america's terrorist training school in the state of Georgia

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/11/03/1635204

As Rumsfeld Calls For Action Against "Schools That Teach Terrorism" We Take A Look At the School of the Americas, What Many Critics Call the "School of Assassins

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Today we take a look at a U.S. training facility that has been training foreign soldiers for over half a century: The notorious School of the Americas.

Initially established in Panama in 1946, the SOA is a U.S. combat training school for Latin American soldiers. In 1984 it was kicked out of Panama and is now located at Fort Benning, Georgia.

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Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia.

Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins.”

In January, 2001, the House defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten vote margin. Instead, the SOA was renamed to become the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC).
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(Thousands of people will descend on the School of the Americas (now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation) headquarters in Fort Benning, Georgia this month to protest the U.S. military program that trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counterinsurgency and counter-narcotics and whose graduates, critics say, are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.)

A school that definitely needs to close and be destroyed.

have Georgians tried to get rid of it?

financed by our tax dollars and sanctioned by our Representatives is a disgrace.


I hope to hear that all of our nominees are against it SOA and their ilk, and none have participated in this training ground for the spread of Right-wing fascism.

Do you know of any statements against, or for, SOA, or involvements with SOA (such as speaking engagements) that any of our Nominees may have?

I'm wondering the same thing

The only people who think it is are people who constantly scour the horizon in search of evidence of America's moral depravity on the world stage.

Here's what our beloved Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) had to say about the School of the Americas on July 30, 1999:

Mr. CLELAND . Mr. President, I rise today to express my continued support for the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), located at Fort Benning, Georgia. Legislation has been introduced by my colleagues both in the House and the Senate which would close the School of the Americas , and last evening the House adopted an amendment to do so. Mr. President, I rise to support the School of the Americas and the vital mission it performs in encouraging diplomacy and democracy within the militaries located in the Americas .

The School of the Americas has been a key instrument of U.S. foreign policy in Latin and Southern America for over fifty years and is the single most important instrument of our National Security Strategy of engagement in the Southern Hemisphere.

The legislation opposing the School has been accompanied by a mountain of communications alleging that this School , operated by the U.S. Army and funded by taxpayers' dollars, is the cause of horrendous human rights abuses in Central and South America. In twelve separate investigations since 1989, the Department of Defense, the Army, the GAO and others have found nothing to suggest that the School either taught or inspired Latin Americans to commit such crimes. Yet, sponsors of these measures reproduce the critics' list of atrocities allegedly committed by a small number of graduates in order to transfer responsibility for these crimes to the backs of the School and the Army rather than to the individuals themselves.

The School is, and always has been, a U.S. Army training and education institution teaching the same tactics, techniques, and procedures taught at other U.S. Army schools and imparting the very same values that the Army teaches its own soldiers. These U.S. military personnel receive the same training as all graduates of our military schools. To suggest that terrorist activities are taught to students would suggest that we in fact teach terrorist activities to all of our own military personnel. This is assuredly not the case.

The School is commanded by a U.S. Army colonel whose chain of command includes the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Infantry Center and the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. The School also receives oversight and direction from the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Southern Command. The School's staff and faculty includes over 170 U.S. Army officers, noncommissioned officers, enlisted soldiers, and Department of the Army civilians. The School counts among its graduates over 1,500 U.S. military personnel including five general officers currently serving on active duty in our military.

I agree completely with critics of the School that ``Human rights is not a partisan issue,'' and I further agree that, in the past there were indeed some shortcomings in the School's fulfillment of its mission to transmit all of the values we hold dear in our country. In that regard, today, the U.S. Army School of the Americas has the U.S. Army's premier human rights training program. The program has been expanded in recent years in consultation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Mr. Steve Schneebaum, a noted human rights attorney and a

member of the School's Board of Visitors. Every student and instructor at the School receives mandatory human rights instruction and the International Committee of the Red Cross teaches human rights each year during the School's Command and General Staff and Peace Operations courses. Last year, over 900 Latin American soldiers, civilians, and police received human rights instruction at the U.S. Army School of the Americas .

