ABSTRACT
On February 3, 1989, Vice President Dan Quayle delivered a warning to Salvadoran political and military commanders: If Salvadoran security forces did not demonstrate greater commitment to human rights, further United States aid would be jeopardized. The major stumbling block to the aid, however, was the nagging suspicion of Salvadoran security forces complicity in death squad atrocities, responsible for the murder and disappearance of tens of thousands of people. According to The Los Angeles Times of December 19, 1983, El Salvadoran death squads were the handiwork of Roberto d'Aubuisson and modeled after the assassination campaigns in Argentina in the 1970s. According to The Times, the death squads were created by leading Salvadoran military officers, though again apparently working on their own initiative. In The Progressive's version of the Salvadoran terrorism story, Allan Nairn clearly identified his sources, mostly high ranking Salvadoran and American officials and former officials.
