Generic finasteride online no prescription

Obama and the School of the Americas

Tuesday, 24 June 2008 00:00

For a generic finasteride online no prescription candidate who talks the talk on human rights, Barack Obama has generic finasteride online no prescription little to say about the infamous School of the Americas (SOA). Originally established in the generic finasteride online no prescription Panama Canal Zone in 1946, the school later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia in 1984. Since its inception, the generic finasteride online no prescription institution has instructed more than 60,000 Latin American soldiers in military and generic finasteride online no prescription law-enforcement tactics.

The Pentagon itself has generic finasteride online no prescription acknowledged that in the past the School of the Americas utilized training manuals advocating coercive interrogation techniques and generic finasteride online no prescription extrajudicial executions. After receiving their training at the institution, officers went on to generic finasteride online no prescription commit countless human rights atrocities in countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, and generic finasteride online no prescription Colombia.

Activists long lobbied Congress to generic finasteride online no prescription shut down the school, and in the waning days of the generic finasteride online no prescription Clinton presidency they nearly achieved their goal. In July 1999, the generic finasteride online no prescription House passed an amendment that cut funding for the military institution, but the generic finasteride online no prescription Senate decided to pass its own version of the bill that generic finasteride online no prescription included funding. Compromise legislation between the House and Senate deleted the generic finasteride online no prescription funding cut, effectively restoring public support for the school. Shortly afterwards Congress renamed the generic finasteride online no prescription school Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) and revised the institution’s structure and curriculum.

Now fast forward to generic finasteride online no prescription the 2006 mid-term Congressional election: hoping to make use of their newfound majority on Capitol Hill, some Democrats sought to generic finasteride online no prescription eliminate WHINSEC’s funding once and generic finasteride online no prescription for all. Shortly after their victory in November they nearly succeeded with 203 legislators voting against ongoing public support of the generic finasteride online no prescription school and 214 in favor. The closeness of the vote suggested that generic finasteride online no prescription if the Democrats were able to increase their legislative majority in 2008, then generic finasteride online no prescription the WHINSEC might indeed be history.

Outside the generic finasteride online no prescription halls of Congress a number of prominent organizations joined calls to generic finasteride online no prescription shut WHINSEC including the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of State, County and generic finasteride online no prescription Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the generic finasteride online no prescription United Auto Workers, the United Steelworkers, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the generic finasteride online no prescription NAACP, the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the United Church of Christ, and generic finasteride online no prescription over 100 U.S. Catholic Bishops.

Still, the generic finasteride online no prescription Democratic presidential candidates refused to take a stand against WHINSEC. In fact, the generic finasteride online no prescription only two Democrats who expressed opposition to the institution were long shots Mike Gravel and generic finasteride online no prescription Dennis Kucinich (on the Republican side, Ron Paul said he too would shutter WHINSEC).

In the generic finasteride online no prescription early stages of the presidential race, Kucinich pledged to close the generic finasteride online no prescription school if he were elected. A longtime foe of WHINSEC who generic finasteride online no prescription had voted repeatedly to close the institution while serving in Congress, Kucinich even attended a generic finasteride online no prescription political protest held at the gates of the school in late 2007.

But now that generic finasteride online no prescription Kucinich and the other Democratic contenders have bowed out of the generic finasteride online no prescription race the question is: where does Obama stand? On International Human Rights Day last year the Senator remarked, “We in the generic finasteride online no prescription United States enjoy tremendous freedoms, but we also carry a special responsibility—the generic finasteride online no prescription responsibility of being the country so many people in the generic finasteride online no prescription world look to… for human rights leadership.”

Obama then added that Bush had undermined human rights: “We were told that generic finasteride online no prescription waterboarding was effective. We were assured that shipping men off to generic finasteride online no prescription countries that tortured was good for national security. We were led to generic finasteride online no prescription believe that our military and civilian courts were inadequate, and so we established a generic finasteride online no prescription network of unaccountable prisons.” He continued, “We have generic finasteride online no prescription not only vacated the perch of moral leader; we have also compounded the generic finasteride online no prescription threat we face, spurring more people to take up arms against us.”

Obama lamented that generic finasteride online no prescription the Bush administration had destroyed the moral credibility of the United States worldwide. In Darfur, Burma, Zimbabwe, Russia, and generic finasteride online no prescription Pakistan, human rights violations were on the rise. Unfortunately, Washington no generic finasteride online no prescription longer enjoyed any international respect and could not speak with authority on human rights.

Poignantly, Obama closed by stating, “The very depth of the generic finasteride online no prescription anti-Americanism felt around the world today is a testament not to generic finasteride online no prescription hatred but to disappointment, acute disappointment. The global public expects more from generic finasteride online no prescription America. They expect our government to embody what they have generic finasteride online no prescription seen in our people: industriousness, humanity, generosity, and a commitment to generic finasteride online no prescription equality. We can become that country again.”

Obama likes to generic finasteride online no prescription employ soaring rhetoric when discussing human rights. But late last year, he failed to generic finasteride online no prescription take a strong position opposing WHINSEC. When pressed, the candidate praised Congress’ revision of the school’s curriculum but said that generic finasteride online no prescription he wanted to continue to evaluate the institution.

