TRAINING KILLERS

Editor -- Thank you for the excellent Open Forum article by Elias Castillo.
The Clinton-backed "Plan Colombia" anti-drug war is doomed to failure
precisely because it is a military-based strategy. As Castillo points out,
a more reasonable solution would be economic and governmental restructuring
by educated civilians, not combat-trained military personnel.

American tax dollars are currently being spent to train Colombian soldiers
at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga., who have already been
involved in the massacre of innocent civilians in Colombia. This "school"
has such a horrendous reputation that its name is being changed to the
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, at the same U.S.
Army location. Under the new name, it will reopen Jan. 17 to continue its
mission of providing Latin American military personnel for undertakings
such as the current drug war.

We applaud the Castillo analysis.

Dolores Perez Priem, Co-Chair, SOA Watch West, Unitarian Universalist
Social Justice Ministries, San Francisco