Two sides on Army school debate meet in forum

COLUMBUS - To the Rev. Roy Bourgeois, Fort Benning&#39;s Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation is just an extension of its predecessor, the School of the Americas. <br> <br> To Army Col. Richard Downie, the institute&#39;s commander, it is much more than the school that Bourgeois&#39; SOA Watch accused of training Latin American soldiers to commit atrocities in their homelands. <br> <br> The two men met Wednesday night - a little more than a week before SOA Watch begins its 13th annual protest against the institute - to air their views in a public forum. <br> <br> Bourgeois got some tough questions from Columbus and Fort Benning residents among a crowd of about 400 at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. <br> <br> They wanted to know things such as: What will it take before SOA Watch ends its protests? Why aren&#39;t the names of victims of left-wing violence in Latin America mentioned in the protests? Why doesn&#39;t the group take its ``offensive&#39;&#39; protest to Washington and leave Fort Benning alone? <br> <br> Bourgeois replied that the academy for soldiers and police does not benefit the poor of Latin America. The Vietnam veteran said it serves as a ``black eye&#39;&#39; to the U.S. military, and it represents a foreign policy that benefits the few at the expense of the many. <br> <br> ``What we&#39;re about is, we&#39;re not trying to shut down Fort Benning. We&#39;re trying to shut down this school that&#39;s causing shame to our country and bringing death to Latin America,&#39;&#39; said Bourgeois, a priest with the Maryknoll Order of Catholics. <br> <br> Downie was asked whether formerly brutal military regimes of Latin America have been made more humane by students who attended the institute, and how does the institute know that? <br> <br> Downie answered a definite yes to the first. The answer to the second was less definite. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re making sure the ones with the guns ... really do respect dignity and rights for everyone, not just the rich,&#39;&#39; Downie said. ``U.S. values and morals are taught in all U.S. military institutions.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Bourgeois, who worked in Latin America after his ordination, began the SOA protest in 1990, a year after the massacre of six Jesuit priests, their co-worker and her teenage daughter in El Salvador. Graduates of the school of the Americas were linked to the atrocity. <br> <br> This year&#39;s protest is set for Nov. 16-17. <br> <br> Bourgeois said the vast majority of Latin Americans fear the military, while lacking good jobs, education and health care. <br> <br> ``It is out of that, soldiers come to the institute,&#39;&#39; Bourgeois said. ``And we are led to ask the same questions that we are asking today: How are these forces going to improve the quality of life for their people? <br> <br> ``The school is a symbol of something deeper. It is a symbol of a foreign policy that is wrong,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> The institute opened two months after the School of the Americas closed in December 2000. Officials say it doesn&#39;t share the more aggressive Cold War policy of its predecessor and that it has placed greater emphasis on human rights training. <br> <br> Downie, a 26-year Army veteran and West Point graduate with a doctorate in international relations, said the institute is instrumental in providing ``interagency operations&#39;&#39; in the region like anti-terrorism, counter-narcotics and disaster relief. <br> <br> ``You will hear Rev. Bourgeois say that the military and police can&#39;t teach democracy,&#39;&#39; Downie said. ``I disagree. Who better to teach those things? What better role model can you think of other than our police and military?&#39;&#39;