Democratic senators should reject death squad apologist Elliot Abrams for presidential advisory post

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.