SOA Watch April Days of Action

Today marks the beginning of the School Of the Americas Watch April Days of Action. Let's take this opportunity to educate ourselves about the School Of the Americas (now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHINSEC). Throughout the week, I hope to produce media which amplifies the voice of the protesters and activists calling for an end to the abusive curriculum taught at WHINSEC. Though the Institute claims it has made reforms to its education to include human rights education, groups like Human Rights Watch argue that these reforms are not substantive enough. From Wikipedia's article on WHINSEC:

Defenders argue that today the curriculum includes human rights,^[9] but according to Human Rights Watch, "training alone, even when it includes human rights instruction, does not prevent human rights abuses."^[11] U.S. Army Maj. Joe Blair, a former director of instruction at the school, said, "there are no substantive changes besides the name. [...] They teach the identical courses that I taught, and changed the course names and use the same manuals."^[10]

Indeed, how can training soldiers how to kill or police suppress non-violent resistance through violent means is a direct violation of the most basic principles of human rights.

In solidarity with Father Roy Bourgeois and the other activists fasting to demonstrate their hunger for justice, I will take the small step of skipping lunch each day this week. Instead, I will play freerice.com for one hour a day. With the intention of supporting the closure and reform of the School Of the Americas, I also intend to work against world hunger. The money raised from freerice.com will go to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti through the world food bank. And the more support there is for relief efforts in Haiti, the more I hope resources will be available for relief efforts in Japan. All struggles for peace and justice are interconnected.



This post reminds me that sometimes the forces that bring human suffering are natural phenomenon beyond human control. Though the commanders who taught abusive practices at WHINSEC should be brought to justice, the tsunami that hit Japan was beyond anyone's control or imagination. Though TEPCO should be held responsible for its negligent preparation and ill-managed response to the disaster, it did not create the earthquake and tsunami. Much like a tsunami, America's military-industrial complex has become like a force of nature. Our collective action as a nation, government and global citizens is responsible for the havoc and suffering created by war. In some small way, each of us must find how we can hold each other and ourselves accountable, say NO! to war, and strive for peace and justice in the face of incalculable odds.