Anti-War Up-Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base

Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base after

Commiting Civil Disobedience to Close School of Americas



Columbus, GA - Over ten thousand people gathered this weekend outside

the gates of Ft. Benning, Georgia in the most diverse demonstration yet

of opposition to the School of the Americas, renamed Western Hemisphere

Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHISC), a combat-training school

for Latin American soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans

have been tortured, raped, assassinated, "disappeared", massacred, and

forced into refuge by SOA graduates.



The gathering culminated today with a solemn "funeral" procession. As of

5PM at least 30 people had been arrested after entering the base in an

act of nonviolent civil disobedience. They took this action despite

knowing they likely face 3-6 months in federal prison. They are being

held at the Muscogee County Jail in Columbus. Since protests against

SOA/WHISC began over ten years ago, 170 people have served or are now

serving prison sentences for civil disobedience.



"Prison will not deter us," said Kathy Kelly, who was among those

arrested today. "We intend to close this school and to change the

foreign policy that this school represents." Kelly works with and helped

initiate Voices in the Wilderness, a grassroots organization that

campaigns to end economic and military warfare against the Iraqi people.



Yesterday the U.S. Military blasted music at high decibels from inside

Ft. Benning, directed at the peaceful, permitted demonstration outside

of the gates of the base. The music stopped late yesterday afternoon.

Throughout the weekend Columbus Police used metal detectors to search

every person attending the demonstration.



"We will not allow these blatantly unconstitutional attempts to drown

out our voices," said Bill Quigley, a professor of law at Loyola Law

School, and lawyer for SOA Watch. "These childish actions by the

federal, state and local government only strengthen our resolve to stand

up for our rights and all the victims of the School of the Americas."



The Columbus convergence concludes a week of resistance to empire and

corporate globalization. Thousands gathered in Miami to protest the Free

Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and 200,000 gathered in London-during

Bush's visit-to protest the invasion and occupation of Iraq. SOA Watch

organizers have been coordinating with organizers in Miami, and working

in solidarity with organizers in England. Yesterday the three

mobilizations released a joint statement of solidarity (see

http://www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=689).



"Our struggles are interconnected," said Fr. Roy Bourgeouis, founder of

SOA Watch. "From the SOA, to FTAA, to the invasion of Iraq, our

government's foreign policy is serving the interests of a few, and

making us a lot of enemies."



The Latin American Solidarity Conference website can be found at

www.lasolidarity.org

>Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base after
>
>Commiting Civil Disobedience to Close School of Americas
>

Gawdamnit! redvet,

If you guys truly believe our government is evil, you need to do better than
sending in nuns, priests, veterans and students. Gawdamnit! this is really
weak, wimpy and pathetic. You need to get some backbone, pick up weapons and
get in the hunt. How else are you going to stop them? When evil moves, you've
got to put the chalk, chants, kleenex, and weepy-eyed rhetoric down and go do
battle with real weapons. Evil is not logical, just, fair or reasonable. You
must simply kill it.

My continued disappointment is turning to profound apoplexy (unconsciousness).
I am numbed by your intransigence. You must change tactics or evil will destroy
you. What say you, redvet? If your cause is just, you will sacrifice
everything, right?

And I'm stilled pissed the local anti-war have thrown in the chalk. Gawdamnit!
That group didn't slowly fade into the background over a period of time; they
just up and vanished in a heartbeat.

Nuns and priests...... damn, redvet, if these are your front line troops, you
are in big trouble.

Greg

In article , redvet
wrote:

> Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base after
>
> Commiting Civil Disobedience to Close School of Americas
>

Stupid behavior has consequences....

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 06:59:05 -1000, "redvet" wrote:

>Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base


The key word here is "ON."

Stupid behavior has consequences, as John advised you.

And contrary to their claim, prison WILL stop them, at least for the
time they are in.
Will you be joining them? You could show them the ropes.

They should have shot them with a
..50 caliber machine gun.

"GrgLnsctt" wrote in message
news:20031125123844.25936.00000958@mb-m05.news.cs.com...
> >Nuns, Priests, Veterans & Students Arrested on the Military Base after
> >
> >Commiting Civil Disobedience to Close School of Americas
> >
>
> Gawdamnit! redvet,
>
> If you guys truly believe our government is evil, you need to do better
than
> sending in nuns, priests, veterans and students. Gawdamnit! this is really
> weak, wimpy and pathetic.


Nuns, priests, and veterans are weak, wimpy and pathetic? I believe that is
what you said. I don't want to get in a pissing contest with you,
particularly, but may I respectfully suggest that you engage brain before
putting mouth in gear?

ted
with all due respect

You need to get some backbone, pick up weapons and
> get in the hunt. How else are you going to stop them? When evil moves,
you've
> got to put the chalk, chants, kleenex, and weepy-eyed rhetoric down and go
do
> battle with real weapons. Evil is not logical, just, fair or reasonable.
You
> must simply kill it.
>
> My continued disappointment is turning to profound apoplexy
(unconsciousness).
> I am numbed by your intransigence. You must change tactics or evil will
destroy
> you. What say you, redvet? If your cause is just, you will sacrifice
> everything, right?
>
> And I'm stilled pissed the local anti-war have thrown in the chalk.
Gawdamnit!
> That group didn't slowly fade into the background over a period of time;
they
> just up and vanished in a heartbeat.
>
> Nuns and priests...... damn, redvet, if these are your front line troops,
you
> are in big trouble.
>
> Greg

>Nuns, priests, and veterans are weak, wimpy and pathetic? I believe that is
>what you said

Nah! There is nothing wimpy about nuns, priests, students and veterans. I'm
simply confronting redvet. His never ending harangue is anti-military and
anti-government. I'm simply challenging him to pick up arms and fight this
alleged evil. I think that's what I wrote. I think using (the aforementioned)
group on the frontlines of your cause is weak and wimpy. The strong implication
here is that redvet will put anyone and anything on the front lines before he
exposes himself to any danger. The depth and resolve of his core beliefs are
not well served by using others.

If you are passionate (a true believer) about an idea, you will risk everything
to preserve it. We did not send nuns, priests, students and veterans to the
jungles of Vietnam to fight communist aggression - we sent armed soldiers.