The recent withdrawals of the Ugandan army from the Democratic Republic of Congo call into question the seriousness of the international community's desire to bring peace to the country.

The Ugandan army's departure from northeastern DRC — after an abortive attempt to deal a decisive blow to rampaging Ugandan rebels — has left thousands of people vulnerable to continued atrocities.

Meanwhile, the number of dead and displaced by Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), in northeastern DRC continues to climb.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reports that an additional 11,000 people were uprooted in mid-March alone by LRA attacks.

That brings the total of those displaced by rebel raids in the Haut Uele district of Oriental province to more than 188,000 in the last six months.

An additional 990 Congolese have been murdered by the LRA and 747 abducted, the vast majority of them children, UNHCR says. An additional 16,000 Congolese refugees who have crossed into Southern Sudan to escape LRA attacks are also receiving assistance.

The abrupt end to Uganda's drive against Kony came without complaint or objection from the United Nations, the United States or any European Union countries.

Although military support provided by the United States showed that someone was willing to help end the menace of the LRA, the mission was poorly executed and failed in its main objective.

But unless a new and more serious effort against Kony and the LRA is organized, a tragedy of even greater proportions will unfold. Not only will Kony continue the senseless killing in this remote corner of the world, but a worrisome message will be sent around the globe.

The message is that if you're far enough off the beaten track, and you're victimizing people who are already marginalized, you can commit atrocities as long as you like.

It doesn't matter if you're indicted by the International Criminal Court, as Kony and some of his henchmen have been. You can easily remain free. No one will lift a finger.

All of this can stop only with aggressive outside intervention.

The U.N. Security Council could easily authorize a multi-national strike force to encircle, confront and capture Kony and his commanders. It's not as if such an international force isn't already in the area.

There are currently 3,300 EU troops in Chad, drawn from 26 countries and called EUFOR, operating under U.N. authority. Those forces have been described as a "new model" for EU involvement in troubled regions of Africa.

Why not use this force for short-term, focused missions to bring an end to the bloodshed in the Congo? It may be the only way to stop Kony.

Or is the developed world willing to allow a terrorist to kill and displace a few thousand Africans with impunity?

Peter Eichstaedt is Africa editor for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict.