cannabisnews.com: School of Americas Reforms Are Ploy, Nun Says 





School of Americas Reforms Are Ploy, Nun Says 
Posted by FoM on May 19, 2000 at 14:38:20 PT
Editorial
Source: Toledo Blade
Plans by Congress to rename and temporarily close the U.S. Army School of the Americas are simply "a ploy'' to try to defuse growing opposition over the Fort Benning, Ga., facility that trains military personnel from Latin America, Sister Marge Eilerman told a Toledo audience last night.
"Every indication is that it will be the same game with a new name,'' said Sister Eilerman, a Franciscan nun who works in Richfield, O., and twice has been arrested at Fort Benning protests.She is on probation for two years after serving nearly a year in the Federal Prison Camp in Lexington, Ky., for convictions that included illegal entry onto the school's property and trespassing.She contended during a speech to about 60 people at St. John's Jesuit High School that nonviolent protests outside the school are making it more difficult for the military to justify continuing its operation.Protesters who have gathered outside the School of the Americas numbered only a few hundred about five years ago. In the fall, about 12,000 people rallied against the school, she said.A bill in the U.S. House that may be voted on today would strike the current authorization for the school, located on the Army post at Fort Benning, and then reauthorize it.The measure would place the new institute under the secretary of defense rather than the secretary of the Army as currently set up, increase human rights and democratic instruction for students at the institute, and increase congressional oversight.Sister Eilerman said about $20 million is allocated to the school by Congress each year.Dubbed the "School of Assassins'' by opponents, critics say there are too many cases in which graduates of the school have been directly implicated in assassinations and massacres when they return home to military duty.They include the 1989 killing of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter at the priests' residence at the University of Central America in San Salvador. Of the 26 tied for the atrocity, 19 received training at the School of the Americas.Established in 1946 to combat the threat of communism, the school says its thrust in recent years has been to diminish narcotics trafficking into the United States.But the casualties at the hands of the school's graduates often are the destitute or clergy and activists working on their behalf, she said."The insurgents in these countries are the poor,'' Sister Eilerman, 63, said. "The people losing their lives are among the poorest of the poor. Those people are not a threat to our country.''At the heart of the protests is exactly what is being taught to students. Protesters assert training has countenanced torture and other repressive tactics. School officials deny it."It is a way for the military to maintain control over the people,'' she said. "[The killings are] what is known as a low-intensive conflict. People remain afraid.''Placing crosses at the Army base with the names of innocent civilians allegedly killed by military personnel trained at the school has been one way opponents have protested the school.Sister Eilerman, who now works speaking out against the school, said the remedy to operating the school is straightforward: Train Latin American military students alongside U.S. recruits at U.S. military installations. "This is the only school where we train their students in isolation,'' Sister Eilerman said. Published: May 17, 2000© 1999, 2000 The BladeRelated Articles & Web Sites:Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/SOA Watchhttp://www.soaw.org/United States Army School of the Americashttp://www-benning.army.mil/usarsa/Breaking Rank for Human Rights http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread5770.shtmlColumn: A School That Should Be Closedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread3612.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #2 posted by Tom Paine on May 21, 2000 at 13:16:34 PT
Cannabis.com politics board thread.
Thread about this at Cannabis.com politics board. Here it is:http://cann.com/b1/messages/25/25804.shtml
[ Post Comment ]

Comment #1 posted by dddd on May 20, 2000 at 03:08:50 PT
You believe a nun?
 Oh no!..Not another one of these militant nuns.We can only hope SR6778 passes. SR6778,known as;"The Nun Control Act of 2000",addresses the nun problem,by taking away their drivers license if they are caught making political statements,which violates the seperation of church and state. The bill includes 5.3 Million dollars to beef up survailance,and calls for the formation of the;National Office of Nun Control,or NONC. NONC will work with the exsisting N.A.R.E. program. NARE,(Nun Awareness and Religious Education),works with youth before they begin to get influenced by nuns. Since the program began,religious awareness has gone up by 56% in kids between 8 and 12 years of age.Nun related violence has declined sharply since the program was introduced last year.A survey of parents showed that the nun problem was high on their list of concerns for the new millenium.
[ Post Comment ]

Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: