School of the Americas
(see also Militarization of Foreign Policy, El Salvador, & Colombia)
Basics
The infamous School of the Americas (SOA) at Fort Benning, Georgia (now renamed Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHISC), has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers to date in techniques of counter-insurgency or civilian-targeted warfare. Among its graduates are some of the more notorious violators of human rights in the recent histories of Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Bolivia, Peru & Colombia.
On the Web: Articles
¡No más, No More. Patrick Mulvaney, Nation (3/31/06).
Roots of Abu Ghraib in CIA Techniques. James Hodge & Linda Cooper, National Catholic Reporter [Global Policy Forum] (11/5/04). Interrogation manuals condense years of experience in refining & teaching torture techniques.
Facing Questions, Clark Backs Army School. Joanna Weiss, Common Dreams (2/25/04).
School of Assassins. Mary Turck, Common Dreams (2/25/04).
US Training of Foreign Militaries: SOA's Partner in Texas. Stephan Wray, Z Magazine (1/04).
Bush Announces Expansion of Training of Foreign Militaries. Third World Traveller (7/02).
US Foreign Military Training: Global Reach, Global Power, & Oversight Issues. Lora Lumpe, Foreign Policy in Focus (5/02).
US Foreign Military Training: A Shift in Focus. Center for Defense Information (4/8/02).
America's Terrorist Training Camp: What's the Difference between Al Qaeda & Fort Benning? George Monbiot, Guardian (10/30/01).
US Military Training: Exporting Democracy? Frida Berrigan, Peace Work (11/00).
PBS News Hour on the School of the Americas (9/21/99).
Politics of Assassination: The Bloody Legacy of the US Army School of the Americas. W.E. Gutman, Z (9/95).
Rhetoric & Reality: US Foreign Military Training since 1945. Ruth Blakeley, Network of Activist Scholars of Politics & International Relations
International Military Education & Training: An Assessment. J.A. Cope, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense U. (1985).
On the Web: Specialized Sites
Friends Committee on National Legislation.
IMET: International Military Education & Training. Center for International Policy.
Resource Center of the Americas. News links.
School of the Americas. Center for Media & Democracy SourceWatch.
SOA Training Manuals. SOA Watch.
SOA Watch. National coalition aimed at closing School of the Americas. Lobbies Congress & organizes large-scale annual demonstrations at Fort Benning.
US Army School of the Americas (official site).
US Army School of the Americas, Fort Benning, Georgia (Virtual Truth Commission).
US Foreign Military Assistance (Federation of American Scientists).
US International Security Assistance Education & Training (Federation of American Scientists).
US Training of Foreign Forces (Amnesty International).
In the Library: Articles
Brophy, R. & P. Zernite. "US military training for Latin America," Foreign Policy in Focus 2,48 (10/97).
Fishel, John T. & Kimbra Fishel. "The impact of the US Army School of the Americas on host nation militaries: an effective instrument of policy, or merely a scapegoat?" Low Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement 7,1 (sum 98).
Haugaard, Lisa. "Torture 101," In These Times (14/10/96).
__________. "Textbook repression: US training manuals declassified," Covert Action Quarterly (9/97). Manuals in use between 1987 & 1991 at SOA.
Panetta, Linda & Randy Serraglio. "Training assassins," NACLA Report (11-12/00).
Stein, Nancy & Michael Klare. “US training programs for foreign military personnel: the Pentagon’s protégés," NACLA Report 10,1 (1/76).
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Amnesty International. Unmatched Power, Unmet Principles: The Human Rights Dimensions of US Training of Foreign Military & Police Forces (NY: Amnesty International, 2002).
Gill, Lesley. The School of the Americas: Military Training & Political Violence (Durham NC: Duke, 2004).
Hodge, James & Linda Cooper. Disturbing the Peace: The Story of Father Roy Bourgeois & the Movement to Close the School of the Americas (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 2004).
Nelson-Pallmeyer, Jack. School of Assassins. The Case for Closing the School of the Americas & for Fundamentally Changing U.S. Foreign Policy (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 1997).
____________ & Roy Bourgeois. School of Assassins: Guns, Greed & Globalization (Maryknoll NY: Orbis, 2001).
In the Library: Fiction
In the Library: For Young Readers
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
Film & Video
"Convictions: Prisoners of Conscience" [2004], dir. Robert Richter, 22m. People arrested at SOA demonstrations.
"Death Squadrons: The French School" [2003], dir. Marie-Monique Robin, 60m. From First Run/Icarus. Impact on Latin America of counter-insurgency lessons from Algeria & Indochina.
"Father Roy: Inside the School of the Americas" [1997], dir. Robert Richter, 55m.
"Hidden in Plain Sight" [2003], dir. John H. Smihula, 71m. From School of the Americas Watch.
"The New Patriots" [200?], 18m. Use with booklet, Warriors to Resisters. US military veterans speak out.
"School of the Americas: School of Assassins" [1994], dir. Robert Richter, 18m.
"School of the Americas: Guns & Greed" [2000], dir. Robert Richter, 22m. From Maryknoll World Productions.