NEWS
Thursday, December 18, 2003
A friend of mine who works for the Kerry campaign has sent me a link to a story in the New York Post about Gen. Wesley Clark's support for the notorious terrorist training camp run by the U.S. Army called the "School of the Americas," called "School of Hard Knocks for Wes":"WASHINGTON - In a position that's likely to alienate some Democratic primary voters, retired Gen. Wesley Clark is a big booster of the controversial "School of the Americas" - which critics charge has history of graduating Latin American soldiers accused of rape, murder and torture.
Clark fought for years to keep the school at Fort Benning, Ga., open, even testifying on its behalf in Congress, despite graduates like imprisoned Panamanian ex-strongman Manuel Noriega. ...
The school has served as a training ground for thousands of Latin American officers, whose instruction had reportedly including how to torture and assassinate.
Aside from Noriega, the school is known for alums like Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina, Haitian coup leader Raoul Cedras, Salvadoran death-squad organizer Roberto D'Aubuisson and former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
One of the most controversial school incidents occurred in November 1989, when a Salvadoran army patrol executed six Jesuit priests, their cook and her daughter. The United Nations found that 19 of the 26 soldiers graduated from the school.
In response to complaints, the Pentagon "closed" the school in 2000, but reopened it in 2001 under a new name. "
Posted by Rob at 1:31 PM
