Tuesday, November 6, 2007

This Thursday's Meeting: Guest Speaker on Torture and the SOA!!!

Brothers,

Below is a transcript of an e-mail I received from a priest in the Diocese of Greensburg who has had experience doing social justice work in Latin America. Check it out!!

He is interested in coming this Thursday (11/8) after school to discuss his experience of torture and U.S. invovlement in the School of Americas (i.e. Assassins).

Be there!!! And spread the word!

BRobPeachFSC

Bro Rob:
Thanks for the invitation. Given that the confirmation hearings for Attoney General
are front page news these days and the candidate being questioned about his
defintion of torture and "waterboarding," let me suggest I be with you at Central
Catholic Thursday, 8 November. If you accept let me know how many you expect
to be on hand so I bring enough copies of my letter from prison (May, 2004) in
which I talk about my psychological torture in a Salvadoran prison in 1977, with an
English speaking person (unseen by me because I was blindfolded) in the background.
If course I relate this to the "School of the Americas," and despite the extreme lateness
of the hour, offer to accompany students, teachers, parents to the Nov 16-17th event.
Also propose that students check out the School of the Americas website ahead of
time if they wish:
www.soaw.org. Finally, I'll leave you a video on the topic of the
SOA made in 2002 and entitled: "Guns and Greed."
Peace and all good,

Fr. Bernard

2 comments:

Lee Rials said...

Stunning that a Catholic school would encourage dishonest presentations to its students, and that's what you will get in this speaker. Interesting that so many who talk about peace and justice never mention truth. The truth is, no one has ever shown a single instance of SOA training leading to crime--not one. Saying so without evidence is a moral libel of the people who worked there, and a violation of the 9th commandment. (I'm a retired military officer, and those people were my peers--that's what offends me, the injustice of false accusations.) I am also the public affairs officer for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, which is what these misguided souls are trying to close--with no knowledge whatsoever of what we do. That's the shame of it, when anyone on any workday can walk in our doors, sit in our classes, talk with our students and faculty, and study our instructional materials. Do the research, and be informed.

Rob Peach said...

Despite the fact that you are not a registered user of this blog and therefore not permitted to post, we'll let you slide in the spirit of free speech.

Though your comments do not really justify a response, I wish to at least make some retort on behalf of ummm...the truth?

There is plenty of documented evidence suggesting, really proving, the atrocities which the SOA/WHISC has had a hand in either directly or indirectly.

That said, the research has been done and continues...

Peace be with you.