Page 133 - Mass Media, Mass Propoganda Examining American News in the War on Terror

Railing Iraqi Resistance 123

fighters who were threatening national security and stability. In reality, the Sal-
vadoran paramilitaries acquired a well-deserved reputation as one of the most
brutal counterrevolutionary, terrorist forces throughout Latin America. With the
support of the U.S., the Salvadoran military and its paramilitary forces embarked
upon a campaign that often targeted civilians for violent repression and murder.
The use of violence against the Salvadoran rebel forces, suspected sympa-
thizers, and critics of government highlights a reality confronting most "counter-
insurgency" campaigns-namely the lack of interest in separating guerilla forces
from civilians. The case of El Salvador posed questions which are important, but
not discussed in media commentary: is it possible to distinguish between guer-
illa forces and civilians when the majority of a population that is vehemently
opposed to their own government? What are the implications when one targets
for repression nonviolent protestors and dissidents who are exercising their right
to protest their government?
Despite the protests of human rights organizations throughout the hemi-
sphere, the Salvadoran government and its paramilitaries targeted civilians dur-
ing their attacks, relying on execution, massacres, torture, and kidnappings.
Women, children, rehgee workers, union members, university staff, students,
church social workers, priests, nuns, hospital patients, doctors, and nurses were
just some of the people killed by paramilitary forces. Amnesty International re-
ceived "regular, often daily, reports identifying El Salvador's regular security
and military units as responsible for the torture, 'disappearance,' and killing of
noncombatant civilians from all sectors of Salvadoran One such
report was the massacre at El Mozote, where an estimated 700-1,000 Salva-
dorans, mostly the elderly, women, and children, were murdered by paramilitary
forces. All told, estimates from human rights organizations (including the UN
Truth Commission) estimated that as many as 60,000 to 75,000 Salvadoran ci-
vilians were killed between 1979 and 1992, primarily as a result of the terrorist
atrocities of U.S. supported paramilitaries.120

Paramilitaries in Iraq

In early 2005, a number of activists and critics throughout the Progressive-Left
media loudly condemned U.S. consideration of the "Salvador Option" in Iraq.
Most may not have known the plethora of evidence that would emerge within
the next year confirming U.S. support for these "counter-insurgency" units. The
American press generally declined to grant extensive coverage, and sometimes
actively denied that the U.S. was supporting "counterinsurgency'' units and eth-
nic militias in Iraq. Ziad Khalaf of the Associated Press maintained that, "both
Sunnis and the US fear the rise of such militia^,"'^^ while Newsweek chose to
acknowledge their links with the U.S., but re-frame these militias as "counter-
terrorist strike squads.'''22 On the other hand, Anthony Shadid of the Washington
Post was one of the most critical in the mass media of the militias, attacking
them for "instill[ing] a climate of fear" and for having "beaten up and threatened