sex slaves.  Human rights groups have estimated that about 3,000 children are held captive by the LRA.

In a report from CNN:

According to the State Department, "since 2008 alone, the LRA has killed more than 2,400 people and abducted more than 3,400. The United Nations estimates that over 380,000 people are displaced across the region because of LRA activity."

Obama said that the United States has assisted military efforts against the LRA since 2008.  The U.S. has also contributed more than $40 million to those efforts, said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland to CNN.

Obama also said in his letter that the purpose of the U.S. military advisers' arrival is not to incite violence:

“Although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will only be providing information, advice, and assistance to partner nation forces, and they will not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense,” he said.

It has been questioned whether the president's insistence on the "terms of engagement" may be to ease Americans' worries that the U.S. is becoming involved in another global conflict in addition to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.