Right now, there are more people on facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago. Humanity's greatest desire is to belong and connect. And now, we see each other. We hear each other. "Grandpa I love you!" "I love you!" "Why.. why won't it take a picture?" We share what we love and it reminds us what we all have in common. "Dug out alive and well after seven and a half days.." "If you believe in yourself, you'll know how to ride a bike! Watch and learn!" "So now technically, your device is on. Can you tell?" "Oh! It's exciting!" And this connection is changing the way the world works. Governments are trying to keep up. Now we can test the freedom. And older generations are concerned. "Many people are very concerned about tomorrow. They could get worse next year. The game has new rules. The next 27 minutes are an experiment. But in order for it to work, you have to pay attention. I can hear him! Ever single person in the world started this way. He didn't chose where or when he was born. But because he's here, he matters. Yeah! We've been waiting for you! You made it! My name is Jason Russell and this is my son, Gavin. He loves jumping on the trampoline, being a ninja, and dancing. What are you doing? Making a snow angel. How do you do that? You do this! And just like his dad, he likes being in movies Action! Look out! Look out people! Run! It's a bomb! And making movies. Daddy watch this! I think we got the video But he was born into a pretty complicated world. And as a dad, I want him to grow up in a better world than I did. And because of the course of events in my life, I see a way to get there. It has become my job. Who are you to end a war? I'm here to tell you who are you not to. Hey Gavin, what's up? Years before Gavin was born, the course of my life was changed entirely by another boy. And who is this right here? Jacob Who's Jacob? Jacob is our friend in Africa. It's been almost ten years since Jacob and I became friends. It's okay, they're nice. They're different from sharks. But when my friends and I first met him in Uganda in Central Africa, it was in very different circumstances. He was running for his life. Uh, you go to school here Yes That's how you know English so well? I know. How many nights have you stayed here? Hello You are making our work very difficult You stop that thing now The night I first met Jacob, he told me what he and other children in Northern Uganda were living through. We worry the rebels when they arrest us again then they will kill us My brother tried to escape then they kill him using Panga They cut his neck Did you see it? I saw We fear that if we sleep at our home that we can be abducted by the rebels Because our home is far away from town They will catch us then they will take us there in the bush We come here to save our life I cannot believe that You cannot believe it? This has been going on for years? If that happened one night in America, it would be on the cover of Newsweek. What is it that you want to be when you grow up? For me I wanted to be lawyer but I don't have money to pay my school fees So that I learn and then become a lawyer Hmm. Yes After spending a few weeks with Jacob, he told me something I would never forget. So if is better when you kill us and if possible, you can kill us you kill us For us we don't want now to stay You don't want to stay on Earth? We are only two, no one is taking care of us We are not doing to school, so You would rather die than stay on Earth? Yes Now, even now? Even now. How are we going to stay in our future? He told me more about his brother and what he would say to him if he were still alive. I love you but now I miss you So it is better when we meet Wa are not going to meet but we may meet in heaven You see? So it is better I will not talk much I will start something Because if I saw my brother once again I don't Hmm? It's okay. Jacob, it's okay Everything in my heart told me to do something And so I made him a promise We are also going to do everything that we can to stop them Do you hear my words? Yes Do you know what I mean? Yes Hmm? Yes We are. We're going to stop them. We're going to stop them I made that promise to Jacob not knowing what it would mean but now I do. Over the past nine years, I have fought to fulfill it. And the fight has led me here. To this movie you're watching. Because that promise is not just about Jacob or me It's also about you And this year, 2012, is the year that we can finally fulfill it And if we succeed, we change the course of human history But time is running out. To level with you, this movie expires on December 31, 2012 And its only purpose is to stop the rebel group, the LRA And their leader, Joseph Kony And I'm about to tell you exactly how we're going to do it. So the thing is that my son Gavin has never I've never really explained to him what I do He knows I work in Africa But he doesn't know what the war's about Or who Joseph Kony is And I'm gonna explain it to him for the first time today That's what we're going So, Gav, are you ready? Yeah I'm gonna ask you some questions Okay And you can just look at me and answer the questions I'm kinda nervous What do I do for a job? Ah! You stop the bad guys from being mean Who are the bad guys? Um Do you know Star Wars people Star Wars people? Those are the bad guys? Yeah Can I tell you the bad guy's name? Yeah This is the guy, Joseph Kony He's the bad guy? Yeah Who is this? Jacob Joseph Kony, he has an army, okay? And what he does is he takes children from their parents And he gives them a gun to shoot And he makes them shoot and kill other people. But they're not gonna do what he says because they're nice guys, right? Yeah they don't want to do what he says But he forces them to do bad things What do you think about that? It's sad I couldn't explain to Gavin the details of what Joseph Kony really does Because the truth is, Kony abducts kids just like Gavin. For 26 years, Kony has been kidnapping children into his rebel group, the LRA Turning the girls into sex slaves And the boys into child soldiers He makes them mutilate people's faces And he forces them to kill their own parents And this