Osama Bin Laden allegedly was the mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of American Embassies in Dar Es Salaam,
Tanzania, and Nairobi,
Kenya. Also, in November of 1998, a U.S. grand jury indicted Bin-Laden for a series of
terrorist attacks against the U.S., including the
embassy bombings.
Alright, sure, most of us know about Bin-Laden and his escapades with
explosives, but what most of us don’t know is that he was trained to be a
terrorist…
in the United States. Surprise.
The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) is located in Fort Benning,
Georgia, and was established in
Panama in the year 1946. Supposedly, it was set up to promote stability in the region, but the school’s reputation for graduating despots earned it the fitting nickname of “School of the
Assassins.”
Some Neat Facts About the SOA:
1) The SOA trains 900-2,000 people a year from
Latin America.
2) The SOA teaches combat skills, counterinsurgency operations
sniper fire,
military intelligence,
commando tactics and
psychological operations.
3) The SOA used training manuals that advocated
torture techniques,
assassinations, and
blackmail.
4)
Latin American soldiers in the SOA are not taught to defend their borders from invasion, but instead, are taught to make war on their own people.
5) The SOA teaches specifically against religious leaders,
labor organizers, educators,
student groups, and others working for the rights of the
poor.
6) The SOA is connected to the growing human rights abuse problem in
Mexico.
Over the last 50 years, the government has trained foreigners to do their dirty work. Billions of dollars were spent in the training of these
terrorists. Yet, after the government used them, their faces and names appear on the U.S.’s most wanted lists. The government calls this “
blowback." Ironic, yes?
This information was obtained from:
“
Blowback” by Marc Cooper
“
Mexico and the U.S. Army School of the Americas: What is the ‘School of
Assassins?’”
For more information, see:
Close the School of
Assassins: http://www.webcom.com/peaceact/soafs.html
The US Army School of
Assassins: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lormand/soa/
Fort Benning, Georgia Home of the Infantry USAIC USAIS ARMY Ranger Airborne Basic Training: http://www.benning.army.mil/fbhome/