Thomas Jefferson contended that an "enlightened citizenry" is required to maintain democracy. Such civic knowledge seems woefully lacking presently in many such segments of American society. Numerous factors are responsible.
(1) Educational institutions now seem to focus more on job preparation than on humanities, history, and ethics as vital for creating humane citizens.
(2) Major sources of "news" for most Americans are the commercial radio and TV stations. Much program time is given to "infotainment," little for foreign affairs in depth. Government "handouts" are presented with little critical questioning. Investigative journalism and foreign correspondents have been reduced. Panelists rarely are persons who "think outside the conventional box," ask fundamental questions or challenge official assumptions.
(3) The U.S. government's penchant for secrecy has increased since WWII, even more so since 9/11. {Ed. note: The Freedom of Information Act was under attack by the previous Administration.}
(4) American news media have consolidated into four or five huge corporations that control hundreds of TV and radio stations and other information sources. Congressional legislation and FCC regulations have permitted expanded concentration of communications power in recent years. CBS is owned by Viacom, and has had 200 affiliated TV stations and 180 radio stations. Viacom has published 2000 titles annually, and has owned Paramount Films and Blockbuster Video.
While there are numerous alternative sources of information, many Americans are not aware of them. Some lack financial capacity to subscribe, and local libraries often do not include them.
Vital sources of information are those non official citizens who go abroad on fact-finding endeavors, alone or with non-governmental organizations (NGO's). Some travel to forbidden destinations in defiance of our government's regulations that can penalize such citizens with imprisonment and heavy fines.
In the earlier days of our Republic, citizens could travel freely to any country that would admit them, and return home again without penalties. Article 13, sentence 2, of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his (sic) own, and to return to his country."
At the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, June 1993, Secretary of State Warren Christopher asserted: "The United States will never join those who would undermine the Universal Declaration...."
However, in recent years, our government has denied such "freedom to travel" to citizens repeatedly, with regard to North Vietnam, North Korea, Libya, Cuba, and Iraq, among others. Many persons and NGO's, not wishing to legitimate these violations of international law by seeking permission from the Treasury Department to go and return, have challenged such prohibitions directly. Without "unofficial civilian diplomacy," Americans would be limited to the government's "facts" and "interpretations," as information about such designated foreign nations.
Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark has visited Iraq and Cuba. Kathy Kelly's Voices in the Wilderness group has led hundreds of citizens to Iraq, verifying the million civilian deaths caused by the UN-US embargo. A Minnesota chapter of Veterans for Peace has conducted a water project, repairing two treatment facilities that served more than 20,000 persons. Pastors for Peace has delivered computers, tools and other goods to Central America, especially Nicaragua, and Clark and the Voices group have also delivered medical supplies to Iraq and Cuba.
John Swomley, a former Fellowship of Reconciliation leader and human rights leader, visited North Korea twice, writing and speaking widely about knowledge gained. Jesse Jackson visited some Islamic Middle East nations and secured the release of several political prisoners. He visited Cuba in 1989, bringing about some relaxations for "religious believers" of mainline churches, well before the Pope's visit to Cuba.
Thousands of American citizens traveled with fact-finding groups to areas of conflict or world concern for which travel was not officially restricted. The Fellowship of Reconciliation's Task Force on Latin America and the Caribbean (FOR-- TFLAC) sent six international delegations of inquiry to Panama in the 1990s. They investigated and monitored the U.S. compliance with the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Canal Treaty, extracting formerly "secret" weapon testing information via the Freedom of Information Act. Troops were to be removed, bases closed, and toxic debris eliminated. (The toxics requirement was not satisfied.) The FOR-TFLAC sent four international fact-finding groups to Puerto Rico and Vieques. They secured data and provided support to the Puerto Rican colony's opposition to the U.S. military's continued bombing since 1946 near the 10,000-civilian community. The Navy was forced to close the Vieques base.
