U.S. Military Strategy in El Salvador
Abstract
The war in El Salvador has been going on for more than a decade. U.S. efforts to assist the government of El Salvador in defeating a coalition of Marxist-Leninist insurgent groups have been costly in an economic sense, controversial in the domain of domestic politics, and successful, albeit not victorious, from a military perspective. Therefore, there is much to learn from an analysis of the U.S. military strategy employed there, as few other foreign policy issues have held the attention of the American people over the past 10 years more than this one. This essay presents a critical analysis of American military strategy in El Salvador using the case study as a basis for analysis. The analysis is based on "American Military Policy in Small Wars: The Case of El Salvador," by A. J. Bacevich, James D. Hallums, Richard H. White, and Thomas D. Young. The author's own political objective for El Salvador is as follows: To ensure the continuance of a democratically elected government and to defeat the coalition of insurgent forces known as the FMLN by providing political, economic, and military support, without the commitment of combat forces.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 09, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA437588
Entities
People
- R. T. Clark
Organizations
- National War College