SPEECH Officials Debate School of the Americas Validity of Notorious U.S. Army School Questioned By Andrew Tein Special to The Hoya

Anna Haegel/The Hoya Colonel William M. Morgan of the Army Office of International Affairs speaks to students about the School of the Americas last Tuesday.

Over 100 members of the Georgetown community gathered in ICC Auditorium last Tuesday for an open dialogue on the School of the Americas. Sponsored by the Georgetown Solidarity Committee and Campus Ministry, the debate featured Colonel William M. Morgan of the Army Office of International Affairs and Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy.

Morgan defended the practicality of the school while Isacson questioned its effects on U.S. foreign policy.

“It’s that time of year again,” Morgan said. “The leaves are changing color, the birds are migrating, the protesters are gathering and I’m back here at Georgetown.”

This is the second year that GSC and Campus Ministry have sponsored the School of the Americas debate. Although Morgan also spoke last year, several aspects of the debate have changed: Namely, the School of the Americas no longer exists. Closed in 2000, the School of Americas was reorganized, renamed and reopened as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in January of this year. In addition, discussion centered more on financial issues compared to last year’s concentration on closure of the school.

“I will not focus on the SOA’s past or the criminal record of its graduates,” Isacson said. “I just have a few other questions. Is this school for Latin America good for U.S. foreign policy? Should we be spending so much money training these Latin American troops for combat?”

The former School of the Americas, with curriculum that trains students in combat, infantry tactics, counter-insurgency, anti-narcotics, military intelligence and commando operations, continues into this next century as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation with few changes.

“This campaign against our school is based on a distortion of the facts,” Morgan said.

“The military is an important institute in those countries. The duties of it will be performed by some entity no matter what you call it.”

Following rebuttals between Morgan and Isacson, members of the audience were permitted to ask questions. Several mentioned its list of notorious graduates like dictators Manuel Noriega of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina and Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, and sought justification from Morgan.

“What’s the relationship between education at the SOA and subsequent action taken by graduates?” Morgan asked. “How did a course in engine repair lead him to become a coup leader?”

While Morgan emphasized that he did not condone their actions, he affirmed the need for effective military management in the Latin American region.

“In this day and age,” Isacson asked, “why are we teaching combat skills? Why are we teaching them to kill better? It’s all a matter of resource management.”

Isacson was to be joined by Kate Loewe of SOA Watch, who due to a family emergency could not attend. Founded in 1990 by Fr. Roy Bourgeois, SOA Watch seeks closure of the School of Americas. The group sponsors vigils and fasts, demonstrations and nonviolent protest, and media and legislative work in an effort to close in on their goal.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Isacson drew parallels between Latin Americans and Muslim Extremists. “Young generations of people who can’t get jobs and never get educated by the state is the problem,” Isacson said. “We’re talking about a region where these people, just to feed themselves and have a reason to live … join radical guerilla forces and the like. We need to see the similarities between them and the perpetrators of Sept. 11.”

The Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation is located at a Fort Benning, Ga., open U.S. Army base and is accessible to visitors.

Morgan, however, encouraged the visit. “We welcome you,” he said. “Those who stay outside and just protest are doing themselves a great disservice. Come inside and see what we’re all about.”

Last November, 20 students and faculty marched through the Georgetown campus, protesting the Fort Benning, Ga., based School of the Americas and commemorating victims of human rights violations.

The evening was a commemoration of the lives of those who have died, as well as a protest against the School of the Americas and its involvement in the training of South American soldiers.

GSC President Vanessa Waldref (COL ’03) described the experience as “amazing.”

“There was an incredible feeling to be a part of thousands who agree wholeheartedly on this issue,” she said.