What can you tell me about the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)?

I watched a film produced by Catholic missionaries that charged this military school with training the tyrants that dominate the common people living in abject poverty in Latin American countries. As this anti-SOA site says: "The US Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. SOA graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. In 1996 the Pentagon was forced to release training manuals used at the school that advocated torture, extortion and execution. Among the SOA's nearly 60,000 graduates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador, and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA graduates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians." The film said the term "counter-insurgency" is used to describe groups attempting to unionize and end sweatshop labor.

Is there another side to this story?
Is there anything positive to say about the School of the Americas?
Why do you think most Democrat and Republican politicians are silent on this subject?

Here you go ma'am, all the information you'd want to know - of course it's porvided by the DoD so it might be a tad bit bias.

US Army School of the Americas

Against: www.soaw.org

For: carlisle-www.army.mil

Neutral: www.ciponline.org

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Originally posted by MsSueM:
What can you tell me about the School of the Americas, now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC)?

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Is there another side to this story?
Is there _anything_ positive to say about the School of the Americas?
Why do you think most Democrat and Republican politicians are silent on this subject?

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There is, of course, always another side to a story. The positiveness or negativeness of the issue depends on your point of view, more than anything else. The "School of the Americas" has helped the US to dominate the politics and economics of the Western Hemisphere (which is why the school was established in the first place).

Thus, if you think US domination to be a good thing, this is a positive. If you suspect that the US may be less than generous with the dominees, and believe that they, too, should be entitled to the same sorts of political and economic opportunities that we enjoy, then you may take a more negative view.

Alan Moore