User:JuneJuly/sandbox

This is my sandbox. I use it to learn how to work this thing called Wikipedia.

Article Evaluation

This is where I will copy and paste links of the articles I may possibly edit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_War I will investigate into this one in the near future (10/3).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Hemisphere_Institute_for_Security_Cooperation Because this Wiki page is about the current Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) and not specifically the old School of the Americas that I am interested in, I will put a focus on expanding the SOA section and history of the article. I will also focus on the current and past criticism of WHINSEC and its alleged instruction of human rights violations.

Disputes about the article include: "I think the main problem is that the "History" section is mostly in favor of the school, where in fact there's not much about the actual "history", while controversial parts of the history are only on the criticism part. I mean, for and against are in 2 separate parts, while "history" should be "history", representing both positive and negative sides.This part should be rewritten in order to match with the title of the section.--Desyman44 (talk) 21:52, 28 December 2009 (UTC)" → I will attempt to provide a more neutral POV by expanding on the history section from a neutral perspective (hopefully).

Deeper outline of what I want to improve in the article [after thoroughly reading it]

In reading the blurb at the beginning, I could maybe include 1-2 sentences regarding what WHINSEC does now. Even though I am focusing on the Cold War era, I think it would be fitting to have at least some info about the current state of WHINSEC since the past procedures of SOA are mentioned in pretty good detail in the intro. This would increase the neutral perspective.

**History: SOA

As it is, this section is pretty neutral. However, there is a wikipedia note that says it needs to be EXPANDED, so I should attempt to do that. I think finding pieces of history regarding WHO it was founded by and WHY it was established in more detail is a good idea- it's pretty bare right now. I can also go more in depth into their practices at the school/how things worked and a more detailed account of why it closed.

History: WHINSEC

Although the era of this institution technically takes place after the Cold War, it still is greatly effected by the Cold War- which is pretty interesting. I could add a couple of sentences regarding how it claims to be different from the old SOA and if it even actually is. (the end of the first section above and the beginning of this section sort of go together- how it closed and how a new one opened)

History: Participation

So this section explains the statistics on who WHINSEC has instructed. Which I think is fine.

But then it goes on to say that all the countries of LA pulled their forces out of WHINSEC, but it doesn't actually say why they did that. So I could attempt to find some information on why all of a sudden these countries (Belize, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) have a change of heart. Of course I think I will focus most on the SOA section here because it applies most closely to the Cold War, but I think that the rest of the sections are so connected to and influenced by the history of the school and Cold War in U.S. and Latin America that it's ok to look at them too.

Current Organization: Charter

I am not 100% sure what to make of this section as it is kind of just an overview of the charter/what the WHINSEC claims to do. That being said, there is a Wiki note that says the neutrality of the section is being disputed, but if the charter is from the point of view of the WHINSEC org, of course it is biased. I might leave this alone?? It kind of gets into the talk page dispute of whether or not WHINSEC should have a separate page from SOA. But I think it will be ok as long as SOA information that I am going to add stays in the history section...because after all the SOA is the part of the history of WHINSEC and in my opinion it's difficult to separate the two.

Current Organization: Background

This section is blank. I am not really sure how this is any different from the history section on WHINSEC??

Criticism of WHINSEC: Human Rights Violations by Graduates

I can provide EVIDENCE in this section. Like the other sections, it is pretty vague- only really saying that some human rights violations are connected to the school. If I can find specific instances of violence and dictatorships being tied to the school/graduates of the school. And then, on the other side, if I can find instances that don't point to this or remarks from officials at the school itself or info taken from some of the curriculum? Because even though I question the morals of the school, the article has to be neutral.

Criticism of WHINSEC: William J. Perry Center human rights controversy involving first WHINSEC Commandant

HAS POTENTIAL FOR STUDY.

Section discusses an instance wherein the first commandant of WHINSEC (Richard Downie) and the Center for Human Rights in general, were under scrutiny for allegedly protected Downie from being held accountable to inappropriate behavior- on instance which INVOLVES CHILE IN 1976. This controversy is not the clearest, but if I can find sources on it, it would be interesting to clear up. It definitely needs clarification to make the section more understandable.

SOA Watch/Protests/Graduates

In looking at this, I just have to be wary of jumping to conclusions. There is this piece of info that says something like "even though this dictator attended SOA, it is on record that he had only taken radio courses long before the conflict in his country began." Of course, I don't know how true that is yet, but I just need to really analyze the connection before drawing explicit connections.

**There are short documentaries listed at the bottom and it might help to watch a couple of those!

**ALSO although I have outlined many places where I could add info/make things more neutral, I think I should choose 2-3 sections so I can thoroughly add well researched material and not get taken away with the entire article.

Final drafts of the sentences I have added:

Lead Section (the bolded sentences are the pieces of info I have added)

WHINSEC is a United States Department of Defense Institute located at Fort Benning near Columbus, Georgia, that provides military training to government personnel in US-allied Latin American nations. It also provides training to U.S. military students to promote Spanish language and cultural competency.

In 2000/2001, the institute was renamed to WHINSEC. According to a Command and General Foundation News issue, the current curriculum at WHINSEC is compatible with curriculum taught at U.S. military academies.  WHINSEC faculty members travel to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas throughout the year in order to remain up to date on curriculum changes. However, the school remains controversial due to its influence over affairs in Latin America and its education of Latin American state actors within the military and law enforcement.

