Stop training goons

For decades, Congress has tried to ensure that U.S. military aid and training does not go to foreign soldiers who use it to kill and torture their own people. But a 1991 law allowed training by special forces units free of many congressional restrictions. As a result, such trainers have been in more than 100 countries and have worked with some of the world's most abusive and brutal militaries.

The 1991 law did not put limits on special forces training ostensibly because it was for the benefit of U.S. soldiers. In a nifty bit of circular reasoning, the Pentagon says special forces learn how to carry out one their most important jobs -- training.

In 1992, Congress banned Indonesian military officers from receiving training. Yet a notorious unit linked to massacres of civilians and countless other abuses was a prime recipient of special forces training until this year. Skills taught to the unit, known as Kopassus, included psychological operations and lethal tactics like sniping.

The Washington Post reported in July that special forces are working with every Latin American military, including those with records of human rights violations, and with no requirement to screen out abusive trainees. In Turkey, where units fighting Kurdish guerrillas have a history of killing civilians, Americans have trained antiguerrilla forces.

Such training is often at odds with U.S. policy goals. While U.S. foreign policy tries to strengthen democracy, the special forces training, coupled with a decline in civilian foreign aid, means that foreign contacts are now more often military-to- military. Although trainers might theoretically serve as role models demonstrating respect for civilian control and human rights, the main message they convey is that those being trained have the extra powers that come from being special friends of the United States.

A Defense Department spokesman said that the most valuable aspect of training is to "know the faces and personalities who grow up to be generals and presidents". This has long been the Pentagon's justification for befriending even the most abusive officers. It was understandable, although still wrong, during the Cold War. There is no justification for it now.

-- The New York Times