- The Record Archives
- Volume CXVIII, No. XXII - December 1, 2005 -
The SOA: Training Santa's little soldiers
Staff writer
Christmas is coming.
In all honesty, it is fun to be frivolous.
There is some excitement in decorating our houses in the gaudy tinsel and trinkets of the season.
The televised clones of Jesus hawking salvation and discount savings can become a little hypnotizing, but there is nothing like the cheer of a small town during the season.
I love the holidays because my family drops politics.
It is a time when we become grateful for each other, our country and the safety our military provides.
America is a great place.
Last year I was in Central America about this time.
They had Christmas trees, tinsel and even eggnog.
Everything is cheaper down there, so I bought ornaments and presents for friends back home.
I was shocked when my friend Ben after opening his gift found a "MADE IN THE USA" sticker on it.
I bought it in El Salvador, so why would it be labeled that way?
He hung it up anyway, happy to have a present, and we sat there admiring the craftsmanship: golden macaroni glued to an embalmed bloody thumb.
Notwithstanding, I was confused about the origin of the sticker.
Why "MADE IN THE USA"?
I did some research and learned that El Salvador and practically all of Central and South America is crawling with the adhesives.
It turns out Santa's little workshop has been busy exporting elves from the United States to countries south of us.
I playfully imagined industrious little men in green jumpers.
I could see them, studying the curriculum of their craft, sharpening and practicing the use of their tools and preparing their reindeer for the journey.
It would have been quite a sight to see: A squadron of mounted elves flying for Latin America.
It turns out 65,000 soldiers have graduated from a "workshop" at the United States military base in Fort Benning, Ga. obscurely named the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.
It is better known (and was once named) as the School of Americas (SOA).
The SOA trains Latin Americans in combat, interrogation, and an odd blend of United States diplomacy.
Having returned to their home countries, the graduates have become involved in some of the most heinous human rights abuses.
"Securing Cooperation" involves the violent suppression of movements opposed to United States economic and political interests.
The SOA quells labor and social movements, kidnaps teachers, assassinates priests, tortures children and murders brothers and nuns.
A "MADE IN THE USA" education follows SOA soldiers wherever they go.
They are accountable for the deaths of 75,000 El Salvadorians, the slaughter of 200,000 Guatemalans and the murder, disappearance and displacement of 2 million Colombians.
The list goes on. Tomorrow it will be longer.
I apologize.
This is depressing.
I'm going make myself feel better by sending Christmas cards wishing "Peace on Earth". I'll send one to my friends in El Salvador.
Be grateful for your comfort.
Merry Christmas.
This is the opinion of Drew Madson, a sophomore at SJU. Contact him at admadson@csbsju.edu.