American Coin Doctrine And El Salvador Rand

American Counterinsurgency Doctrine and El Salvador
Schwarz
The Rand Corporation

The Salvadoran Military and Human Rights

• Salvadoran military’s attitude toward the importance of political aspects of the war is curical;
• “90 % of the war is political, social, economic, and ideological and only 10% military”
• 1981: over 10,000 political murders were committed by the Salvadoran military and death squads linked to it; 1990: only 108 murders
• American COIN policy, with consistent emphasis on winning popular support,
• this focus has made respect for Human Rights an issue of utmost importance
• Salvadoran armed forces often and easily target noncombatants,
• as targets of physical violence Salvadorans become convinced of the futility of non violent means to effect regime change

The Pursuit of Justice as a Counterinsurgency Tool:

• how Human Rights and the American Effort to Effect Judicial Reform won popular support
• HR abuses were related to lack of judicial reform in El Salvador

American backed projects to fund judicial reform projects

• they promoted the studies and reivisions of the criminal code,
• the US also provided a witness protection unit,
• develop effective criminal investigation capabilities,
• training for judicial personnel,
• and they encourage prosecution of Human Rights violators.

Amnesty

• Amnesty law is now under consideration by the National Assembly,
• propositions are tabled that current and former members of the military should be pardoned for crimes and Human Rights violations
• this will only reinforce the deleterious effects of the 1987 amnesty…
• these laws reflect spineless justice system that is unwilling and unable to prosecute those who subvert it.

Kidnapping Ring

• 1986: FBI backed Salvadoran authorities discovered death squads posed as leftist rebels
• case demonstrates the obstacles to achieving justice in El Salvador
• San Sebastian Massacre
• Salvadoran army responsible for the death of ten villagers
• Assasination of Archbishop Romero
• Romero was killed by El Salvadoran Major, reputed death squad leader and president of national assembly.
• Jesuits start to be targeted

Expedient Changes or Genuine Reform?

• US provided military training and funding to Salvadoran officer corps b/w 1965-1977;
• they then turned out to be the worst bloodletters in Central American history
• Kissinger commissioned urged “humane anti-guerrilla strategy” in an attempt to reduce the Human Rights offenses
• He viewed the problem as a matter of inadequate training
• He though that the problem could be solved by an American solution.
• Respect for Human Rightss would be brought about not through teaching and example, but through constant American pressure

effectiveness of reform

• The Frustrations of Reform: American Intervention, Salvadoran Resentment, and the Problems of Leverage
• no matter how gamely the US has played the uncomfortable “good colonialist” role,
• it has not brought the unalloyed success in curbing and prosecuting official and right-wing political violence
• it has also not successfully promoting US-backed reforms.
• Leads one to question the efficacy of “leverage” and “conditionality”

Leverage

• it can easily be overestimated’
• it decreases when those whom the US is trying to influence perceive them to be constrained by national interests.
• How could the Salvadoran military take seriously US threats to cease aid if Washington repeatedly makes it clear its intention to prevent a rebel victory?
• The US has often found itself forced to settle for less than it had hoped and less than it thinks is necessary (see human rights)

The Problem of Death Squads

• any discussion on reform in El Salvador must ask
• to whatt extent did the armed forces and government administration condone/coordinate death squad activity
• confusion, controversy, and deliberate obfuscation
• According to Amnesty International, the death squads “are made up of regular army and police agents, acting in uniform or plainclothes, under the direction of superior officers”
• But simply because this is so does not imply that they were used “to shield the government from accountability for the torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial executions commited in their name.”
• Goal of Kissinger commission was to: strengthen democratic institutions and processes, and to encourage respect for Human Rights
• US assistance in these areas has focused on the encouragement of elections, prosecution of Human Rights offenders, and the improvements in criminal justice system.