Is 'The Salvador Option' the root cause of civil war in Iraq?

We are now witnessing a change in strategy from the 'stay the course' people. George Bush has himself stated that there are significant problems. But what has been the strategy so far. The evidence that the US, through military strategy has contributed to the creation of the current civil war is strong.

The adoption of the 'Salvador Option' by the US in Iraq was reported and discussed from the beginning of 2005 onwards. As described by Newsweek, the Salvador Option looked something like this:

Following that model, one Pentagon proposal would send Special Forces teams to advise, support and possibly train Iraqi squads, most likely hand-picked Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shiite militiamen, to target Sunni insurgents and their sympathizers, even across the border into Syria, according to military insiders familiar with the discussions. It remains unclear, however, whether this would be a policy of assassination or so-called "snatch" operations, in which the targets are sent to secret facilities for interrogation. The current thinking is that while U.S. Special Forces would lead operations in, say, Syria, activities inside Iraq itself would be carried out by Iraqi paramilitaries, officials tell NEWSWEEK.

Source


Craig Murray cites in his article, a letter written to Donald Rumsfield by US Congressman Denis Kucinich questioning the use of this strategy.

I am writing to request a copy of all records pertaining to Pentagon plans to use U.S. Special Forces to advise, support and train Iraqi assassination and kidnapping teams.

Full letter

So is the change of strategy an admission of guilt?

Fascinating possibility: Intentionally turning Iraq into a base for a regional religious war intended to spill over into Syria.

Sound more like an Israeli agenda than an American one though. "Shi'ites gone wild" would be nothing but bad news for any M.E. oil producer not named Iran, and Syria, while annoying as hell, just isn't incredibly important in most regards, certainly not to the extent that Iran and Iraq are.

It was reported in Al jazeera.net way back in January the 'Salvador Option' wouldn't work. Scott Ritter gives his reasons why.

If implemented, the Salvador Option will serve as the impetus for all-out civil war. In the same manner that the CPA-backed assassination of Baathists prompted the restructuring and strengthening of the Sunni-led resistance, any effort by US-backed Kurdish and Shia assassination teams to target Sunni resistance leaders will remove all impediments for a general outbreak of ethnic and religious warfare in Iraq.

Source

Salvadoran Death Squads ring a bell?

www.thirdworldtraveler.com...


[edit on 10/26/2006 by a1ex]