http://go.sojo.net/campaign/close_the_SOATake Action!
Close the School of the Americas
The School of the Americas (SOA) - in 2001 renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - is a combat training school for Latin American soldiers located at Fort Benning, Georgia. During its 56 years of existence, the SOA has used U.S. tax dollars to train more than 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 war against their own country's civilians. 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 exile by those trained at this "School of Assassins."
Please use the letter below to contact your congressperson and urge them to support HR 1258, a bill to close, investigate, and prevent another cosmetic remake of the SOA. It is vital that co-sponsors be added before Congress adjourns on November 21.