Latin America is currently undergoing an unparalleled transformation to democratic governance, civilian control of the military, and economic reform along free market principles. Almost every nation in Latin America has a democratically elected government. During this transition, the region's militaries have accepted structural cuts, reduced budgets, and curtailed influence in society. In many cases, their acceptance of this new reality has been encouraged and enhanced by the strategy of engagement of which the U.S. Army School of the Americas is an integral part. However, many Latin American democracies are fragile. True change does not occur in days, months, or even years. We must continue to engage Latin American governments, including their militaries. Marginalizing or ignoring the militaries of the region will not help in consolidating hard-won democracy but, instead, will have the opposite effect. Our efforts to engage the militaries of the region are more important and more relevant than ever. The U.S. Army School of the Americas is unique in this regard because it trains and educates large numbers of Latin American students who cannot be accommodated in other U.S. military service schools due to limited student spaces and the inability of other U.S. military schools to teach in Spanish.

Over the years, changes have been made to enhance the School's focus on human rights and diplomacy. Recently introduced courses such as Democratic Sustainment, Humanitarian Demining, International Peacekeeping Operations, Counternarcotics Operations, and Human Rights Train-the-Trainer, directly support shared security interests in the region, and are not offered elsewhere. Other proposed changes include placing the School under the jurisdiction of U.S. Southern Command and expanding the Board of Visitors to include congressional membership--both proposals which I strongly support.

By focusing on the negative, critics ignore the many recent positive contributions that U.S. Army School of the Americas graduates have made. In 1995, this nation helped broker a cease fire between Peru and Ecuador when a historical border dispute threatened to ignite into war. The key members of the delegations that put together that accord were U.S. Army School of the Americas graduates, from Peru, from Ecuador, and from the guarantor nations of the United States and Chile. In fact, the Commander of the U.S. contingent to the multinational peacekeeping force, who received special recognition from the State Department for ``extraordinary contributions to U.S. diplomacy,'' was a 1986 graduate of the School's Command and General Staff course, and serves as the current Commandant of the School . More recently, in 1997, the President of Ecuador was removed from office, creating a constitutional crisis. Some of the people of Ecuador called for the military to take power, but their military refused. Many of the officers in the high command were U.S. Army School of the Americas graduates. Finally, less than four months ago, the President of Paraguay was impeached for misconduct. Once again, a constitutional crisis ensued. Once again, the military refused to take power. Once again many of the officers in that military were U.S. Army School of the Americas graduates, including one general officer who played a key role in the refusal.

I ask each of you to take a careful look at the U.S. Army School of the Americas as it exists today. Look to the future. As stated by the School's critics, ``The contentious politics of U.S. foreign policy in Central America in the 1980s are over.'' I strongly urge you to continue your support of the Army School of the Americas and the U.S. Army.

So many of your posts seem to be nothing more then defenses of the neo-con movement, that it is almost odd.

I guess that beats providing a factual rebuttal of Cleland's argument. It's always easier to call names like we're in elementary school, right?

That Cleland has turned into a DU favorite is a joke. If Max Cleland said it, that makes it right? SOA is definitely a terrorist training camp. To say otherwise would be to deny decades of Central American history. Shame, DGR.

The TRUTH about SOA:
http://www.soaw.org/new/
No matter WHAT Max Cleland said.

is a fool when it comes to SOA. He/you present NO proof that this organization is benificial to anyone in central and south america his arguments in support are non existant.

Just why is it that we have to train the armies in central and south america?

Democracy my ass. It is the same old scared of the leftists and commies crap that has gotten the US in trouble for decades.

You know how the rest goes. ;-)

Are you still out there?

The only people who think it is are people who constantly scour the horizon in search of evidence of America's moral depravity on the world stage.