Medea Benjamin's Global Exchange has arranged for many U.S. citizens to visit countries in the "twothirds" world, observing the consequences of First World's commercial and governmental policies and practices. Witness for Peace nationally, and Augsburg's Center for Global Education have conducted thousands of Americans to Haiti, the war-torn Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, plus countries in Africa and elsewhere. An increasing number of American students are studying briefly abroad, now increasingly in "Third World" countries.
These citizens have returned home to share their acquired information with their families, neighbors, churches, schools and civic groups helping alter public opinion and pressuring Congress to alter U.S. policies.
Amy Goodman, of Democracy Now radio, has courageously been twice to East Timor (once being seriously injured for her presence). She brings eye witnesses directly to national community radio audiences. The Christian Peacemakers in Israel and Palestine have upset the Israeli military by their audacious challenges to the tanks, bypassing them to provide nonviolent support to those on the receiving end of the firepower.
Former President Jimmy Carter has used his grant of free access and free speech in Cuba to address the Cubans and convey his impressions and recommendations to Americans. (Regrettably, President Bush stated in advance that, no matter what Carter might report, there would be no change in U.S. policy toward Cuba.) The Carter Center in Atlanta also has monitored elections in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, reporting on those political processes. Jimmy Carter, before and since being President, has gleaned knowledge of the Middle East and published widely a "balanced" view.
Although the Peace Corps officially is to "advance US foreign policies," those volunteers return home with "new, better informed selves."
These unofficial civilian diplomats have served important civic functions in helping American citizens understand other nations in a conflict-ridden world. They have returned home with useful and alternative perspectives about the roles of Numero Uno internationally.
It is important also for our children to understand that we were not content "not to know" and "not to act" now and for their future. These deputations, "legal" or not, enable all of us to view other sides, to discover the humanity of those our nation has defined as the "Other."
This article was originally published The Human Quest, Nov/Dec 2002. This 2009 version has been edited/updated from the original publication.
April 11, 2009
April 5, 2009
A View of WHINSEC from the Inside
Since the founding of our republic, the U.S. military has intervened almost 100 times in Latin America and in some nations, numerous times. Our forces occupied five of them for more than a decade. Since the Vietnam War, our government has employed tactics of “low intensity warfare” – low for us, high for the recipients of our means. We have instigated coups in Chile, Haiti, Panama, Venezuela, Grenada and Guatemala.
We have created surrogates to do the fighting and dying for our ‘interests’ (e.g., the “Contras” in Nicaragua). We have supported numerous dictators for years (e.g., the Somozas, Batista, Noriega, Hernandez, the juntas of Uruguay and Argentina). Ignoring UN decisions, and in violation of international law, we have employed almost total embargoes (in countries such as Nicaragua and Cuba).
We manipulate Latin American media. We seek to influence their elections with money (e.g., El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela), yet it is illegal under U.S. law for those in other nations to so influence our elections. Through institutions that we dominate, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, we maintain leverage over them via ‘perpetual debt’. We impose “structural adjustments” on their economies via NAFTA (1994) and CAFTA (2005), trade agreements that benefit our corporations but hurt their poor. U.S. corporations exploit their lack of environmental controls and regulations regarding labor. Clearly the ‘American empire’ is not about fostering democracy or ensuring peace and prosperity. Empire is about controlling peoples and gaining access to their resources.
Training the militaries of the nations of Latin America at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is one of the instruments used by our government to support powerful elites in Latin America in resisting efforts by their majority poor to secure more just societies.
In April 2007, following the annual November SOA Watch protest vigil at Ft. Benning, GA, I was part of a small delegation that was given the opportunity to visit WHINSEC, interview the commanding officer, Col. Gilberto Perez, visit classes, and meet other staff. Let me share some observations and reflections from that visit.
