SOA Installment #3

Hello everyone,

If you have been following my life at all, you know that I am going to the SOA soon. I wanted to provide some more information. I mainly would like to encourage me to pray for me and the 32 other students. But, the other reality is that it does cost us money to go down there. So without further ado, enjoy the blurb.

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For those of you who do not know, the SOA (recently renamed the Western Hemispheric Institute for Security Cooperation) is a military training school at Ft. Benning, GA that instructs Latin American soldiers in a variety of capacities including techniques used for torture. I have educated myself on the issues surrounding the SOA and have come to the conclusion that this is not a school that I want my taxes or my country to support. Through educating myself I have learned the following incidences are the responsibility of SOA graduates:

• The El Mozote massacre in El Salvador, which took the lives of 900 civilians
• The Uraba, Segovia, Trujillo and the Riofrio massacres in Columbia.
• The assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador.
• The massacre of six Jesuit Priests, their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of Central America in San Salvador in 1989.

Since 1990, the SOA Watch organization has been protesting the existence and the funding of this school. Each November, protesters gather at the gates of Fort Benning to speak up as a voice for the thousands of voiceless or silenced victims of Latin America. This protest is not only a time to voice our opposition to the SOA, but is also a time for us to take part in the Ignatian Family Teach-In in the two days prior to the protest. The Teach-In is an opportunity for students, staff, and faculty from Jesuit high schools, colleges, and universities to support each other and learn about other methods of educating people about the SOA as well as other social justice issues.

I am writing to ask for your support in our decision to stand up for those who are not able to stand up for themselves. This year we have a group of thirty-three students and staff at Regis University committed to this cause. As a group, we have decided to work on educating our peers about not only the SOA, but other current social justice issues. We are not trying to convince people to oppose the School of the Americas, but seek to become informed about the complex issues surrounding U.S. foreign policy.

The support we are asking for may come in the following ways:
• Emotional support- Not everyone is in favor of my protesting the School of the Americas and any encouragement through letters or cards would be appreciated.
• Spiritual support- A number of individuals on the trip are asking for spiritual support through prayer both before and during our trip.
• Financial support- We are estimating a cost of $14,000 for the thirty-three of us to fly to Georgia and to cover accommodations. We are hoping to reduce the individual costs through fundraising and your support. Checks can be made out to Regis University and can be sent to University Ministry at 3333 Regis Boulevard Mail Stop J-4 Denver, Colorado 80221. Or you can give it to me in person if your able.

If you would like more information about the School of the Americas or about my decision to attend the protest, please let me know or visit www.soaw.org. I look forward to hearing from you!

In Solidarity,

Daniel James

...

Sometimes, its really hard when one of your best friends is a girl.

SOA installment #2

So I had my next meeting for the SOA delegation tonight. So, before I forget I want to write down some of the things I learned.

First, in talking to a few people about the SOA protest, the two big questions that I've heard are "Is there any actual benefit/result from protesting" and "Simply because graduates of the SOA have been implicated in human rights violations, does this mean that the SOA is directly responsible?"

These two questions were addressed in today's meeting, among other things. We watched the first half of a documentary that seeks to provide a somewhat balanced view of the SOA by interviewing both supporters and protesters of the SOA to present as many sides of the issue as possible.

First, as far as protests, I think that the majority of protests are not successful. I think this is because most protesters really don't know what they are doing, so they simply end up being angry people carrying signs that annoy people. This is not what the SOA protest is.

One of the main parts of the SOA protest is that it is non-violent in the spirit of MLK Jr and Gandhi. Before we go down, I'm going to go through a non-violence training in order to have a better understanding of what it means.

Yes, a huge part of the SOA protest is displaying our disagreement with how our tax dollars are being spent, as is our right as citizens. But in addition, there is a huge aspect of education and information. Along with the protest itself is what is called the "Ignatian Family Teach-In" which from my understanding is a peace and justice conference of sorts with speakers on many different subjects beyond the SOA.

There is also a living memorial for all those who have died because of graduates of the SOA. So it is much more than a bunch of people going down to Georgia with "CLOSE THE SOA" signs.

Additionally, there are people working with representatives etc. at the governmental level, along with visits to the Latin American countries urging governments not to send soldiers. So the protest itself is only one part of all that is going on around the SOA.

Second question. For a rough example, I'm going to use Columbine. Simply because two students became violent, does that mean the school itself was at fault? No. In many ways, this does apply to the SOA, except it is much deeper.

So far, 600 graduates of the 600,000 have been implicated in human rights violations. 1%. This is a relatively small number (although, this is documented cases, there might be a significant number more that could be implicated). Supporters of the SOA argue that they do not teach their students to be criminals.

On the one level this is true. Although, torture tactics were taught at one time at the school, and currently there is counter-insurgency and anti-narcotics training.

One of my fellow students commented tonight that going to the SOA is an honor for a soldier, so governments will choose their most promising soldiers. Because many of these governments are corrupt, thus their soldiers have their agendas, not necessarily that of the US.

Therefor, there is a great responsibility in the governments of the countries, and how they use their soldiers. However, even though the SOA itself may not be teaching these soldiers to violate human rights, is it moral to keep operating the school, knowing that the training is going to be used for these purposes?

But, one might say, they are being trained to fight against communism, and against rogue paramilitary groups. This may be true, however, anyone who fights for the rights of the common people, and that resources should stay in the country, can easily be labeled as communists.

It would also be foolhardy to claim that the US doesn't have an agenda. We wouldn't put millions of dollars into a program if it wasn't going to help protect US interests. And that includes big corporations who are taking advantage of cheap labor, and have huge connections with the rich ruling families in many Latin American countries.

This is why I believe the SOA should be closed.

I will continue to post what I learn. Please ask me any questions, because not only does it help me to inform all of you, but to also have more things to learn about myself.

I don't want to break out of my shell...

It might hurt...