What role does the SOA have, if any, in the actions of its graduates? Is it fair to connect the SOA to accused human rights abusers at all?

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1 ?The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas? is certainly the kind of book whose introduction and conclusion alone raise enough questions and spur enough dialogue for an entire semester course. But hopefully students and teachers won?t stop there. What each chapter offers is extensive information, incite, and analysis into some of the issues regarding U.S. influence throughout the Americas from the time just before WWII vis a vis the lens of the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC military training camp. The School of the Americas/ WHINSEC is perhaps one of the most ideal subjects around which to center public debate about the effects of U.S. foreign policy, the spread of U.S. empirical influence, and the growth of U.S. hegemony in the Western Hemisphere over the last 60 years. Discussion and analysis is also an exercise in critiquing current U.S. policy in the war on terror and particularly to see how, in the post-september 11 (2001) period, a moralization of endless war targeting hard to identify enemies and the use of torture are being discussed- all things that played out at the SOA. The following questions with page references may be helpful to teachers, students, and study groups in framing on-going discussions and exchanges. They are of course only a sample of the possible discussion topics, but hopefully will be helpful. Sections I. General Discussion Questions II. US Foreign Policy in Latin America III. Quotes and Questions from the Introduction for Discussion IV. The Rise of the US Empire, the SOA/ WHINSEC Soldiers as the Foot Soldier V. Relationship Between Soldiers and Militaries VI. Impunity VII. In the Classroom VIII. Outside the Classroom IX. Name Change X. The Movement to close the SOA/ WHINSEC XI. Human Rights and Wrongs General Discussion Questions What is the School of the Americas/ WHINSEC? What role does the SOA have, if any, in the actions of its graduates? Is it fair to connect the SOA to accused human rights abusers at all? (51, 52) What is the purpose of the SOA/ WHINSEC? (60, 61) What is its greatest contribution? (71) How are the missions of the SOA and WHINSEC similar? Different? (234) Does increased interaction curb bad tendencies of Latin American soldiers? (How does/ could this assertion get proven? Evaluated?) (44, 52) 1 / 6

2 Who are the enemies of SOA soldiers? (61; 79, 80; 97) Is Ft. Benning the perfect home for the SOA? In what ways would another location suit it better? (26+) What is the American Way of Life presented in this book? How much does this image of the American Way of Life and American Democracy reflect the reality in the United States? How does the?american Way of Life? differ from the life of an average family in Latin America? (30, 31) How do immigrants fit into the vision of the?american Way of Life?? (32, 33; 37) What is the irony in Columbus, GA citizens seeing their city as?as a bastion of positive values, a font of democracy, and an uplifting way of life??? How does the history of slavery, racism, and violence against descendants from the African continent fit into this? (32) To what extent does racism in the US military, Latin American militaries, and the SOA specifically play into the experience? (38, 39, 103) What is the link between consumerism, the American way of life, and the SOA/ WHINSEC? (35) What is the difference between courses taught at the SOA and courses taught at other institutions? (114) Can the public criticism and debate of the SOA/ WHINSEC be put onto other institutions such as the CIA and other U.S.-sponsored training camps? (86, 87) Can the same scrutiny be used for U.S. graduates of the SOA/ WHINSEC as for the Latin Americans? (118) Why is there a double standard for what SOA students learn and what is taught to foreigners and US soldiers at other institutions? (116, ) What have been the effects of criticism of the SOA as an institution and the training itself? How do the exchanges and experience outlined from pages 128 to 130 express on a broader level how the SOA reinforces relationships between the US and Latin American countries? US Foreign Policy in Latin America What does U.S. foreign policy in Latin America say about the US government?s commitment to democracy? How does this relate to the role of the SOA in nurturing democracy in Latin America? (59, 60, 78) The School of the Americas got its name during the Kennedy administration, at a time when growth was rapid in order to create foot soldiers of a U.S. Empire and hemisphere-wide opposition to communism. But what came in the 1970s and 1980s were military dictatorships 2 / 6