We first noticed aspects of ‘military culture.’ A warrior culture has its own values and basic assumptions about life. We observed that both the U.S. and Latino soldiers wore distinctive uniforms with varied insignia; we sensed a strong ethos of pride and mutual respect for their inter-related roles.
In examining the program of the Institute, we noted the lack of student exposure to an ‘unvarnished’ history of U.S. – Latin American relations. We were uneasy that Commandant Gilberto Perez seemed unable or unwilling to recognize the possibility that WHINSEC and its personnel might in any way be complicit in the assassinations, massacres, and brutalities that Latin Americans have experienced. His repeated response was, “We don’t make policy; we implement policies. Those who disagree should contact the President and Congress!”
I departed WHINSEC confirmed in my belief that since 1991, the thousands who have demonstrated at SOA/WHINSEC have had an impact. Changing the name of the institution presumably was done by Congress to separate SOA from mounting criticism. The creation of a “Board of Visitors,” with Congressional representation, has provided some independent oversight of the program and greater “transparency.” Also there have supposedly been changes in the curriculum, but it remains substantially the same as before. We appreciated learning that some of the students had been taken to Washington, DC where they met with staff of Human Rights Watch, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and even SOA Watch.
The SOA began in Panama in 1946, then was forced to leave in 1984, coming to Ft. Benning, Georgia. Since 1991, demonstrations of opposition to the presence and continuance of the School of the Americas have been held. In recent years, more than 20,000 persons have been present. SOA Watch staff and volunteers have visited with Congresspersons regularly. In the summer of 2007 the Congressional vote to terminate the SOA funding came within half a dozen votes of passing! Now, with the new Congresspersons from the 2008 elections, staff are visiting them with our facts and views.
Parallel action is being taken by the SOA Watch staff to "turn off the faucet" for the recruitment of Latin American soldiers to come to WHINSEC for training and then return home to utilize their learned techniques on their own populations. Thus far, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Bolivia have indicated their intention to cease sending their military and police personnel to WHINSEC. Chile, one of those sending more of their military, intends to cut back 2/3 of the way, thus far. With new leadership by virtue of recent elections, Paraguay and El Salvador might also be persuaded to cease participating in WHINSEC. It is unlikely, given present relationships, that Colombia would alter their participation.
The USA military has been authorized to establish seven more such training schools for foreign militaries, by our military. One will be in El Salvador, another in eastern Europe, the others to be determined. Costa Rica declined to accept one.
I value the opportunity to have visited WHINSEC. I appreciate the graciousness with which we were received by Commandant Perez and other staff persons, especially Lee Rials, Public Affairs Officer. Nevertheless, my view remains that the U.S. should not be training military personnel of other countries. By doing so we become even more complicit with their problems/solutions. Militaries are not instruments of peacemaking - in their purpose, organizational structures, values or training. Peacemaking is not their area of expertise. Peacemaking is the domain of those trained in the theories, principles and practices of active nonviolence. A ‘Global Peace Force’ would make far better peacemakers than the U.S. military.
Contact SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017 for further information.
This post is an updated version of an article that first appeared in the June 2008 issue of the North Country Peace Builder, the quarterly newsletter of the Minnesota Fellowship of Reconciliation.
We have created surrogates to do the fighting and dying for our ‘interests’ (e.g., the “Contras” in Nicaragua). We have supported numerous dictators for years (e.g., the Somozas, Batista, Noriega, Hernandez, the juntas of Uruguay and Argentina). Ignoring UN decisions, and in violation of international law, we have employed almost total embargoes (in countries such as Nicaragua and Cuba).
We manipulate Latin American media. We seek to influence their elections with money (e.g., El Salvador, Nicaragua, Venezuela), yet it is illegal under U.S. law for those in other nations to so influence our elections. Through institutions that we dominate, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, we maintain leverage over them via ‘perpetual debt’. We impose “structural adjustments” on their economies via NAFTA (1994) and CAFTA (2005), trade agreements that benefit our corporations but hurt their poor. U.S. corporations exploit their lack of environmental controls and regulations regarding labor. Clearly the ‘American empire’ is not about fostering democracy or ensuring peace and prosperity. Empire is about controlling peoples and gaining access to their resources.