is not just a few children It's been over 30,000 of them And Jacob was one of those children As if Kony's crimes aren't bad enough He's not fighting for any cause, but only to maintain his power He is not supported by anyone And he has repeatedly used peace talks to rearm and murder again and again Kony, different times, proposed peace and then just regain strength and attack This is the head prosecutor for the International Criminal Court In 2002 when the court was started, their job was To find and demand the arrest of the world's worst criminals Although there are a lot of war lords, murderers, and dictators in the world The perversity of Kony's crimes made him first on the court's list Kony's the first guy indicted by the ICC The crimes are basically crimes against humanity And war crimes committed against the civillian population Including murder, sexual slavery, rapes, abductions We need to plan how to arrest Kony Start to plan And it has to be serious In fact, the only way to stop Kony is to show him Hey, we're going to arrest you What do you think we should do about it? You should stop him The criminal here is Kony. Stop him and then solve all the problems We should stop who? Him. It's obvious that Kony should be stopped The problem is 99% of the planet doesn't know who he is If they knew, Kony would have been stopped long ago Let the world, let the international community Take justice to him there Follow him wherever he is First to rescue our children And secondly, to deliver the justice We are determined to cooperate with any friend of Uganda To ensure that this mindless killing and slaughter is ended When my friends and I came home from Uganda We thought that if the government knew, they would do something to stop him But everyone in Washington we talked to said There is no way the United States will ever get involved In a conflict where our national security or financial interests aren't at stake No administration, republican, democrat, Obama, Bush, Clinton, doesn't matter Would do enough because it's simply not an important enough issue On the radar screen of American Foreign Policy Since the government said it was impossible We didn't know what else to do But tell everyone we could about Jacob and the Invisible Children We're going to show this movie to as many people as possible In such a way that we can't be ignored And when we did, people were shocked And their awareness turned into action We started something A community I have friends that have been living in this conflict their entire life Fight for that, because that is what is going to change this world And that is what defines us We got creative and we got loud It's not over! It's not over! It's not over! And as the LRA began to move into other countries Jacob and other Ugandans came to the US To speak on behalf of all people suffering because of Kony Even though Uganda was relatively safe They felt compelled to tell the world that Kony was still out there And had to be stopped I'm here so proud advocating for the people who are back at home And this change we are going to make is going to last forever We built a community around the idea that where you live Shouldn't determine whether you live We were committed to stop Kony and rebuild what he had destroyed And because we couldn't wait for and institutions or governments to step in We did it ourselves With our time, talent, and money So we rebuilt schools The best you can offer a child is by letting them be independent And that was providing education We created jobs I have seen the lives of those who have been hopeless Now they have hope And we built and early warning radio network on the front line of the war To protect villages from rebel attacks So you update real-time what's happening in a war zone 8,000 miles away All of this was funded by an army of young people Who put their money toward their belief in the value of all human life They gave a few dollars a month of what little they had To a program called Tri And proved that a bunch of littles could make a big difference And as a result the unseen became visible We've seen these kids We've heard their cries This war must end We will not stop We will not fear We will fight war Deliver your voice I've talked to people from Mexico, from Canada From every other state that I can think of We're all doing this for the exact same reason And we're all coming from completely different places This is what the world should be like So with hundreds of thousands of people with us We went back to Washington DC and we met with Congressmen and Senators One by one On both sides, republicans, democrats, and they all agreed with us Joseph Kony's crimes had to be stopped Of all the problems that are out there, none is more severe than one that Mutilates the lives of little kids These young members of the Invisible Children organization Know that no child should live in fear of being abducted or killed So they were determined to become their voice They realized that these African children and families Were invisible to Washington policy makers So they decided to make them visible And what I was told would never happen Suddenly became possible In furtherance of the Congress' stated policy, I have authorized A small number of US forces to deploy to Central Africa To provide assistance to regional forces that are working toward The removal of Joseph Kony from the battlefield Sincerely, Barack Obama The surprise announcement came in a letter from the White House The US president's decision commits US troops to help Through advice and assistance Not putting Americans into combat, to help the countries of the region End this threat once and for all And that was a worthwhile investment We used to think that we could not do it And now when I see we can do it I am overwhelmed After 8 years of work, the government finally heard us And in October of 2011, 100 American advisors were sent into Central Africa To assist the Ugandan army in arresting Kony and stopping the LRA It was the first time in history that the United States took that kind of action Because the people demanded it Not for self defense, but because it was right