What is our Relationship as North Americans to our Southern Neighbors? A Conversation between the School of the Americas Watch, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, and Mennonites.
				(photo: Linda Panetta)
	Dialogue at Goshen College
			Facilitated by Carolyn Schrock-Shenk (Associate Professor of Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studes at Goshen College)
		Agenda: 1:00 to 2:45 - Panel Member Conversation 2:45 to 3:00 - Break 3:00 to 3:45 - Audience Questions 3:45 to 4:00 - Closing Statements by Panel Members
	Sponsored by Goshen College PAX Club and Goshen College Student Senate. Student Planning Committee: Ben Beachy, Christina Cruz, Eric Kanagy, Josiah Groff, Katie Hochstedler, Landon Yoder, and Paul Horst.

The United States Army

Ken LaPlante - Core Processes, Inc, US Army International Affairs Specialist - Western Hemisphere

In July 1963, the Army established SOA at Fort Gulick, Panama in support of President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In December 2000, SOA closed its doors and ceased operations.

SOA. In July 1963, the Army established SOA at Fort Gulick, Panama in support of President John F. Kennedy's Alliance for Progress. In December 2000, SOA closed its doors and ceased operations.

The SOA, like its predecessors, developed none of its own courses, instead translating into Spanish, courses provided by the U.S. military schools having responsibility for developing doctrinal educational offerings for the U.S. Army. SOA provided its multinational student body professional leadership offerings in response to the security threats to the nations of the Americas. SOA presented individual leadership and supervisory courses in command and general staff procedures; Infantry, intelligence and military police courses; jungle operations courses; courses in support operations such as engineer, communications, medical, supply and maintenance and specialized, high-stress individual leader training through reconnaissance, commando (ranger) and airmobile courses.

In 1984, after arduous negotiations with Panama, the U.S. Army relocated the SOA to Fort Benning, Georgia. SOA was an exemplary military education and training institution that mirrored the ethics, values and standards of America's Army, and our great nation. SOA was one of the most effective means of passing on those values to a new generation of Latin American military leaders who saw the U.S. military as a model for the role of a professional military in a democratic society.

WHINSEC. The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is a Department of Defense school with the mission to provide professional education and training for military, law enforcement, and civilians of eligible Western Hemisphere countries while fostering mutual knowledge, transparency, confidence, and cooperation among the participating nations and promoting democratic values, respect for human rights, and knowledge and understanding of United States customs and traditions, promoting peace and democracy in the process. It supports the U.S. national security strategy for the region, and promotes the democratic principles set forth in the Charter of the Organization of the American States (OAS). WHINSEC is one of many U.S. institutions offering educational opportunities to foreign civilian and military personnel. The WHINSEC offers professional and training education in military leadership course, civil-military studies and leadership and skills training for individual leaders and supervisors. WHINSEC courses range from two-weeks to 9 months. Its students are junior and mid-level civilian and law enforcement officers as well as military personnel from sergeant to colonel. All instruction includes at least eight hours of Human Rights instruction consisting of respect for human rights, the rule of law, due process, civilian control of the military, and the role of the military in a democratic society. Most courses have much more. In 2001, WHINSEC provided education and training to more than 780 students from over 18 nations of the Hemisphere. In 2002, it plans to reach more than 900 students.

WHINSEC is the subject of extensive oversight from a variety of entities. The WHINSEC Board of Visitors (BoV) is congressionally mandated to provide external and independent oversight on behalf of the Secretary of Defense. The BoV will consist of Members of Congress and representatives from Departments of State and Defense as well as from academia and non-governmental and religious organizations.

School of the Americas Watch (SOAW)

Fr. Roy Bourgeois -Founder of SOAW, Maryknoll Priest

Linda Panetta - Director of SOA Watch/NE, producer of the award winning documentary, "School of the Americas: An Insider Speaks Out!"

On November 16, 1989 six Jesuit priests, a co-worker and her 15-year old daughter were brutally massacred by Salvadoran forces at the University of Central America (UCA). Happening as it did, nine years following the 1980 rape and murder of four U.S. churchwomen and the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, these heinous crimes carried a powerful message—that no one in war-torn El Salvador was safe from the systematic state repression that engulfed the country. A U.S. Congressional task force investigated and reported that 19 of the 26 officers responsible for the executions at the UCA were trained at the School of the Americas (SOA). Further investigations proved that US trained SOA soldiers were also complicit in the murders of the churchwomen and Archbishop Romero.

