Kucinich ties Iraq war, SOA linked to abuses

[G_j]

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/national_world/stories/2007/11/19/ap_kucinich_1119.ART_ART_11-19-07_A5_JR8H6H9.html?sid=101

Kucinich ties Iraq war, school linked to abuses
Monday, November 19, 2007 2:37 AM
By Harry R. Weber

ASSOCIATED PRESS

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis J. Kucinich said yesterday that the thinking that went into producing an Army school that has been linked to human-rights abuses in Latin America was the same that led the U.S. to war in Iraq and could cause it to raid Iran.

Kucinich was speaking at the 18th annual protest of the school at Fort Benning that trains Latin American soldiers, police and government officials. One of his first acts as president if elected would be to close the school, he said.

"The type of thinking that produced this school is the same type of thinking that produced the war in Iraq and is producing a war against Iran," Kucinich said. The Ohio congressman and former Cleveland mayor was addressing a crowd estimated by local police to number roughly 10,000.

The Army's School of the Americas moved to Fort Benning from Panama in 1984 and was replaced in 2001 by the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, under the Defense Department.

..more..

[hootinholler]

1. Rec'd, now kicked.

Seems like DU doesn't care.

-Hoot

[hootinholler]

2. I'm kicking it again,

[DJ MEW]

7. It's not that I don't care

Its that in 1984 I was 3 and really don't know anything about this place. If I look it up on wikipedia or something would I find enough about it to understand what this is all about?

[LWolf]

8. Here are some links for you:

http://www.soaw.org/type.php?type=8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_the_Americas

http://www.pangaea.org/street_children/latin/soa.htm

Here is DK speaking from the floor about the SOA in 2006:

Dennis Kucinich speaking from the Floor of the House

Link to this entry in the Congressional Record
Jun 9, 2006

Speaking in support of the McGovern amendment to H.R. 5522, the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2007, Congressman Kucinich said:

"Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of the amendment to prohibit funding for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, otherwise known as the School of the Americas.

"This combat-training facility for security personnel in Latin America is notorious for graduating human rights offenders. In its 59 years of existence, the School of the Americas 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 targeted 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 victims of School of the Americas graduates.

"For example, on February 21-22, 2005, eight members of the San Jose de Apartado Peace Community in Uraba, Colombia, were brutally massacred. Witnesses identified the killers as members of the Colombian military's 17th Brigade, commanded by a School of the Americas graduate.

"In April of 2002, two School of the Americas graduates helped lead a failed coup in Venezuela against democratically elected President Hugo Chavez.

"In 1980, two of the three killers of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador were graduates of the School of the Americas. Also in 1980, 10 of the 12 officers responsible for the murder of 900 civilians in the Salvadoran village, El Mozote, were School of the Americas graduates.

"The abuses by School of the Americas graduates have local resonance with me, as well. In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1980, Clevelanders Sister Dorothy Kazel and Jean Donovan, along with two other churchwomen from the United States, Sister Maura Clarke and Sister Ita Forde, were raped and murdered by members of the armed forces of El Salvador. Three of the five officers involved were graduates of the School of the Americas.

"In the words of former Panamanian President Jorge Illueca, the School of the Americas is the 'biggest base for destabilization in Latin Americas.' It is time to close it."

http://www2.kucinich.us/node/382

[HCE SuiGeneris]

3. K &R

[shadowknows69]

4. I'll help

K+R

Just SO much to care about these days. Almost missed this.

[spanone]

5. k&R

[ClayZ]

6. k and R

[GreenInNC]

9. I was there

I was at the vigil this weekend. Yesterday was one of the most moving days of my life. It started with McKinney and Kucinich's speeches, both were great. I don't think I have ever seen Dennis so animated!

The processional was so sad. As we processed around the route, the names and ages of the vistims were being read aloud. After each name was read we all said "presente" and raised our crosses. We then stuck our crosses on the fence at the entrance. Several people were crying.

I left there with a renewed need to close that damn place.

PS - Police say 10,000 people, organizers say 24,000 people

[rjones2818]

12. Many thanks!

It's good to know that there were good DUers standing agaist this blot on the good name of the US!

Go GreenInNC! :woohoo:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Another K&R

[rjones2818]

11. Shut the damn school down. Now!

Where are the other candidates on this?

Go Dennis! :woohoo:
http://dennis4president.com
Choose Peace!

[bagrman]

13. Recent speach at the School of America. We need this man for president.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x70762

[bvar22]

14. Once again, Dennis provides the LEADERSHIP this country NEEDS!

If you are NOT on the payroll of the Global Corporations, you don't need internationl Death Squads to force corporate friendly Right Wing authoritarian governments on 3rd World Countries.


”Unlike other candidates, I am not funded by those corporate interests.
I owe them no loyalty, and they have no influence over me or my policies.” ---Dennis Kucinich

[roody]

15. I was there. SOA Watch is an incredible organization.

It exists on a shoestring budget of donations. These people are the REAL THING. I love their spirituality, and I am an atheist. Yet they are my family. Plan on next November in Columbus GA if you want to tap into the heart of the movement.