Recovery by increments: El Salvador's memorial marks how long it takes to heal from civil war

[Judi Lynn]

Recovery by increments
El Salvador's memorial marks how long it takes to heal from civil war.
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 4, 2008, 11:03PM

It's been described as an echo of our Vietnam memorial: a somber slate of polished granite, traced with names of the dead. But El Salvador's monument to civilian victims of its civil war is an unfinished document. Only 30,000 names appear so far, but tens of thousands more could be eligible.

Until it's done, the site will commemorate another fact of history: how long it takes to heal after a civil war.

The Salvadoran Monument to Memory and Truth was proposed 15 years ago, when guerrillas and government forces finally ended their 12-year civil war.

An estimated 75,000 Salvadorans perished in the conflict, a proxy for the U.S./ Soviet Cold War. It was characterized by death squads, torture and brutality toward civilians.

When the war finally ended, a U.N.-sponsored Truth Commission documented the worst of those abuses.

The vast majority had been committed by the military and right-wing supporters. Left-wing guerrillas, especially in the conflict's early years, also committed kidnappings, executions and atrocities.

More:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5924154.html

[mntleo2]

1. McCain's Involvement

...with the International Republican Institute, which claims to be "neutral" but is in fact another corporatized arm for covert wars, privatization and illegal coups (such as coup of Ugo Chavez).

http://www.coha.org/2008/06/a-hidden-agenda-john-mccain-and-the-iri/

The IRI and John McCain
The aforementioned events in Haiti and Venezuela are significant, not only because they reflect gross abuses of power and the misuse of taxpayers’ dollars, but also because they received McCain’s stamp of approval during his tenure as chairman. McCain held that position for nearly a decade, so he cannot claim to have inherited these policies, nor can he argue that he did not know they were taking place. In fact, McCain has boasted that he has been a very involved chairman, informing the press, “All board members are involved in determining where IRI will work and in overseeing those activities.” Further evidence of the overlap in IRI policy and McCain’s foreign policy is his “rogue state rollback” plan, first mentioned during his 2000 presidential campaign. When questioned about his policy plans regarding “rogue states,” McCain responded that he would “arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments…” Though McCain goes on to say that he would then install democratically-elected governments, the IRI’s tactics have, in the past, been directed towards governments that could already claim that mark of legitimacy. The prospect of IRI-influenced policies like “rogue state rollback” applied by the White House is a frightening one that shows a disregard for true democracy, which can not be achieved by outside intervention as McCain proposes, but only through the desire and efforts of a country’s own citizens.

It is chilling to read the whole article. As an activist during the 1980's South American U.S. funded and backed massacres and covert wars, who I saw involved them are the ones in power now in our highest administration. Because they NEVER PAID ANY CONSEQUENCES BUT INSTEAD HAVE BEEN REWARDED WITH HIGH POSITIONS AND GRATIFICATION OF PURE GREED.

My 2 cents
Cat In Seattle