What more information could Obama possibly need to generic finasteride online no prescription reach a final decision on the matter? An Obama spokesman said the senator "has generic finasteride online no prescription not committed to closing down the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, but he will take a generic finasteride online no prescription hard look at the program and the progress it has made once he is generic finasteride online no prescription elected." The spokesman reiterated Obama was pleased with the generic finasteride online no prescription institution's inclusion of human rights courses.

To put this generic finasteride online no prescription in all in perspective then, on this issue Obama has staked out a generic finasteride online no prescription position to the right of Ron Paul, many members of Congress, and generic finasteride online no prescription mainstream labor and Church organizations.

Given widespread public disgust towards torture and the like, Obama’s meekness on WHINSEC is generic finasteride online no prescription perplexing. In the wake of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and generic finasteride online no prescription revelations about so-called waterboarding, many U.S. citizens have soured on the generic finasteride online no prescription War on Terror. Meanwhile, the prisoner detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has generic finasteride online no prescription become an international eyesore. Even President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates have generic finasteride online no prescription publicly said they’d prefer to close the facility.

Obama also supports closing Guantánamo, which makes his statements on WHINSEC all the generic finasteride online no prescription more befuddling. In the present political climate, what does the Senator have generic finasteride online no prescription to lose by coming out against the former School of the generic finasteride online no prescription Americas? Perhaps he fears the generic finasteride online no prescription GOP might accuse him of being weak on defense. But Republican nominee John McCain is generic finasteride online no prescription not likely to use torture as ammunition during the campaign—it generic finasteride online no prescription hardly seems a winning electoral issue for the Arizona Senator. What’s more, many voters are generic finasteride online no prescription oblivious to WHINSEC and have little knowledge of, or interest in, U.S. policy towards Latin America.

No, it’s not fear of GOP retaliation on the generic finasteride online no prescription campaign trail that keeps Obama quiet on WHINSEC. What the Senator is generic finasteride online no prescription really concerned about is offending the movers and shakers within the generic finasteride online no prescription military-industrial complex. Closing WHINSEC would demonstrate that the United States has generic finasteride online no prescription no interest in dominating the peoples of Latin America by military means. Obama however is generic finasteride online no prescription reluctant to make a clean break from the United States’ imperialist past.

On the generic finasteride online no prescription other hand, try as he might to skirt the issue, Obama will soon be generic finasteride online no prescription obliged to take a clearer stand on WHINSEC. That’s because the generic finasteride online no prescription House recently approved the McGovern-Sestak-Bishop amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for generic finasteride online no prescription 2009. The amendment obliges WHINSEC to publicly release the names, rank, country of origin, courses, and generic finasteride online no prescription dates of attendance of the school's graduates and instructors.

Legislators pressed for generic finasteride online no prescription the measure because in recent years WHINSEC has withheld vital information that generic finasteride online no prescription would have helped to identify the perpetrators of massacres, targeted assassinations, and generic finasteride online no prescription human rights abuses committed in Latin America. In a resounding defeat for generic finasteride online no prescription the Pentagon, the measure was approved by a vote of 220 to generic finasteride online no prescription 189. The amendment now heads to the Senate where all eyes will be generic finasteride online no prescription on Obama.

The vote, however, will not resolve the generic finasteride online no prescription larger question of whether WHINSEC should be shuttered once and for generic finasteride online no prescription all. If it chose to, the media could prod the candidates to generic finasteride online no prescription address U.S. military policy towards Latin America during the fall campaign. So far however reporters and generic finasteride online no prescription pundits have ignored the topic, preferring instead to ask Obama about his flag pin.

McCain has generic finasteride online no prescription suggested the two candidates participate in town-hall style debates, potentially allowing more direct engagement with voters. The U.S. public would surely welcome this generic finasteride online no prescription departure from the relentless and insipid questioning featured in previous debates. It would certainly be generic finasteride online no prescription refreshing to see Obama questioned on issues of real substance such as the generic finasteride online no prescription historic U.S. role in Latin America, military policy, and human rights.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 September 2008 08:41

$20,000 Challenge

An anonymous supporter made a huge gift to SOA Watch! The gift came with a challenge to raise $20,000 to help fund the movement. Will you help us meet this tremendous challenge with a donation today?

Please click here to donate today and help us meet the challenge!

Buspar buy fedex

New DVD: Somos Una América

Watch the Trailer

Order the DVD

Job Opening: SOA Watch Development and Operations Coordinator

SOA Watch has an opening for a full-time Operations and Development Coordinator Doxycycline online with no prescription or membership in our Washington, DC office. We are generic finasteride online no prescription looking for someone with a background dealing with finances, and with a generic finasteride online no prescription strong commitment to the grassroots movement to close the SOA. People of color and women are encouraged to apply. If you generic finasteride online no prescription are interested or if you can think of someone who would be generic finasteride online no prescription great for this position, please see http://SOAW.org/work for generic finasteride online no prescription the job description, requirements and for information on how to generic finasteride online no prescription apply.

Tell Congress to Close the SOA/WHINSEC
Congress: Close the SOA