Dayton Pledge of Resistance
Special Interest: School of the Americas

Introduction to the SOA issue Fighting the SOA and Public Amnesia  *new The the featured article from the Winter/Spring edition of ¡Presente!.... From Warriors to Resisters: US Veterans on Terrorism Personal narratives by ten US veterans active in SOA Watch, who explain how they woke to the reality of US foreign policy and why they have become resisters.  Their courageous willingness to  face the tragic realities in their own military careers makes for powerful and convincing arguments against US policy.  This book calls for the US to discontinue its own use of terror. SOA Films History of Resistance Prisoners of Conscience Bill,  Hazel,  John,  Paula,  Margaret, An Introduction to the School of the Americas Issue:  By Any Name, a School of Assassins By Margaret Knapke The School of the Americas (SOA) began in 1946 in Panama as a US Army training school for Latin American soldiers, and moved to Ft. Benning, Georgia in 1984. Over its 54 year tenure, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in so-called "low intensity conflict" (LIC). Supporters and critics agree that the purpose of the SOA always has been to train Latin American soldiers in the effective implementation of US foreign policy throughout their home region. The crux of our disagreement concerns the real goals of that foreign policy. Low intensity conflict involves counter-insurgency tactics, including commando training and psychological operations, which are intended to intimidate and suppress truly popular movements toward economic justice and democracy.    So it is hardly surprising that numerous human rights reports have identified human rights advocates, labor organizers, teachers, clergy and health care workers as frequent targets of these tactics -- as well as numerous randomly chosen men, women and children. Nor is it surprising that those same reports identify at least 500 SOA graduates as having been implicated in massacres, political assassinations, rape, torture and "disappearances" throughout Latin America. The LIC strategy seeks to ensure that Latin American soldiers can function effectively as proxy armies in protecting US corporate interests (i.e., replacing US troops). Indeed "low-intensity" refers not to the experience of the victims, but to the hiding of that victimization from the US taxpayers who foot the bill for it. The intent is to keep proxy wars out of the news, and therefore out of our collective awareness as US citizens, thereby ensuring our complicity. SOA officials, however, deny that they are conducting a war against the poor. Rather they maintain that the real intent behind their commando curriculum is to foster a respect for democracy, human rights and civil authority. They claim that graduates who have violated human rights are but "a few bad apples" who have strayed from their training in "the rule of law." But as already mentioned, UN and other statistics show that there are many more than "a few,"  and additional evidence shows that indeed those notorious graduates have learned their lessons very well ! The 1993 UN Truth Commission Report on El Salvador, for instance, cites 66 Salvadoran officers as being responsible for a wide assortment of war crimes; of those 66 soldiers, 47 were trained at the SOA. That same year the report titled State Terrorism in Colombia was released; of the 247 soldiers similarly cited for violations, 124 were trained at the SOA. The high preponderance of SOA grads in these reports was at least partially explained in 1996, when the US Defense Department was forced to release seven training manuals which had been used at the SOA from 1982-1991. These manuals advocate arbitrary detention, kidnapping, extra-judicial execution, blackmail, torture, and even the arrest of family members of those who are uncooperative during interrogation. Furthermore, more recent human rights reports, including Guatemala: Nunca Mas in 1998, the 1999 UN Truth Commission Report on Guatemala, the 2000 Human Rights Watch Report, and even a 1998 report from the US State Department, continue to implicate SOA grads in human rights violations. Perhaps most ominously, Mexican and Colombian graduates of the SOA currently are helping to fight what are being called "drug wars" in their countries. But once again the evidence shows that these are actually wars against the indigenous poor, many of whom are living on coveted, oil-rich lands. In December of 2000, in response to mounting public and Congressional criticism, the Pentagon and Department of Defense received Congressional permission to "close" the SOA (long known throughout Latin America as the School of Assassins). Then, the following month the same doors re-opened as a "new school," called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. (Supporters use the acronym WHINSEC; critics prefer the more natural and descriptive WHISC -- as in the little broom used to sweep things under the rug.) But whatever the name, critics will not stop until the SOA / WHISC is truly closed. SOA Films Available on Streaming Video The following four films were made available by Karen Harvey of Snowshoe Films and Independent Media.  They can be viewed online from our computers! PRESENTE! In Remembrance and Resistance - Roy Bourgeois THIS MUST STOP -  Vietnam Veteran, Maryknoll priest, and founder of SOAWatch, speaks to the thirteenth SOAWatch vigil at the gates of Ft. Benning , Georgia , home of the notorious School of the Americas . "Our movement is rooted in non-violence, expressing hope and joy and peace.". 4 min. - available via realmedia 28k connection  Play Video Stream  or Download File to Play from Hard Drive (2.1mb) AT THE GATES OF FT. BENNING: WE’RE HERE TO SAY NO TO THE GLOBAL BULLY Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer (Nov. 16, 2002) Author of School of Assassins: Guns, Greed and Globalization, as part of a week-end of teach-ins and rallies (culminating with Nov. 17th solemn procession, and music) spoke to thousands at the gates of Ft. Benning, the Columbus, GA-based Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), formerly SOA. Asst. prof of justice and peace studies ( U. of St. Thomas , St. Paul , MN )), Nelson-Pallmeyer called for disciplined, active, non-violent civil resistance, and added, “Do not fight in the upcoming unjust wars. Do not fight!” 8 min. - available via realmedia 28k connection  Play Video Stream  or Download to Play from Hard Drive (3.9mb) BY THE TIME THEY CAME FOR ME  KAREN BRANDOW AND CHARLIE KING sing a song by Seattle labor activist Mike Stern. The song is based on the words of Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller, who lived and died under the Nazi Third Reich. A famous U-boat commander in World War I, the minister was one of the few who openly resisted the world’s first experiment in corporate rule (assisted by a coterie of thugs). Today, there are many more Niemollers. We met many in Columbus , Georgia , Nov. 14-17, 2002 . This video, filmed in Washington DC (April, 2002) and Ft. Benning GA , is dedicated to Sen. Paul Wellstone who, had he lived, would have voted with the 9 senators who opposed the Homeland Security Act, legislation none were given time to even pretend to read. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0211/S00114.htm  4 min. - available via realmedia 28k connection  Play Video Stream  or Download File to Play from Hard Drive (2.0mb) SR.CARYL HARTJES CROSSES FT BENNING LINE - SOAWATCH Sr. Caryl Hartjes, Sister of St. Agnes, Fond du Lac , Wisconsin , was one of 86 who on Nov. 17 walked onto Ft. Benning , GA , home of the notorious training school for terrorism, SOA/WHISC. With their actions, surrendering their freedom, the 86 hope to expose the consequences of the heinous institution and polices. 4 min. - available via realmedia 28k connection  Play Video Stream  or Download File to Play from Hard Drive (2.1mb)

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