A debate concerning the legitimacy of the United States Army’s School of the Americas took place onday night in White Gravenor before a substantial Georgetown audience. Colonel William M. Morgan, Army Office of International Affairs, and Jeff Winder, program director of SOA Watch, presented their opposing views about the controversial school.

The School of the Americas is a U.S. Army Training school based in Fort Benning, Ga., that trains soldiers and military personnel from Latin American countries in combat techniques, counter-insurgency, infantry tactics, military intelligence, anti-narcotics and commando operations. Funded each year by $18 million from American taxpayers, the school’s graduates include such notorious dictators as Manuel Noriega of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri of Argentina and Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru.

Sponsored jointly by the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, Peace Action and Campus Ministry, Morgan began the discussion following an introduction by LeeAnn Liu (SFS ’02), president of Peace Action. Morgan defended the viability of the school by explaining that it provides competent, professional military education in all aspects, including human rights.

“What some people tend to overlook is that we also train U.S. military professionals in the identical courses taught at the SOA,” Morgan said. “There are no sniper training or advanced combat courses because we are trying to promote the American values of democracy and human rights.”

He acknowledged the role of the military is extremely controversial in Latin America, and because these answers will not be more readily available anytime soon, the U.S. needs to work with these countries to improve their standards and their capabilities to function in modern society.

“The U.S. government believes that certain norms are acceptable, and we want Latin America to conform to those standards,” he said. “Every state has the right to have institutions for security, but without instruction they are only thugs with guns. Closing the SOA isn’t the answer.”

Morgan said that while several of the school’s graduates have been linked to gross human rights violations throughout the world, it is illogical to correlate those activities with their education at the SOA.

“Individuals commit crimes, not institutions,” he said. “Just because they went to an advanced infantry course doesn’t encourage them to be killers. It is intellectually dishonest to turn this situation around.”

More myth than fact is circulating about the SOA, according to organ. The question is no longer one of responsibility, but instead the school has been turned into a scapegoat for people displeased with U.S. foreign policy.

Winder, however, disputed Morgan’s portrayal of the SOA saying that it promotes the repression of civilians through the provided training. He added that the United States assumes responsibility when its name is attached to these organizations.

“All they are doing is teaching soldiers to fight battles in their own borders and wage war against their own people,” he said. “Americans have responsibility to stand up and say, `We don’t want our tax dollars to support this kind of training.'”

Winder called for a temporary closing of the school to conduct an in-depth investigation. He claimed that there were additional problems with the school such as a lack of prior screening of students, tracking of graduates and, independent oversight or acknowledgment of inappropriate training.

During a visit to Latin America, Winder said that people asked him to be their voice to the world, and their plea drives his work to improve their conditions.

“Everyone should go to these countries and speak to those people first hand,” he said. “How can we go to the families of the victims to explain what happened and then deny our responsibility?”

“To welcome these violators of human rights is to set a terrible example,” Winder said. “The most effective thing we can do to stop these atrocities is set a good example.”

According to Adam Smith (SFS ’02), vice-president of GSC, the debate was sponsored in order to educate the campus community about the SOA. “We are trying to make all the information available so that people can make an educated decision about what they want to support,” he said. Smith also served as the debate’s moderator.