SOA Watch slide shows

[roody]

1) WATCH THE PHOTO SLIDESHOWS FROM THE NOVEMBER VIGIL

For photos from Nov. 22 at Fort Benning, visit http://www.soaw.org/slideshow
For photos from Sunday, Nov. 23, visit http://www.soaw.org/slideshow1

The spirit at the annual November Vigil to Close the SOA was tremendously high. The
movement is fired up to finally make the School of the Americas history. The
November 4 election saw at least 35 supporters of the notorious institution lose
their seats in the House of Representatives. Times are changing and we will put an
end to oppressive U.S. foreign policy! We know that the United States government
won't shut down the School of the Americas (SOA/WHINSEC) on its own. It will take
people power and grassroots organizing to create a climate and culture that will
make the existence of institutions like the SOA/WHINSEC impossible. We have the
power to hold the Obama administration to its promises of a new direction in
U.S.-Latin America relations and we are calling for the closing of the SOA/WHINSEC
as a first step in the right direction.
Connect with fellow activists in your community and act now to push the agenda for
justice!

For a report back from the weekend's events, visit http://www.SOAW.org

Upload your photos from the weekend to the "Close the SOA" group on Flickr. A
selection of photos from the group will be printed in the Winter 2009 issue of
Presente (subscribe to Presente).

[EFerrari]

1. Thank you, roody.

:hug:
:grouphug:

[ulysses]

2. damn hippies.

;-) Thanks for this.

[roody]

3. There are more good views at youtube.

Sorry I am so bad with the technology. Search "school of the Americas Protest 2008" and there is a lot of good stuff.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

4. Thanx roody

K&R

[JanMichael]

5. It was started in 1948. Carter even supported it.

Please don't try to blame it all on Republicans when Democrats were just as happy teaching violence prone assholes how to yank with simple pliers the finger nails out of "Leftist" prisoners.

[ulysses]

6. too true, unfortunately.

[roody]

8. SOA Watch is completely non-partisan.

War-mongering seems completely bi-partisan.

[roody]

7. Youtube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyywO2d6wQ8&feature=related

[Recursion]

9. You want to shut down the whole thing?

Including the jump school? The management/budgeting school? The parts that teach classes on human rights and the importance of the rule of law?

I'm amazed at how both sides ridiculously oversimplify this whole issue. The WHINSEC fanboys say Pinochet never killed anybody and the WHINSEC opponents say Pinochet would never have known how to kill anybody without it. It's a war college for the military elite of some pretty violent and corrupt countries; it has produced very bad and very good graduates. It was way, way wrong with a lot of its counterinsurgency doctrine, and still is with some of its counterinsurgency doctrine. If you think simply shutting it down will do much good, be my guest, but it seems like tilting at windmills to me.

[roody]

10. SOA is a symbol. Its closing will be symbolic.

Besides that, I don't care to pay for the training of soldiers from other countries. Let them train their own militaries.

[Recursion]

11. Well then we disagree about two things

1) That we should waste political capital on symbols, particularly the kind that are specifically just to stick it to people we disagree with.

2) That we have no interest in training the officer corps of our neighbors and ostensible allies in Latin America. I think we do. We really, really screwed up doing it in the past and there are still parts we need to improve.

We don't need legislative action on this at all: WHINSEC was folded fully into DoD in (I think) 2002. Get NORCOM (or whoever it's under) to come up with a directive about what can be taught there.

Helping Latin American countries have professional officer corps that value the rule of law and human rights is a good thing, and whether WHINSEC opponents like to admit it or not, that's part of what WHINSEC has done, right along side its horrific sins.

[roody]

12. Why are the school's participants names now classified

information? Why is the curriculum of the new school in El Salvador (ILEA)classified? Make it transparent if it is worth supporting.

[Recursion]

13. I'm with you 100% on that NT

[roody]

14. k