Among the speakers will be the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, a Jesuit priest who led many anti-war demonstrations during the Vietnam conflict. The demonstration usually attracts a smattering of entertainers, including Martin Sheen, who plays the president of the United States in a weekly television series. While opponents have long contended the school teaches torture, evidence of that is scant and inconclusive. Critics cite intelligence manuals used at the school that contain references to repressive tactics that violate Army doctrine and United States codes, and statements by a few graduates who claim they were taught torture techniques. Also, more emphasis on human rights components was added to all courses after federal reports in 1995 and 1996 recommended it.
Militaries are a part of that equation.
Over the years, the protest has grown from about a dozen people to an event so large that this year's event, expected to bring 10,000 to 12,000 demonstrators, will likely be the largest single gathering of the year in this west Georgia city on the Chattahoochee River. For the first time, the city's Convention and Tourist Bureau is coordinating hotel accommodations, and Delta Air Lines again is offering a travel discount. But it is not about dollars and cents on the civilian side of the boundary line marked in white that separates base property from the protest area. It is about what opponents say is a Cold War relic. This school brings soldiers from countries struggling for food, housing, medicine, schools.