[MAPC-policy] Isthmus letter to the editor

[MAPC-policy] Isthmus letter to the editor

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2001-11-04

Policy Folks -
    The media committee needs to send the following out in the next few
days.  Please forward comments to X.

====================================================================

Dear Editor:
      This year Madisonians are invited to join in a Peace Parade in
solidarity with the eleventh annual School of the Americas protest.  The
parade is being held at MATC Truax at noon on Saturday, November 17th.  For
more information call 835-7501 or go to www.madpeace.org.
      Alexander Cockburn (11/02/01 'U.S. eyes sheer torture') notes that the
United States government has sheltered torturers around the world.  One way
the government has done this is through the Army School of the Americas
(SOA) in Fort Benning, Georgia, long a U.S. military training school for
torture techniques.  The School's graduates have gone on to mastermind
torture and death squads in their home countries in Latin America.  In fact,
SOA alumni form a who's who of notorious human rights abusers in the region.
  For ten years, American citizens have protested the School of the Americas
outside  Fort Benning on a Saturday in November.
      Recently the Army has tried to change the image of the SOA.  They
changed the name to The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security
Cooperation (WHINSEC). WHINSEC continues to train military personnel of
Latin American nations.  But now WHINSEC's stated mission includes training
students to provide humanitarian aid, to direct peacekeeping efforts, and to
protect individual human rights. To the extent that these are sincere
efforts we applaud them.
      However, by training Latin American soldiers in tactics of war,
WHINSEC promotes and exports violence.  Besides seeking acknowledgement and
redress for the terrible deeds of past SOA graduates, we also seek to change
the involvement of the US Government in exporting violence, along with
promotion of acts reinforcing poverty and increasing economic disparity.  In
this regard, we support House Resolution 1810 of the 107th US Congress,
which repeals authority for WHINSEC and calls for congressional oversight of
future training of Latin American military personnel.

Sincerely,
Madison Area Peace Coalition



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Sunday, November 04, 2001 10:22 PM

[MAPC-policy] Isthmus letter to the editor