[Shadow_Group] Fw: A time of hope, a moment of growth and an opportunity to vote with your feet

[shadowgroup-l at lists.resist.ca]

Dear Friends,

Here at SOA Watch, in spite of grim election news, we continue to ride high on several historic victories. As you know, SOA Watch won an important ruling in the 11th circuit court that found the metal detectors that Columbus City officials used to illegally search demonstrators during the annual November Vigil over the last two years to be unconstitutional. The 11th circuit ruling reaffirms the First and Fourth Amendments and has the potential to be used to overturn aspects of the Patriot Act.

And again, in the past days we found that we have another victory to celebrate. Last year at Fort Benning, as we gathered to protest the SOA/WHINSEC, military police blared music at us in an attempt to disrupt our nonviolent, permitted gathering. Because of the pressure that you put on the base challenging their use of noise to try and silence dissent and the threat of lawsuits against the base by the SOA Watch Legal Collective, Fort Benning was forced to agree that they would not interfere with our gathering at their main entrance in any way this November.

In the face of this presidential election, we at SOA Watch believe the time is ripe to not only continue to build our growing movement to challenge the SOA/ WHINSEC, but also for us to broaden our movement to confront growing US militarism in Latin America. The SOA is not an aberration of US foreign policy but rather a clear illustration of that policy. Our movement continues to grow to challenge this school and all US foreign policy that attacks the poor and those who are working for human rights.

This is an important moment. Some people were turned away at the ballots yesterday, but we will not be turned away from our struggle for justice! Join us at the gates of Fort Benning this November 19th through the 21st to confront the SOA/ WHINSEC and US militarism in Latin America. Your vote counts and your presence counts as we build a movement to create the world we know is possible, the world that we know is coming.

In Cucuta, Colombia this November tens of thousands of people will march against war and violence in a town where there were two thousand political assassinations over the past year. This year in solidarity, we hope you will join us at the gates of Fort Benning to march against war, violence and the continued training of assassins at Fort Benning.

Please join us this November 19th through the 21st to rally against war and terror and to promote the world where all can live in human dignity. Visit www.SOAW.org<http://www.soaw.org/> or call 202-234-3440 for more information about this year's gathering.

See you in Columbus,

Jacqueline Baker, Roy Bourgeois, Eric LeCompte, Sarah Mertz, Christy Pardew, Josh Raisler Cohn and Kristine Werthwein
The SOA Watch Team
  
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SOA Watch ~ PO Box 4566 ~ Washington DC 20017 ~ (202)234-3440 ~ www.soaw.org ~ info at soaw.org
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