( CNN ) -- President Barack Obama announced recently that about 100 U.S. troops are being deployed to Central Africa to help `` apprehend and remove '' the elusive Joseph Kony and his top commanders of the Lord 's Resistance Army . It 's not the first time the United States has gone in to help put an end to the marauding , murdering gang known as the Lord 's Resistance Army -- LRA , for short . The LRA has butchered , enslaved and displaced people in Uganda and Central Africa for two decades . Although its brand of terrorism does n't target the United States , Washington has listed it as a terrorist group . The U.S. decision to help go after Kony is a strategic -- as well as a humanitarian -- one . Africa is a frontier for terrorism . Uganda is fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia -- which helps the United States -- so in turn , the U.S. is helping Uganda fight the LRA . The Lord 's Resistance Army began in northern Uganda in 1987 as an opposition force to leader Yoweri Museveni . Kony sees himself as a prophet who has said he wants to rule by following the Ten Commandments . Instead , he has ruled -- and thrived -- by breaking a lot of those commandments . The Ugandan army -- with the help of the U.S. military -- has tried for years to take him and his leadership out . The International Criminal Court has had a warrant out for him since 2005 . The Lord 's Resistance Army replenishes its ranks by abducting villagers -- men , women and children -- brainwashing them and forcing them to fight . Or to serve as sex slaves for commanders . LRA members survive by staying on the move constantly and stealing food and provisions . Last month , according to researchers , an LRA band raided a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo soon after the World Food Programme had distributed food supplies there . So what is LRA leader Kony 's secret ? How has he evaded justice to operate his band of marauders and murderers with impunity for decades ? Here are five reasons some experts give : . 1 . He uses terror strategically . You 've probably seen photos of children whose noses or ears were cut off -- because they did n't obey the LRA 's orders . He 's forced children he 's abducted to kill their siblings or parents . ( More : Woman recalls harrowing tale of captivity ) `` They use very carefully thought-through strategies to have the biggest impact , '' said Tim Allen , a professor at the London School of Economics and co-author of `` The Lord 's Resistance Army : Myth and Reality . '' `` In northern Uganda in 2004 , '' Allen said , `` they took some 20-odd women with their babies out of the displacement camp , laid them on the ground with their babies on their backs and smashed their brains in . '' And they did it at the edge of the camp -- so that everyone in the camp would see . `` They did n't do that very often , '' Allen said . `` But you do n't have to do that sort of thing very often to have a large impact on a lot of people . '' 2 . Kony exploits regional politics and borders . He got support from the Sudanese government for years . And the LRA uses borders as a defense : It has n't been in Uganda for years . That 's made it hard for the Ugandan army to pursue Kony . The militia is split and is constantly moving between the Democratic Republic of Congo , the Central African Republic and southern Sudan . 3 . Uganda 's efforts to get Kony have flagged . Uganda 's army has been stretched to the hilt , fighting Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia as part of an African Union force . 4 . Kony is a smart strategist . His band travels in small groups , and they 're a moving target . And he has informants -- with cell phones . The last time the U.S. military helped Uganda go after Kony , in 2008 , it used a traditional air and ground assault . Kony and his leaders escaped , then massacred hundreds of people in revenge . This time , the United States is bringing Special Forces ( and probably other intelligence agents ) with equipment and tactics to track him in the jungle . 5 . Kony mixes military discipline with cultish charisma and spiritual tactics to keep captives in line -- and sometimes , to keep the loyalty even of those who escape . Allen , the London School of Economics professor , has talked to women who have escaped the Lord 's Resistance Army but are still loyal to their LRA `` husbands . '' `` He cultivates this image of himself as a medium for the power of the spirit and at other times , he presents himself as a ruthless military leader , '' said Ned Dalby , Central Africa researcher with the International Crisis Group . `` So he 's able to maintain cohesion as a group and maintain the loyalty of his fighters . '' Dalby said some former LRA fighters from northern Uganda have given a clue as to why some outside the group have stayed loyal to Kony . `` They expressed the feeling that because they were given a rank , they were given a certain purpose , and respect and authority , '' Dalby said . `` And then , once they 're outside the LRA , they find they 've become just another poor person , trying to survive . ''
Lord 's Resistance Army has attacked communities in Africa for two decades . The group is led by the elusive Joseph Kony . Some point to Joseph 's past and politics as some reason why he is still at large .