Being Right Isn't As Much Fun As I Anticipated

Before the invasion of Iraq, I had a long argument about it with my cousin. My cousin had been in the Army Reserves, and trained at Fort Benning, GA. So he knew what the School of the Americas is.

For those who don't, the SOA (now renamed the "Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation") trained members of the Latin American military. It had a hideous record. Its graduates overthrew democratic governments all over Latin America, and organized death squads responsible for rape, torture, and murder. Manuel Noriega was one graduate; another was Robert D'Aubuisson, a Salvadoran lunatic responsible for the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero.

(The SOA used to say they trained soldiers in "counterinsurgency." Remember that word.)

Now, my cousin is not an idiot. He was very aware of what the SOA graduates did. And his heart's in the right place: he doesn't like rape, torture and murder.

So in an effort to convince him, I said that our invasion of Iraq would inevitably lead to a situation like that in Latin America. Our Iraqi allies would act like graduates of the School of the Americas.

My cousin recoiled from this, and said it was ridiculous. He explained he "had the wit" to distinguish between US troops and SOA graduates.

Today, Newsweek is reporting this:

'The Salvador Option': The Pentagon May Put Special-Forces-led Assassination or Kidnapping Teams in Iraq

What to do about the deepening quagmire of Iraq? The Pentagon’s latest approach is being called "the Salvador option"...

Following that model, one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers...

You see? If you train someone to target "insurgents," you are training them in "counterinsurgency."

Of course, it's true we're not bringing the "handpicked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen" to the School of the Americas. Instead, we're bringing the SOA to them.