Training the militaries of the nations of Latin America at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas, is one of the instruments used by our government to support powerful elites in Latin America in resisting efforts by their majority poor to secure more just societies.
In April 2007, following the annual November SOA Watch protest vigil at Ft. Benning, GA, I was part of a small delegation that was given the opportunity to visit WHINSEC, interview the commanding officer, Col. Gilberto Perez, visit classes, and meet other staff. Let me share some observations and reflections from that visit.
We first noticed aspects of ‘military culture.’ A warrior culture has its own values and basic assumptions about life. We observed that both the U.S. and Latino soldiers wore distinctive uniforms with varied insignia; we sensed a strong ethos of pride and mutual respect for their inter-related roles.
In examining the program of the Institute, we noted the lack of student exposure to an ‘unvarnished’ history of U.S. – Latin American relations. We were uneasy that Commandant Gilberto Perez seemed unable or unwilling to recognize the possibility that WHINSEC and its personnel might in any way be complicit in the assassinations, massacres, and brutalities that Latin Americans have experienced. His repeated response was, “We don’t make policy; we implement policies. Those who disagree should contact the President and Congress!”
I departed WHINSEC confirmed in my belief that since 1991, the thousands who have demonstrated at SOA/WHINSEC have had an impact. Changing the name of the institution presumably was done by Congress to separate SOA from mounting criticism. The creation of a “Board of Visitors,” with Congressional representation, has provided some independent oversight of the program and greater “transparency.” Also there have supposedly been changes in the curriculum, but it remains substantially the same as before. We appreciated learning that some of the students had been taken to Washington, DC where they met with staff of Human Rights Watch, Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and even SOA Watch.
The SOA began in Panama in 1946, then was forced to leave in 1984, coming to Ft. Benning, Georgia. Since 1991, demonstrations of opposition to the presence and continuance of the School of the Americas have been held. In recent years, more than 20,000 persons have been present. SOA Watch staff and volunteers have visited with Congresspersons regularly. In the summer of 2007 the Congressional vote to terminate the SOA funding came within half a dozen votes of passing! Now, with the new Congresspersons from the 2008 elections, staff are visiting them with our facts and views.
Parallel action is being taken by the SOA Watch staff to "turn off the faucet" for the recruitment of Latin American soldiers to come to WHINSEC for training and then return home to utilize their learned techniques on their own populations. Thus far, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Bolivia have indicated their intention to cease sending their military and police personnel to WHINSEC. Chile, one of those sending more of their military, intends to cut back 2/3 of the way, thus far. With new leadership by virtue of recent elections, Paraguay and El Salvador might also be persuaded to cease participating in WHINSEC. It is unlikely, given present relationships, that Colombia would alter their participation.
The USA military has been authorized to establish seven more such training schools for foreign militaries, by our military. One will be in El Salvador, another in eastern Europe, the others to be determined. Costa Rica declined to accept one.
I value the opportunity to have visited WHINSEC. I appreciate the graciousness with which we were received by Commandant Perez and other staff persons, especially Lee Rials, Public Affairs Officer. Nevertheless, my view remains that the U.S. should not be training military personnel of other countries. By doing so we become even more complicit with their problems/solutions. Militaries are not instruments of peacemaking - in their purpose, organizational structures, values or training. Peacemaking is not their area of expertise. Peacemaking is the domain of those trained in the theories, principles and practices of active nonviolence. A ‘Global Peace Force’ would make far better peacemakers than the U.S. military.
Contact SOA Watch, PO Box 4566, Washington, DC 20017 for further information.
This post is an updated version of an article that first appeared in the June 2008 issue of the North Country Peace Builder, the quarterly newsletter of the Minnesota Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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