Here's a clip from the front page of SOA watch, founded by the raving anti-American lunatic, Father Roy Bourgoise (sp?):

The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. (See Grads in the News.)

On January 17, 2001 the SOA was replaced by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC).
The result of a Department of Defense proposal included in the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal 2001, the name-change measure passed when the House of Representatives defeated a bi-partisan amendment to close the SOA and conduct a congressional investigation by a narrow ten vote margin. (See Talking Points, Critique of New School, Vote Roll Call.)

In a media interview, Georgia Senator and SOA supporter, the late Paul Coverdell, characterized the DOD proposal as "cosmetic" changes that would ensure that the SOA could continue its mission and operation. Critics of the SOA concur. The new military training school is the continuation of the SOA under a new name. It is a new name, but the same shame.

More from the site:

Initially established in Panama in 1946, it was kicked out of that country in 1984 under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Former Panamanian President, Jorge Illueca, stated that the School of the Americas was the “biggest base for destabilization in Latin America.” The SOA, frequently dubbed the “School of Assassins,” has left a trail of blood and suffering in every country where its graduates have returned.

Over its 56 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.

And more still...

Union organizers are among the primary targets of SOA violence in Colombia. SOA graduates have been directly responsible for the slaying of striking workers and the killing of union organizers.

In 1996, the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the SOA. These manuals advocated interrogation techniques such as false imprisonment, torture and execution. According to these manuals, these techniques should be used on those who…

support “union organizing or recruiting”,

distribute “propaganda in favor of the interests of workers",

“Sympathize with demonstrators or strikes”.

make "accusations that the government has failed to meet the basic needs of the people"

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But hey, the last thing I'd want to do is point out instances of not merely "moral depravity", but outright murderousness on the world stage by your beloved government. Wouldn't want to shatter that rose-colored lens of yours, after all.... :eyes:

I ask each of you to take a careful look at the U.S. Army School of the Americas as it exists today. Look to the future. As stated by the School's critics, ``The contentious politics of U.S. foreign policy in Central America in the 1980s are over.''

Yeah, right. And if you believe that one, I've got a bridge to sell you.... :puke:

In the piece on Democracy Now, an interview was conducted with the commander of SOA in which he said that SOA had been endorsed by Amnesty International, and that he was a member of Amnesty International.

This was immediately followed with a clip of an official FROM Amnesty International in which he basically said, "That's strange for him to say that, because Amnesty International has never endorsed the activities of SOA, and, in fact, we have repeatedly found them to be a source of gross violations of human rights throughout the Western Hemisphere."

But hey, why let facts get in your way, right? Isn't that the neocon way? When confronted with a conflict between facts and ideology, always fall back on ideology.... :eyes:

To him, it's pork, and a politician will always protect his pork. Maybe you dig up some support from a progressive who does not benefit directly from its continued existence?

To aid in your research, it's called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation now. The old name was too tarnished.

And welcome to DU! :toast:

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Neither Repuke or Democrat.

Out of our current crop of candidates, I can only think of two who might dare to do so -- Sharpton or Kucinich. And neither one of them is getting the nomination, so it doesn't matter much. :-(

As president, he would close it, no doubt.

Father Roy Bourgeois said he was backing Kucinich because he has spoken up so strongly in support of closing the School of the Americas.


SOA activist cites satisfaction in time served

The SOA Watch campaign is also lobbying Congress to close the school and establish a congressional task force to assess US training of the Latin American military. Sponsored by US Representative James McGovern of Worcester, Massachusetts, the SOA closure bill has 80 cosponsors, including US Representative Patrick Kennedy and Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). In 2000, the House came within 10 votes of closing the school.

We do many things that turn out wrong. I think these camps are wrong.One sees things in a different light at differeny times or I hope I have lerned more and see clearer.

to respond to all of the rebuttals of his post earlier on the thread.

:kick: