Ft. Benning Protesters Sentenced

Five protesters have been ordered to spend 60 days in prison on federal trespassing charges after a rally in Georgia last November to demand the closing of the former School of the Americas.

Demonstrators blame the school, which trained generations of military officials, for human rights abuses in Latin America. They have rallied at Fort Benning every November for years against the school, currently known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.

Eric LeCompte, with the group School of the Americas Watch, says an Episcopal priest from New York and a Roman Catholic nun from Ohio were among those sentenced Monday in federal court in Georgia. He says a sixth protester, age 68, was given six months of house arrest because of medical problems.

(AP)

State lawmakers push for U.S. military command center

Top Georgia officials are making a pitch to get a major U.S. military command center. They says it could bring hundreds of jobs.

Military officials are considering moving U.S. Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, from its current home in Stuttgart,Germany. The command center is in charge of operations in over 50 African countries.

U.S. Defense officials are considering several locations in the United States, including three base sites in Georgia--Fort McPherson, Fort Gillem, and Dobbins Air Force Base. All are in the metro Atlanta area.

Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson made Georgia’s case in a letter to Defense officials this week. They were joined by three U.S. House Representatives and Governor Sonny Perdue.

Lawmakers tout as selling points the runway network of Dobbins in Marietta, and the rail connection from the three base locations to Savannah’s port.

Officials say the joint command center could bring around 1,300 jobs.

Two Georgia soldiers die in Afghanistan

U.S. military officials report two Georgia soldiers were among nine killed in an insurgent raid over the weekend in Afghanistan. The dead include 24-year-old Corporal Johnathan Ayers of Snellville, and 27-year-old Corporal Matthew Phillips from Jasper. The nine killed represent the deadliest incident for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since June of 2005.