Senate Democrats should shoot down the nomination of neoconservative death squad pal Elliot Abrams to the bipartisan Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy when it comes up for confirmation. Abrams was on a list of appointments to various commissions released by the White House Monday. A whole lot of people and organizations who think human rights matter are not pleased. And with good reason.
As part of the Reagan administration during the ‘80s, Abrams defended right-wing Central American death squads and murderous U.S. intervention in the region. He also pleaded guilty to some misdemeanors in the Iran-Contra scandal, one of the few people involved with it to even get a wrist-slap for his role.
One of Abrams’ most infamous efforts was his downplaying of the 1982 El Mozote massacre of more than 800 civilians in El Salvador by the Atlácatl battalion, government soldiers who the year before had been trained by 15 U.S. specialists and supplied with weapons, ground vehicles, and helicopters.
One of the first reports came from New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner, who wrote of seeing "the charred skulls and bones of dozens of bodies buried under burned-out roofs, beams, and shattered tiles." He obtained a list of 733 people—mostly children, women, and old people—villagers said the soldiers had murdered. Years later, analysis showed that at least 811 people were murdered in the massacre.
Bonner’s reporting and that a few days later of Alma Guillermoprieto at The Washington Post kindled a smear campaign. Upset that their reporting called into question propaganda about U.S. support of the El Salvador military being all about spreading democracy, the administration claimed that the real killers were guerrillas of the Farabund Marti National Liberation Front, a Marxist group, and that Bonner and Guillermoprieto had become mouthpieces—naively or worse—for these rebels. Even though Times editors weren’t able to locate a single mistake in Bonner’s reporting, they yanked him out of El Salvador and stuck him on a business beat.
In 2019, Bonner wrote at The Atlantic that "the Reagan administration, with Abrams as point man, routinely defended the Salvadoran government in the face of evidence that its regular army, and allied right-wing death squads, were operating with impunity, killing peasants, students, union leaders, and anyone considered anti-government or pro-guerrilla."
No mention of this made it into the short biography of Abrams that accompanied the White House’s announcement.
Traditionally, presidents pick Republicans chosen by Republicans for appointment to the bipartisan commissions. Abrams is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s choice. Given the recent history of the GOP’s dealing with presidential nominees for various posts, including the still astonishing blocking of President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, Biden should have stuffed this choice back in McConnell’s inbox. The Senate should reject the man and tell McConnell that the next time Republicans run the White House, they can give Abrams a Presidential Freedom Medal and he can join the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, and others who have tarnished that badge.
As part of the Reagan administration during the ‘80s, Abrams defended right-wing Central American death squads and murderous U.S. intervention in the region. He also pleaded guilty to some misdemeanors in the Iran-Contra scandal, one of the few people involved with it to even get a wrist-slap for his role.
One of Abrams’ most infamous efforts was his downplaying of the 1982 El Mozote massacre of more than 800 civilians in El Salvador by the Atlácatl battalion, government soldiers who the year before had been trained by 15 U.S. specialists and supplied with weapons, ground vehicles, and helicopters.
One of the first reports came from New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner, who wrote of seeing "the charred skulls and bones of dozens of bodies buried under burned-out roofs, beams, and shattered tiles." He obtained a list of 733 people—mostly children, women, and old people—villagers said the soldiers had murdered. Years later, analysis showed that at least 811 people were murdered in the massacre.
Bonner’s reporting and that a few days later of Alma Guillermoprieto at The Washington Post kindled a smear campaign. Upset that their reporting called into question propaganda about U.S. support of the El Salvador military being all about spreading democracy, the administration claimed that the real killers were guerrillas of the Farabund Marti National Liberation Front, a Marxist group, and that Bonner and Guillermoprieto had become mouthpieces—naively or worse—for these rebels. Even though Times editors weren’t able to locate a single mistake in Bonner’s reporting, they yanked him out of El Salvador and stuck him on a business beat.
In 2019, Bonner wrote at The Atlantic that "the Reagan administration, with Abrams as point man, routinely defended the Salvadoran government in the face of evidence that its regular army, and allied right-wing death squads, were operating with impunity, killing peasants, students, union leaders, and anyone considered anti-government or pro-guerrilla."
No mention of this made it into the short biography of Abrams that accompanied the White House’s announcement.
Traditionally, presidents pick Republicans chosen by Republicans for appointment to the bipartisan commissions. Abrams is Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s choice. Given the recent history of the GOP’s dealing with presidential nominees for various posts, including the still astonishing blocking of President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, Biden should have stuffed this choice back in McConnell’s inbox. The Senate should reject the man and tell McConnell that the next time Republicans run the White House, they can give Abrams a Presidential Freedom Medal and he can join the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan, and others who have tarnished that badge.