15,000 Demonstrators Demand Closing of School of Americas

John Tarleton [reprint from nyc indy], 23.11.2007 12:07

Arriving at the gate, marchers attached crosses, photos, flowers and hand-written messages to an eight-foot high chain-link fence topped with three lines of barb wire. Before leaving, I tore a page out of my reporter’s notebook, wrote the name of an old friend— “Bradley Roland Will, 36, Indymedia”—rolled up the piece of paper and wedged it into the chain-link fence between three small white crosses that bore the names “Jesus de Antonio Garcia, Colombia”, “Israel Marquez, 80, El Mazote” and “34-year-old pregnant woman, El Salvador.”

COLUMBUS, Georgia--Roughly 15,000 people marched on the entrance to Fort Benning Sunday calling for the closure of the School of the Americas (SOA). Many of the protesters carried aloft small white crosses inscribed with the names of victims of Latin American soldiers who have been trained at the school.

Eleven people were arrested for illegally entering the base and face federal prison sentences of as long as six months.

“God does not bless war. God does not bless killing. We are here in solidarity with the people of Latin America and Iraq,” said Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of School of Americas Watch. “We are awakening to the lie and we say 'No, no more. Not in our name.’”

Founded in 1946, SOA (or the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation as it was renamed in 2001) has provided training in various counter-insurgency tactics such as commando operations, military intelligence and torture to over 60,000 graduates since its inception. Organizers of Sunday's event have long pressed Congress to close SOA and this year the U.S. House of Representatives came within six votes of cutting off the school’s funding.

Some of SOA's more notorious alumni include El Salvadoran death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson, former Guatemalan military dictator Efrain Rios Montt, former Bolivian dictator Hugo Banzer, former Argentinian dictator Leopoldo Galtieri and key members of the Atlacatl Batallion which was responsible for the 1981 massacre of 900 men, women and children in El Mozote, El Salvador and the 1989 slayings of six Jesuit priests, also in El Salvador.

Sunday marked the 18th consecutive year a memorial vigil has been held at Fort Benning. Clean-cut college kids, puppetistas, radical grandmothers, nuns and priests and people from all walks of life packed the road to Fort Benning while a lone helicopter circled overhead. For two and a half hours, columns of marchers descended on the base’s gated entrance as a quartet of speakers sang out the names and ages of hundreds of victims of SOA graduates, each time evoking a call-and-response: “No mas, no more, we must stop these dirty wars.”

Arriving at the gate, marchers attached crosses, photos, flowers and hand-written messages to an eight-foot high chain-link fence topped with three lines of barb wire. Before leaving, I tore a page out of my reporter’s notebook, wrote the name of an old friend— “Bradley Roland Will, 36, Indymedia”—rolled up the piece of paper and wedged it into the chain-link fence between three small white crosses that bore the names “Jesus de Antonio Garcia, Colombia”, “Israel Marquez, 80, El Mazote” and “34-year-old pregnant woman, El Salvador.”

A moment later someone left a brightly scribbled sign at the base of the fence that read, “Only when the love of power is overcome by the power of love will we have peace.”

Meanwhile, a nearby loudspeaker droned on: “The commanding general of Fort Benning has ordered that all personnel must enter by manned access points. Any person who comes onto the base by any other means will be in violation of Title 18 U.S. Code … and will be subject to fine and imprisonment.”

“It's sad, very hard,” said Josefina Lopez, a leader of a Salvadoran street vendors union who carried a cross inscribed with the name of Msgr. Oscar Romero, the Salvadoran archbishop murdered by a rightwing death squad in 1980. “But how beautiful that so many are here.”

“I felt sadness. It's heartbreaking,” said Laine Morgan, a sophomore from Regis University in Denver. “It's going to take a lot more to change this.”

Morgan was one of droves of college students who traveled to Fort Benning. Many were from Catholic campuses like Regis where the legacy of martyrs like Romero, the six Jesuits and four U.S. churchwomen who were raped and murdered by Salvadoran security forces in 1980 still burns bright.

''It (SOA) is a gateway drug for thousands of young people who go onto a lifetime of activism,'' said veteran organizer David Solnit of Courage to Resist, an Oakland-based group that works with GI resisters.

Ismat Yassin, a junior at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA., had wanted to come to the SOA protest since she first heard about it in high school. After going through an application process, she was one of five students from her school selected to attend this year's event along with two faculty members.

“It's by far the biggest protest I've ever been to. It's amazing. It's so planned and detailed,” Yassin said. And she added, “I've always been concerned about issues of war and injustice [and] I hope to spend most of my life fighting for peace.”

Marcia Rundle of San Diego first heard about SOA several years ago from a Maryknoll nun who spoke at her church. The 59-year-old grandmother of seven said the tipping point in her decision to make the trip to Fort Benning was reading Naomi Klein's ''The Shock Doctrine'', which details how U.S. leaders have used war, natural disasters and—when necessary—torture to advance free-market economic policies around the world.

