The Terrorist Manuals By: Sasha Retford June 15, 2002

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The U.S. government's current overseas campaign to eradicate terrorism worldwide has left some wondering why officials haven't cleaned up "terrorist training camps" in their own backyard. They are referring to the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC), formerly and better known as the School of the Americas (SOA).

The military school at Fort Benning, Georgia, is funded by U.S. taxpayers to train Latin American soldiers in combat, infantry tactics, commando operations, counterinsurgency and counter-narcotic strategies. Great pressure from both religious and grassroots organizations forced the Pentagon to release seven training manuals used prior to 1991 in September 1996. The New York Times reported, "The SOA manuals recommended interrogation techniques like torture, execution, blackmail, and arresting the relatives of those being questioned." Graduates of the school have been responsible for many of the major human rights violations and atrocities in Latin American countries.

Currently in the House's Committee on Armed Services is Rep. Jim McGovern's (D-MA) bill H.R. 1810. McGovern introduced H.R. 1810 on May 10, 2001 to repeal the statuary authority of WHISC and re-evaluate the type of training and education that it provides to the military personnel of Latin America. As of April 10, 2002, 105 additional sponsors have signed onto the bill.

The issue first entered Congress following Newsweek's exclusive investigation of the school in 1993. Rep. Joseph Kennedy (D-MA) added an amendment to the House Defense Appropriations Bill, proposing to close the SOA. Through a number of bills and amendments to appropriations and authorization bills, the move to reform the school has slowly gained the support of many members of Congress. Last year, a bi-partisan amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill for the Fiscal 2001 to cut funding and investigate the school was defeated by a narrow 10 vote margin. Instead the SOA was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). Opponents claim that the change was merely cosmetic and the school's objectives remain the same.

The growing awareness and movement to close the SOA is largely due to the dedication of Father Roy Bourgeois, 63, a Maryknoll Catholic priest. Bourgeois, a former naval officer and bearer of a Purple Heart, began his work for peace following his involvement in the Vietnam War. Bourgeois entered the seminary for the Maryknoll Missionary order and was ordained into priesthood in 1972. Spending the next five years working with the poor in the slums of La Paz, Bolivia, Bourgeois experienced first hand some of the effects of U.S. foreign policy. He was shocked to learn that these kind and loving people were being oppressed by the dictator Hugo Banzer Suarez who was trained at the SOA and supported by the U.S. government.

The SOA was first established in 1946 as the U.S. Army Caribbean Training Center in Panama, with the objective of "professionalizing" Latin American and Caribbean militaries. Under the presidency of John F. Kennedy, the school shifted its focus to Cold War concerns under the umbrella term "counterinsurgency."

In 1984 the school relocated to Georgia in compliance with the Panama Canal Treaties terms and continues to train soldiers there today. Recently the U.S. government defended the SOA in a Pentagon report to Congress, stating the school's mission to include "protecting the supply of strategic natural resources and access to the markets." This simply means SOA graduates are being used to protect corporate interests of the U.S. and enforce exploitive economic policies at the expense of Latin American citizens and the environment.

Since its founding, the SOA has trained over 60,000 soldiers, many of whom have become dictators, defense ministers, heads of secret police agencies, generals and other high ranking military officials in their own countries.

Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru and many other notorious dictators received training at the SOA. Amongst numerous of atrocities, its graduates have been linked to the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the 1980 rape and murder of four U.S. religious women in El Salvador. These two particular events sparked Bourgeios' campaign to shut down the SOA.

In 1990 Bourgeois founded the SOA Watch to expose and close the military school. What began as a small group of friends and supporters participating in a 35-day water-only fast has grown into a massive movement. Last November, despite official request not to hold the annual demonstration, over 10,000 people showed up at the SOA's gates to protest. The diverse crowd included children, college students, and senior citizens. They have gathered every November to "use (their) voices for those whose voices had been taken away."