History: SOA

The U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) was founded in 1946 and originally located at Fort Gulick in the Panama Canal Zone. The School aimed to instruct the armed forces of Latin America using training programs that were doctrinally sound and compatible with United States customs and traditions in a cost effective and militaristically professional way.  From 1961 (during the Kennedy administration), the School was assigned the specific Cold War goal of teaching "anti-communist" counterinsurgency training to military personnel of Latin American countries. At the time and in those places, the label "communist" was, in the words of anthropologist Lesley Gill, "... an enormously elastic category that could accommodate almost any critic of the status quo." [I am changing this mostly because the grammar before bothered me]. During this period, Colombia supplied the largest number of students from any client country. [moved location]

On September 21, 1984, the school was expelled from Panama under the terms of the Panama Canal Treaty. Prior to this expulsion, politicians and journalists in Panama had complained that civilian graduates from the school engaged in repressive and antidemocratic behavior. In December of that year, the school reopened at Fort Benning, Georgia, as part of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. Spanish was the official language of the school and although human rights training was a part of the program, many questioned the effectiveness of this curriculum. In 1989 the School set in place a requirement that a basic, sufficient block of human rights instruction would be 8 hours long. Further international curriculum on human rights was included in the instruction, as were warnings about the penalties of human rights abuses. Despite this required instruction, the School still utilized material from Spanish language training manuals that discussed methods of coercion against insurgents through execution and torture from 1982 until 1991.  The Department of Defense released experts of these manuals in September 1996, prompting further criticism of and controversy surrounding the School. 

As the Cold War drew to a close around 1990, United States foreign policy shifted focus from "anti-communism" to the War on Drugs, with narcoguerillas replacing "communists". This term was later replaced by "the more ominous sounding 'terrorist.'" Now, all elements of the School of the Americas, currently known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, are located at Fort Benning with the exception of the Helicopter School Battalion which is located at Fort Rucker, Alabama.

**Within this section I also reorganized pre-existing information so that the section made more sense chronologically.

Criticism of WHINSEC: Graduates of School of the Americas

A number of graduates of the SOA and WHINSEC have been accused and sentenced of human rights violations and criminal activity in their home countries. In response to public debate and in order to promote transparency, the Freedom of Information Act released records that tracked trainees of the school.  In August 2007, according to an Associated Press report, Colonel Alberto Quijano of the Colombian army's Special Forces was arrested for providing security and mobilizing troops for Diego León Montoya Sánchez (aka "Don Diego"), the leader of the Norte del Valle Cartel and one of the FBI's 10 most-wanted criminals. School of the Americas Watch said in a statement that it matched the names of those in the scandal with its database of attendees at the institute. Alberto Quijano attended courses and was an instructor who taught classes on peacekeeping operations and democratic sustainment at the school from 2003 to 2004.

Other former students include Salvadoran Colonel and Atlacatl Battalion leader Domingo Monterrosa and other members of his group who were responsible for the El Mozote massacre, and Franck Romain, former leader of the Tonton Macoute who was responsible for the St Jean Bosco massacre. Honduran General Luis Alonso Discua was also a graduate of the school who later on commanded Battalion 3-16, a military death squad.

Critics of SOA Watch argue the connection between school attendees and violent activity is often misleading. According to Paul Mulshine, Roberto D'Aubuisson's sole link to the SOA is that he had taken a course in radio operations long before El Salvador's civil war began. Further others assert that training statistics show that Argentina, a country that engaged in much anti-Communist sentiment and violence during the Cold War era, had a relatively small number of military personnel educated at the school.  

Potential Sources for School of the Americas (aka WHINSEC)

McCoy, Katherine E. 2005. "TRAINED TO TORTURE? THE HUMAN RIGHTS EFFECTS OF MILITARY TRAINING AT THE SCHOOL OF THE AMERICAS." Latin American Perspectives 32, no. 6: 47-64. Historical Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed October 16, 2017).

- this article addresses the criticism that the SOA has undergone specifically by human rights orgs that claim that most graduates of the school participated in the Latin American coups and human rights violations since the 1960s. The article is based on SOA student records, government documents, and newspapers as well as secondary sources.

Book: The School of the Americas: military training and political violence in the Americas; Lesley Gill [on the third floor of the library)

- this book does not provide a neutral standpoint but rather argues that the SOA training program institutionalized state sponsored violence in Latin America. It also specifically addresses the implications this practice had for US imperialism. (IMPERIALISM IS IMPORTANT IN THIS BOOK).

Lesley Gill (2004) Soldiering the Empire, NACLA Report on the Americas, 38:2, 6-8 [found on HAPI http://hapi.ucla.edu/article/citation/261197]

- addresses the switch from SOA to WHINSEC and the ways in which the institution and US involvement in Latin America changed and did not change. However, I am not 100% sure about this article as Gill doesn't provide any indication of where she got her information and facts.

Grimmett, Richard F., and Mark P. Sullivan. "US Army School of the Americas: Background and Congressional Concerns." LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WASHINGTON DC CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE, 2001.

- this is a report done by the Congressional Research Service basically outlining the history of the School of the Americas from a seemingly neutral standpoint--it would most likely be good for factual background information. (is it a primary source though? It is a congressional report.)

http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec/soawhinsec-grads/notorious-grads

- website dedicated to the independently started "School of the Americas Watch." Is obviously very biased agains the SOA, but could be used to explain one critical side of thinking about the school. Would have to make sure to keep in mind the neutrality of my Wiki article if using this source, but could show just one of the many perspectives from using this.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/soa.htm

- another site explaining the history of the SOA and the critiques of it. This report is more sympathetic towards the US training of the Latin American leaders.

**Find more sources discussing specific humanitarian violations that can be directly linked to the SOA. Right now many of the articles are discussing the stats of the number of dictators that came from the school and the magnitude of the violations they committed without getting real specific. Try to find concrete instances of this and use them as examples on the Wiki page so as to promote validity and neutrality.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ruth_Blakeley/publication/264715716_Elite_Interviews/links/545b50050cf28779a4dab3d2.pdf

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Western-Hemisphere-Institute-for-Security-Cooperation