The "Salvador Option" In Afghanistan?

[Orwellian_Ghost]

U.S. Halted Some Raids in Afghanistan

By MARK MAZZETTI and ERIC SCHMITT
Published: March 9, 2009

WASHINGTON — The commander of a secretive branch of America’s Special Operations forces last month ordered a halt to most commando missions in Afghanistan, reflecting a growing concern that civilian deaths caused by American firepower are jeopardizing broader goals there.

The halt, which lasted about two weeks, came after a series of nighttime raids by Special Operations troops in recent months killed women and children, and after months of mounting outrage in Afghanistan about civilians killed in air and ground strikes. The order covered all commando missions except those against the highest-ranking leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, military officials said.

American commanders in Afghanistan rely on the commando units to carry out some of the most delicate operations against militant leaders, and the missions of the Army’s Delta Force and classified Navy Seals units are never publicly acknowledged. But the units sometimes carry out dozens of operations each week, so any decision to halt their missions is a sign of just how worried military officials are that the fallout from civilian casualties is putting in peril the overall American mission in Afghanistan, including an effort to drain the Taliban of popular support.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/world/asia/10terror.html?_r=2&hp

Angry Afghans claim U.S. forces shot dead three civilians
U.S. military says the dead men were anti-government insurgents

GLORIA GALLOWAY

March 16, 2009 at 9:14 PM EDT

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN — A convoy of angry Afghans from Maywand district arrived at the outskirts of Kandahar city yesterday with the bodies of three men in the back of two minibuses and a pickup truck.

They said the men had been shot to death along with two others when U.S. Special Forces swept into the village of China in the eastern part of Maywand early Sunday morning.

The people in the convoy intended to protest the killing to Kandahar Governor Tooryalai Wesa, but were stopped by police before they reached the governor's palace.

The U.S. military says the dead men were anti-government insurgents. The protesters say the men were a local mullah and several farm labourers. And they say the shootings have inflamed local resentment of foreign troops and elected Afghan officials.

<snip>

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Special Forces said her organization carried out the operation with special forces from other countries and with the help of the 2-2s on the ground. But a spokeswoman for the Canadian command said the 2-2s told the Canadians they knew nothing about it.

<snip>

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090316.wafghan16/BNStory/Afghanistan/

The Salvador Option was a term quoted in a January 8, 2005 article in Newsweek. This phrase was used to refer to options then being intensely debated in Pentagon and Iraqi government circles for dealing with the rapidly growing insurgency movement in Iraq, drawing an explicit analogy to the U.S. military involvement in El Salvador, in which quasi-official death squads were instrumental in bringing a decade-long war against FMLN to a close. The article quoted anonymous military insiders, and did not specify the precise origin of the phrase "Salvador Option", or explicitly say that those words were actually used by Pentagon sources.

<snip>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_Option

[blindpig]

1. Just to be clear what we're talking about...

[billyoc]

2. Ironic to hear them use that term this week.

El Salvador is just now ridding themselves of imperial influence.