School Of Americas Protest Continues

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Thursday November 17, 2005 16:00 by pat c

This time SOA watch are really going to give the grunts at Fort Benning a hard time. Its no more Mr Nice Guy. "We're close to shutting the school down," the movement's Outreach and Events coordinator Eric LeCompte said of the Fort Benning-based organization long known as the School of the Americas

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Pat C

SOA Watch returns

Organizers believe they're on the verge of accomplishing mission

BY MICK WALSH

Staff Writer


SOA Watch organizers are confident this weekend's 16th annual protest at the gates of Fort Benning may well be the last.

No more Indigo Girls, Martin Sheens or Puppetistas. No more teach-ins, Buddhist marches or fence climbing.

"We're close to shutting the school down," the movement's Outreach and Events coordinator Eric LeCompte said of the Fort Benning-based organization long known as the School of the Americas. "We're expecting a vote in the House this summer and it will be close."

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., sponsor of HR 1217, or as it is properly known the Latin American Military Training Review Act of 2005, will be in Columbus on Friday night and Saturday morning to observe the activities.

His bill, with 122 co-sponsors, is before the House Armed Services Committee. If it passes through the House and the Senate and is signed into law by the president, it would close the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, which replaced the School of the Americas in 2001.