For more than a decade opposition to the SOA has mounted with the release of several human rights reports by monitoring groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Additional information provided by the Freedom of Information Act, the State Department, congressional inquiries, as well the United Nations has shed much light on the US military training facility, known by many as the "School of Assassins." It is located on the Ft. Benning base in Colombus, Georgia was renamed in 2000, the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC)." It remains a potent tool for U.S. hegemony in Latin America.

In 1996 the State Department was forced to release to the public training manuals that advocated the use of torture, execution, false imprisonment and extortion. Just a few years earlier the United Nations (UN) Truth Commission issued their report on the war in El Salvador. It cited that two-thirds of those responsible for the worse human rights crimes were soldiers trained at the SOA. These reports and countless other investigations jump-started a movement to close the SOA, which had benefitted for decades from a shroud of obscurity.

Annual protests and civil disobedience at the Ft. Benning military base, as well as lobbying and other actions in Washington, DC began in 1990. The first few years the numbers of proponents to close the SOA were small. Then in 1995, 13 protesters (including a 74-year-old nun) were arrested and sent to federal prison simply for re-enacting the massacre of the Jesuits. This created a firestorm of publicity, and by 1997 the numbers jumped to over 2,000, with 601 participating in civil disobedience. By 2000, over ten thousand were attending the annual protests at the SOA, and an astounding nine thousand people had partaken in civil disobedience. To date, more than 70 people have collectively served over 40 years in federal prisons for nonviolent acts of civil disobedience against the SOA.

Grassroots lobbying and ongoing protests greatly heightened congressional awareness and concerns. In 1999 the House voted 230 to 197 to cut SOA funding. However, that decision was overturned a few weeks later by a single vote in a House-Senate Conference Committee. After the close call in Congress, the Pentagon reacted in 2000 with a ploy to keep the school operating by closing it, and the immediately reopening it under a new name.

Even SOA supporters called the changes "cosmetic." SOA graduates thus continue to serve as enforcers of a U.S. foreign policy that has wreaked havoc and death throughout Latin America. As Archbishop Romero stated just prior to his assassination, "Those who have a voice, must speak out for the voiceless." The SOA Watch movement is committed to walking in solidarity with our sisters and brothers throughout Latin America, to helping end impunity, and effectively changing oppressive US foreign policy.

The Mennonites

Zulma Prieto - Editor of El Puente, joined Colombian Mennonite Church, has been in US for past twelve years

John D. Roth - Goshen College professor of history, editor of Mennonite Quarterly Review, member of Mennonite Church USA

The Mennonites are one of several religious groups that trace their origins to Anabaptism, a Reformation movement in Europe during the early part of the sixteenth century. The Anabaptists—sometimes referred to as the "Radical Wing" of the Reformation—broke with both the Catholic church and the Protestant movements of Luther and Calvin because they believed that Christian faith and church membership should be a matter of adult decision, rather than infant baptism. They also were committed to following the life and teachings of Jesus in tangible, concrete ways. This meant that they could not swear allegiance to any earthly ruler, or serve in an army. It also meant that they were committed to loving their enemies, as Christ taught, even if doing so might cost them their lives. Because of these convictions, Catholic and Protestant rulers in Europe regarded Anabaptists/Mennonites as a threat, and persecuted them severely.

Today, North American Mennonites live in a context of religious toleration; and many have made their peace with the political and economic culture of the United States. Yet others continue to witness actively to the gospel of peace and to speak out on behalf of suffering people around the world. This has frequently taken the form of direct service and relief to those in need. But some have taken their beliefs even further by publicly witnessing against government military expenditures and policies that harm brothers and sisters in other parts of the world; a few have even chosen not to pay the percentage of their annual income tax that would go for military purposes.

Mennonites do not speak to every political issue with one voice. But they are united in their conviction that the body of Christ transcends national boundaries and that Christians are called to be peacemakers by exemplifying Christ's love in word and deed.

Colombia has been a hotspot in Latin America for decades. US involvement in Colombia has increased recently with the implementation of Plan Colombia, a joint plan between the US and Colombian governments. Zulma Prieto, a panelist today, is a native of Colombia.

The Colombian Mennonite church is a presence in the conflict. While a small group, Colombian Mennonites have been very active in the peace process between the government and the guerilla groups. Because of their reputation for a strong non-violent ethic Mennonites have gained the respect of the major participants in the conflict. Ricardo Esquivia, a Colombian Mennonite, was a member of the Peace Commission, a group established to find a peaceful resolution to the guerilla conflict.

The Colombian Mennonite church was instrumental in including a provision for consciencious objection from military service for young Colombian men.