Weekend Film: School of Assassins

2 years ago

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Every Friday night, PoliticsDaily.com brings you a documentary courtesy of our friends at snagfilms.com.

Last week, Barack Obama released memos from the Bush Administration's Justice Department that detailed interrogation techniques used on terror suspects. The debate this week has been a) whether or not these methods could be considered torture, and b) whether we, as a country, are comfortable employing such forms of interrogation.

The techniques listed in the memos do not represent the first time the United States has been accused of utilizing torture.

In the film "Father Roy: Inside the School of Assassins," the U.S Army's School of the Americas is described as a place where military tactics are taught to some of the worst human rights abusers in the world. Here's an account of the film. Watch the film below for free:

FATHER ROY follows the fight against the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA) from the gates of Fort Benning to the halls of Congress. A Vietnam vet, former missionary and leading grassroots activist, Father Roy's interest in human rights was spurred by the murder of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador. He focused his aim on the SOA when it was revealed that those responsible for Romero's death _ and hundreds of other atrocities across the region _ had trained at the school. According to one congressman, the SOA has "the nefarious distinction of being the place in the United States where the worst human rights abusers in the Western Hemisphere come to learn military tactics" _ tactics that many claimed included the use of torture.

Filed Under: Foreign Policy, National Security

Tagged: School of the Americas, SchoolOfTheAmericas, torture

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