''It makes the connection between the economics of multi-nationals and our role in the world,'' she said. ''I believe in government of, by and for the people and we're so far from that. Most Americans have no idea what their government is doing.''

For Thom Pate, 28, of Columbus, the SOA protest is a welcome break from his city’s unflinching pro-military culture.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “I wish it would happen more often.”

Shortly after the official procession ended, a noisy contingent of a couple hundred people arrived at the fence led by drummers banging on plastic barrels and buckets. A young woman emerged from the crowd and bounded over the barbed wire fence to a roar of applause before being quickly handcuffed and led away by military police. The ten other arrestees had entered the base earlier in the morning.

Loud, raucous chanting began again and dozens of people shook the fence trying to tear it down. Julienne Oldfield, 70, of Syracuse, New York watched from a distance. She was arrested at the 2006 SOA vigil and finished a three-month prison sentence in July. When a reporter suggested the fence could be brought down with a couple of ropes, she gently dismissed the idea.

“What we have to do is make them (the military) take the fence down,” she said. “That's how we're really going to change things. That's the power of non-violence.”

By 3 p.m., most demonstrators had left the site and soldiers and city workers were quickly tearing everything down from the fence and loading the debris into a giant dump truck. Tense and testy, the Columbus police pushed stragglers further and further away from the fence.

“They [the military] have to take it down in two hours,” Pate explained in his easygoing southern drawl. “It scares them having this many people here. They can’t deal with it. It might be subconscious or something they never talk about, but it scares them.” He then added, “On some level we’re all human. The cops all watched it (the procession). You can’t tell me at least a couple weren’t affected.”

Moments later the dump truck shifted into gear and disappeared down a winding road leading into Fort Benning, searching in vain for a place where the crosses (and the stories they bear witness to) could be disposed of and quietly forgotten.

