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Not Service Oriented Architecture, you ninnies, the "School of the Americas" at Fort Benning, Georgia, now called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.  It’s time to stop funding this school for military torturers.  Annually, people of conscience go to Fort Benning and engage in civil disobedience to draw attention to the horrors perpetrated by graduates of the School of the Americas.  Thew protests are about to begin again.  Pay attention to them.  Write your legislators.  Consider this statement by a conscientious objector at Fort Benning and juxtapose her values with the values of the government that has us training Latin American soldiers how to wire up a human being to a car battery.

Statement made at Ft. Benning, GA on November 17, 2024 by SPC Katherine
Jashinski, first woman in the military to publicly declare resistance to

My name is Katherine Jashinski. I am a SPC in
the Texas Army National Guard. I was born in Milwaukee, WI and I am 22 years
old. When I graduated high school I moved to Austin, TX to attend

college. At age 19 I enlisted in the Guard as a cook because I wanted to
experience military life. When I enlisted I believed that killing was
immoral, but also that war was an inevitable part of life and therefore, an
exception to the rule.

After enlisting I began the slow transformation
into adulthood. Like many teenagers who leave their home for the first time,
I went through a period of growth and soul searching. I encountered many

new people and ideas that broadly expanded my narrow experiences.  After
reading essays by Bertrand Russel and traveling to the South Pacific and
talking to people from all over the world, my beliefs about humanity and its
relation to war changed. I began to see a bigger picture of the world and I
started to reevaluate everything that I had been taught about war as a
child. I developed the belief
that taking human life was wrong and war was
no exception. I was then able to clarify who I am and what it is that I
stand for.

The thing that I revere most in this world is life, and I
will never take another person’s life.

Just as others have faith in
God, I have faith in humanity

I have a deeply held belief that people
must solve all conflicts through peaceful diplomacy and without the use of
violence. Violence only begets more violence.

Because I believe so
strongly in non-violence, I cannot perform any role in the military. Any
person doing any job in the Army, contributes in some way to the planning,
preparation or
implementation of war.

For eighteen months, while my
CO status was pending, I have honored my commitment to the Army and done
everything that they asked of me.  However, I was ordered to Ft. Benning last
Sunday to complete weapons training in preparation to deploy for
war.

Now I have come to the point where I am forced to choose between my
legal obligation to the Army and my deepest moral values. I want to make
it clear that I will not compromise my beliefs for any reason.
I have a
moral obligation not only to myself but to the world as a whole, and this is
more important than any contract.

I have come to my beliefs through
personal, intense, reflection and study. They are everything that I am and
all that I stand for. After much thought and contemplation about the effect
my decision will have on my future, my family, the possibility of prison,
and the inevitable scorn and ridicule that I will face, I am completely
resolute. I will exercise my every legal right not pick up a weapon,
and to participate in war effort. I am determined to be discharged as a CO,
and while undergoing the appeals process; I will continue to follow
orders that do not conflict with my conscience until my status has been
resolved. I am prepared to accept the consequences of adhering to my
beliefs.

What characterizes a conscientious objector is their
willingness to face adversity and uphold their values at any cost. We do
this not because it is easy or popular, but because we are unable to do

otherwise. thank you.

http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/11/1784231.html