3 known for brutality and abuses, not ballots. Discuss. (78) Quotes and Questions from the Introduction for Discussion -?I don?t see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist because of the irresponsibility of its people.? Secretary of State Henry Kissinger commenting on the election of Salvador Allende as president of Chile in 1970 (1) -?The dual tragedies of September 11 force us to recognize that the United States government has assisted in the creation of international terrorist networks and has rarely let a commitment to democracy stand in the way of its global ambitions.? (2) -?Forgetting the proxy wars and covert operations carried out by the United States and the Third World security forces that do its bidding obscures the extent to which modern America emerged as the result of an imperial project that brutalized and oppressed peoples around the world.? (3) -?What is the relationship between the?order? produced by security forces in Latin America and the disorder wrought on peasant families, and how does this shape the demand for military training? (8) The Rise of the US Empire, the SOA/ WHINSEC Soldiers as the Foot Soldier What is the difference for the author in using the term superpower and empire? (234) How is the military important for maintaining US hegemony? (234) How did the rise of the SOA follow the rise of US empire in the post-wwii period? (62, 63) How does this book demonstrate?how the United States bought the collusion of Latin American security forces in the aftermath of World War II?? (7, 64) What is the role of Latin American Foot Soldiers in the U.S. Empire? (see Chapter 3) How does the Command and General Staff Officer course specifically prepare foot soldier for the U.S. Empire? (Chapter 5) What is the class used for? (113, 117; ) Relationship Between Soldiers and Militaries?Despite the SOA?s official motto- `One for all and all for one?- race, ethnicity, class, and nationality are important organizing principles at the SOA, even though at times they were officially denied.? How is this statement true? (41, 42) Why is it so important to stress unity and equality? (39)?How, this book asks, does the United States train Latin American?professional? soldiers who define their agendas in distinctive ways and on whom the United States depends for cooperation but does not entirely trust?? (7, 8) 3 / 6

4 What is the relationship between U.S. officials and students at the SOA and Latin American trainees? (40, 41; 49, 50; ) How did the treatment of Argentine students and the racist views of the US army in particular shape those early days at the SOA? Can evidence of this racist basis be seen today? How? (65-9) What are some of the things the Latin Americans have gained out of the relationship with the SOA/ WHINSEC? What benefits did they have to becoming the representatives in their home countries of the US Empirical vision? (chapter 4) Impunity What is impunity, in your own words? What kind of a society does impunity create/ in what kind of a society does impunity thrive? Is there impunity in the United States? (see also 13, 118, 238) What were some of the consequences of the 1970s and 1980s dictatorships? What was the reaction of civilian-led governments in the 1990s? (78)?What lessons do soldiers- U.S. and Latin American- draw about the dirty wars that raged across Latin America for the last half of the twentieth century, and to what extent are they now willing to accept, excuse, or condemn the exercise of violence and the violation of human rights? (8) What does impunity mean for peasants in the Andes? (166, 177, 188, 192) In the Classroom What are some of the author?s observations about how themes are handled in the classroom? (54, 131) Who is the professional soldier? How is this important to the SOA mission and propaganda? (142, 143) Outside the Classroom What about how people in Latin America are affected? (54, 55; Chapter 7: Disordering the Andes) How does the quote from Weidner about violence in Guatemala fit with the?reality? as represented by the Truth Commission Report, human rights organizations, and people who experienced the war themselves? What can this tell us about how the situation in Latin America is seen by SOA/ WHINSEC officials? (55) Name Change What effect did the name change have? Has there ever been accountability for what happened? (233) 4 / 6

5 The movement to close the SOA put school officials on the defensive. What is at the heart of their public relations rhetoric, and how has it changed from 1995? 2005? How different are their assertions about the SOA and the WHINSEC? (43, 44, 45) What did the PR campaign entail? (220-23) What happened to the history of the SOA? (242) 218 The Movement to close the SOA/ WHINSEC What/ who is the movement to close the SOA? How did it develop? (199, 200, 202, 210, What impact has this movement had on the SOA? (201) What is the connection between what the author identifies as the core of the anti-soa movement and Latin America? (202; 203, 04) A top SOA-official noted in an interview that SOA Watch is a number one?threat? against the SOA that launches?attacks.? How is this view seen in the way their response is carried out? (219) What would closing the school mean, both for the Pentagon and for activists? (227) Throughout the 90s, a realization grew that the SOA was the tip of the iceberg, but this created problems: if the problem is the U.S. military interventionism and hegemony in Latin America (its policy), how could the movement address such an enormous issue? (228) What impact has this movement had on the broader picture? (228) What have been some of the successes of the movement? (231) Human Rights and Wrongs What effect did the declassification have on training? On public opinion? What kinds of questions were raised? (137) What is the author?s opinion about the human rights segment of the SOA? What is its purpose? What was her experience as an observer to this segment? ( ) What does human rights mean for the soldiers in the CGS class? ; 238?To what extent, we might ask, were student views about human rights actually challenged by the SOA?s program, despite its considerable shortcomings? And to what extent did any of the students begin to reflect seriously on the human rights records of their own militaries?? (154, 55) What role do the Red Cross and NGOs take during the Human Rights Week? What is 5 / 6

6 demonstrated by the students? interaction with them? (144, 145, ) 6 / 6