The following may be of interest to some PENL readers. It was reported last week (I believe 6/19/95) in one of the major Seattle newspapers, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (PI) on Page 1, that a squad of U.S. Army Rangers flew into El Salvador in 1985 and murdered everybody at what was considered a guerilla base there. According to the story, the U.S. soldiers of this mission were told to kill every resident there, to make sure there were no survivors. They "succeeded" and killed 83 men and women. This mass murder was in reprisal, revenge, for the killing of four U.S. military advisors to the Salvadoran military, who were killed while eating at a cafe in San Salvador. According to the story in the Seattle PI, the U.S. hitmen, the squad of U.S. Rangers were flown into El Salvador from Ft. Lewis, they were not told where they were going, just that they were going to kill people who were enemies of the U.S. They followed orders. They wore civilian uniform while carrying out the murders and were led by three U.S. civilians. Supposedly the 83 Salvadorans killed were members of the group that had killed the four marines. After making sure all the Salvadorans was dead, the U.S. Rangers walked away and were then transported back to the United States. I assume the story is true. It came from a military reporter, Ed Offley, who interviewed some of the killers. It almost shocked me and little about U.S. policy does--the deliberately planned murder, the brutality, the direct U.S. military involvement in El Salvador when this was constantly denied by the U.S. government, and that this attack has been a secret at least in the United States. Also depressing was how this group of U.S. Rangers, according to the story, didn't even question their orders or ask why they were supposed to carry out this terrorist mission. Although this occurred 10 years ago, this outrageous, immoral behavior by the U.S. government and military, which violates any definition of human rights deserves attention. QUESTION--Has this story been picked up by the national media? I haven't seen anything in the New York Times. Has it been in your newspaper, on the TV news? Maybe you should ask them why? I hope somebody investigates and publicizes this further. Peter Bohmer
