Enemies of War - Perspectives

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The conflict in El Salvador has had an enormous impact on its citizens, as well as those involved in the struggle for truth, reform and human rights. Six individuals - two congressmen, two priests, an activist and a former ambassador - share their personal and professional perspectives on the war and its aftermath.

I will never forget the brave and kind Salvadoran people. Despite their poverty, despite the country's unrest, despite the fact that they didn't know if they would live to see another day, the Salvadoran people persevered. - Congressman Joe Moakley recounts how knowing the people of El Salvador has changed him personally.

I will never forget the brave and kind Salvadoran people. Despite their poverty, despite the country's unrest, despite the fact that they didn't know if they would live to see another day, the Salvadoran people persevered. - Congressman Joe Moakley recounts how knowing the people of El Salvador has changed him personally.

There was an arrogance about U.S. policy that rationalized, explained away and even condoned a level of violence against the Salvadoran people that would have been intolerable if perpetrated against our own citizens.

These [nonviolent] initiatives might seem doomed to failure in the face of military power, which expends upward of one trillion dollars yearly, or in view of an American military establishment that consumes more than one half of our country's budget. - Franciscan Priest Joseph Nangle reflects on how nonviolence and peaceful resolution can help end conflict.

Since the January 1992 signing of the historic United Nations-sponsored Peace Accords, El Salvador has experienced a series of dramatic changes - some contributing to peace and development, others threatening the lives of El Salvador's majority.

(right) Waiting to vote
Photo courtesy U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities

The United States military presence is on the rise again in El Salvador. On July 6, 2000, the Salvadoran National Assembly approved the establishment of a U.S. anti-drug trafficking base at the international airport in Comalapa. - American Jesuit priest and teacher Dean Brackley reveals that United States military presence is on the rise again in El Salvador.

After a barbed conversation with the State Department official, I wrote a telegram that said, - I will have no part of any cover-up. All the evidence we have, and it has been reported fully, is that the Salvadoran government has made no serious effort to investigate the killings of the murdered American churchwomen. - Former Ambassador to El Salvador Robert E. White provides insight on the October 2000 U.S. ruling in the murder case of the Maryknoll churchwomen.