Homepage:: http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/92926.shtml

VIDEO: 3 Others Arrested for Crosses 23.11.2007 - 13:08 Three other SOA Watch activists were arrested on Sunday when they refused to relinquish crosses deemed too big by Columbus Police. All were released later the same day and face misdemeanor charges.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9HoDyrY8a0&feature=RecentlyWatched&page=1&t=t&f=b Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition> video of father roy moshing 24.11.2007 - 09:03 here's a link to video of Father Roy dancing around with a NO TRESPASSING SIGN he stole off the fence.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=P78k5oKV810 Jeff who runs a record store in Green Bay remembers a time when Father Roy walked in on a General being wined and dined at University of Minnesota and students had tipped him off about the guy being an SOA grad. So Father Roy did an ad hoc reenactment of Jesus turning over the counting plates of the moneychangers or some such. Except it involved a plate of expensive shrimp dip and he tipped it over right onto the General's lap by accident. UofM students helped him negotiate all the alleys in town so he could make a clean getaway. What a troublemaker, that Father Roy! :) _________________________________________________ And plentymore news stories about that action. You just gotta go looking for it. It's not prominent:  http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=3883129  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/180143.html  http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1173/1  http://media.www.loyolaphoenix.com/media/storage/paper673/news/2007/11/20/News/iexclpresente-3112110.shtml  http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2007/11/19/News/Voices.Raised.From.Coast.To.Coast-3109603.shtml  http://media.www.loyolagreyhound.com/media/storage/paper665/news/2007/11/20/Opinion/The-Greyhound.Editorial.On.Prayer.Protest.And.Action-3110912.shtml ________________________________________ & FROM 2006 ________________________________________  http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mary_sha_061121_22_2c000_show_up_to_pr.htm  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/16063024.htm  http://www.tcudailyskiff.com/media/storage/paper792/news/2006/11/21/News/Online.Exclusive.Students.Joined.Thousands.Of.Protesters.At.Georgia.Military.Tra-2505050.shtml?norewrite200611211412&sourcedomain=www.tcudailyskiff.com  http://ww4report.com/node/2812  http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/detail.asp?ID=95700&GRP=D  http://www.cathnews.com/news/611/119.php  http://www.wtvm.com/Global/story.asp?S=5704451&nav=menu91_2  http://youtube.com/watch?v=lmEZYXjAKbs ----------------- Bulletin Message ----------------- From: marco Date: 21 Nov 2007, 09:25 I found lots of news stories about last weekend's soa protests just by wandering around  http://news.google.com Here's a start. Please post others as you find them, ok? thanks! The more we know, the better chance this thing will close down someday, right? :) Twenty Thousand Protest at Fort Benning: Eleven Face Federal Criminal Trials By Bill Quigley, TruthOut.org. Posted November 19, 2007.  http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/68356 Local activist arrested at protest By BRUCE RUSHTON  http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/20392.asp Students Travel to Columbus for Massive Protest By Julie Levin  http://www.emorywheel.com/detail.php?n=24745 A Note from Ft. Benning Georgia by Rabbi Michael Lerner  http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/demonstration_against_the_school_of_the_americas_fort_benning_georgia/0015007 The Jesuits go down to Georgia A Special Report on Loyola's protest of "The School of the Americas" at Fort Benning, Ga. John Dougherty  http://media.www.loyolagreyhound.com/media/storage/paper665/news/2007/11/20/News/The-Jesuits.Go.Down.To.Georgia-3111006.shtml Madison Avenue meets Woodstock at SOA protest  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/168/story/180141.html  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004022540_ndig19.html  http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/18/113339/07  http://www.bostonnow.com/blogs/jimstaro/2007/11/18/saturday-at-the-gates-of-fort-benning  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21879985  http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/story/180144.html  http://www.soaw.org/presente/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=7&Itemid=81 Oh yeah, and don't forget there's an SOAW oriented forumish groupish thingamabob over at:  http://groups.myspace.com/ita marco> Because ignorance is a terrible thing 25.11.2007 - 10:55 I went, I saw, I learned! When I decided to travel down to Georgia to take part on the yearly protest I did so because growing up in NJ I met a lot of Central Americans that were severely affected by the chaos that tore apart the region in the late 70s and early 80s. My best friend's little brother was killed during one of the senseless fights in 81. So to say that I was biased is an understatement. But I was looking for truth, and why if this place is so bad with such a bad record, why was it still open? Well, I learned that biased with a close mind is a dangerous way to go through life. I took the opportunity to talk to as many people as I could, most of the young people there had no idea what they were there for and it was disappointing that most of them were there only for academic credit. When I took the tour on Saturday I had the opportunity to talk to one of the bus escorts (who happened to be from NJ as well) and I find it hard to believe that our own soldiers, the guys that go to Iraq and protect our ability to be able to gather like this, would be teaching hate and torture. During the questions part of the tour a group of students from Ohio actually walked out because after getting answers to their questions, they realized that the only wrongdoing was coming from the group that sponsors this protest. How can a group that calls for truth such as the SOAW does not exhaust all efforts in putting forth that truth that they seek? Amnesty International PRAISES the human rights curriculum that WHINSEC has!! I looked it up, its there for anyone to see!! Even Rep. McGovern conceded that WHINSEC is professional institution with the best intentions in mind, I was there I saw and heard him!!! I wish more people would take the opportunity to see for themselves. Do as I did, go there, talk to the people there, they're no different than me and you, except that eventually the government will send them to Iraq or Afghanistan and they will go, and be the professional soldiers that they are. My mind has been changed and I didn’t think that it was possible. I thank all of the people that made last weekend possible because I am proud to live in a country that we can gather, disagree with our leaders and have the ability to go home at the end of it all, not jail. About the vote to close WHINSEC, everyone seems to be making it a political thing. Its not, I learned this weekend that it wasn't a republican that opened the SOA, it was a democrat! Eisenhower opened the school in Panama, Kennedy named it the SOA and after it closed (oh yeah, the SOA closed!) Ol' President Clinton singed the law that opened WHINSEC. Trying to put political lines on this issue is ridiculous. Do the research people, supporter of WHINSEC lost 33 seats in the House during the last elections (I learned that from the SOAW web site) and STILL the bill didn’t pass, why? Because the same democrats that voted to open WHINSEC when their president was in office would seem like idiots if now they voted to close it. Also, where was wonder woman Nancy Pelosi’s vote? The democrats that chose to not vote did so because they rather not vote than vote against their people, unfortunately their non-vote was the death nail on the coffin that was HR 1707. thruthseeker37> e-mail:: jersey_devil37@yahoo.com About Fort Benning... 25.11.2007 - 11:07 To all that think that going into Fort Benning is a good idea, there is a reason why the commanding general of the base, along with leaders of the community agree that it is best to keep everyone out (not just you protesters, you're not special) in a time when security breeches are happening all over the place (physical, computers, communications, etc) it is of upmost importance that everyone that comes into the base is checked in by the gate guards. Thanks God that you guys gather in mass and you move in an organized manner, imagine you had a rougue protester going at it by himself, he gets in and stumbles into the Ranger training area, a very secure place also at Fort Benning, what do you think would happen? other government agencies from all over the world have been trying to gain access to this place for years! Also the county judge that is set to hear the 11 people that got arrested has no sense ofhumor about breaking into a federal instilation, therefore he throws the book at any and all that get arrested for two reasons, to discoutage and to maintain the idea that if you feel froggy and want to jump the fence, he'll slam you.. do you people choose not to understand? or is it easier to plead ignornce.... try going into a place like Fort Bragg, a place where they shoot first and ask what the hell you were doing later... A soldier> Vigil Against Torture At Presidio same dates 25.11.2007 - 13:23 Quit Torture Teach-In & Vigil, Nov. 16-18 in Monterey happened at the same time as SOA protest. People also got arrested at Fort Huachuca and all over central and south america.  http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/11/16/18461618.php Our movement is growing, vibrant and nurturing/sustaining!!! marco [reprint from indybay imc]>