The Baltimore Emergency Response Network [BERN] traveled to Washington on April 21 to show its support for the Fast to Close the School of the Americas [SOAl on the Capitol steps. When the BERN delegation arrived, Father Roy Bourgeois, the Maryknoll priest who heads the campaign, was there waving a multi-colored banner calling for closure of the SOA. He recently finished a six-month stint in jail for his most recent arrest at Fort Benning, Georgia where the SOA trains Latin American assassins.
As I sat in the shadow of the Capitol dome looking across the expanse towards the U.S. Supreme Court, I found an engaging assortment of subversive literature. One selection was "The Truth Cannot Be Silenced...," which is a copy of the trial testimonies of the SOA 13. They were arrested on November 16, 1995 calling for closing the SOA. Reading the trial testimonies, I thought about Edmund Burke's comment about "good men" [and women] doing nothing in spite of the evil around them.
One good person is Thomas Crain, the director of Johns Hopkins University's Liberal Arts Non-Credit Programs. In a booklet advertising non-credit programs at JHU, he enthusiastically promoted an eight-week lecture series at the School of Continuing Studies: "Of particular interest this spring is From Spies to Satellites, a thoughtful enquiry into the changing role of U.S. national security and intelligence agencies in a post Cold-War world. . ."
BERN felt a "thoughtful enquiry" of U.S. intelligence agencies was out of order and demonstrated each Thursday evening during the lecture series. From BERN's perspective, these national security agencies should be indicted by the World Court,
On March 6, the evening of the first lecture, Crain approached a BERN demonstrator and offered to host a ninth lecture with speakers offering a critical examination of U.S. security agencies. So negotiations followed, but in a March 21 letter, Crain wrote "regrettably, for financial, logistical, and programmatic reasons, we will be unable to hold the extra session..." It is assumed Crain honestly thought it would be fair to hold a ninth session. That is, until he was taken to the woodshed by the powers-to-be for his naiveté.
During BERN's demonstration before the April 3 lecture, Crain approached me and Dick Ochs, demanding an end to the protests on "private property." I argued a right to speak out against the criminal activities of U.S. intelligence agencies. When I described one of the lecturers, former Director of Central Intelligence, James Woolsey, as a terrorist, Crain said "I was full of [fecal matter]." In response, I Indicated that I will not tolerate such language, as it is very violent. He soon left, and we continued to demonstrate that evening and the following Thursdays until the end of the lecture series.
As Dick would later write, when Crain was dressed down by his superiors, "he decided to throw his lot in with the defenders of torturers." Dick's commentary made the point that "principle is thrown to the wind" when it is inconvenient to promote truth and justice.
During the lecture series, Jennifer Harbury was on WJHU's "Marc Steiner Show" to discuss the disappearance of her Guatemalan husband at the hands of military officers, affiliated with the CIA. When I called the show to remind listeners that Johns Hopkins University was offering a forum co-sponsored by the CIA and NSA, the host said this was not true. Readers might look for a copy of the Spring 1997 Liberal Arts Programs for Adults catalogue, produced by JHU's Liberal Arts Non-Credit Programs. See page one: "From Spies to Satellites: Intelligence in the Post-Cold War Era With Cooperation from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agencv (NSA)."
My list of good people would also include John Gidwitz, the executive director of the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Gidwitz is resisting overtures from Marylanders Acting Against Poverty to settle a grievance regarding First Amendment rights as previously noted in The Sentinel.
And there is Gregory Andorfer, the director of the Maryland Science Center. When he appeared a few months ago on the "Marc Steiner Show," I called in to discuss the Science Center's showing of a film on the Galileo space probe. The film- neglects to mention that plutonium was used as fuel for the spacecraft. Andorfer publicly agreed to consider making available in the Science Center a Baltimore Peace Network leaflet, arguing against the use of plutonium in space. However, Andorfer has refused to respond to a letter and phone call regarding this matter.
It is my observation that few people are aware of the history of U.S. aggression in The Philippines. To the knowledgeable, including Mark Twain, the U.S. waged a genocidal campaign against the Filipino people.
After this murderous war of aggression and extermination, President William McKinley's Secretary of War Elihu Root euphemistically noted the warfare was "conducted with marked humanity and magnanimity on the part of the United States." Actually, the civilian toll numbered in the hundreds of thousands. But many good people of that time did nothing.
During the April 29, 1996 trial of the SOA 13, one defendant asked Judge Robert Elliott to do the right thing and join them in their efforts to close the School of the Americas. By this time, the judge had heard testimony relating to the murderous efforts of SOA graduates in El Salvador and Guatemala. Instead of joining the protesters, "maximum Bob" convicted them and sent them to jail for terms ranging from two to six months.
Elliott has long been sending protesters to prison for violating laws of the state of Georgia; Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an outside agitator, is another defendant he sent to prison. Maximum Bob, like so many other good people, is not afraid of Edmund Burke. And therefore the injustices will continue.