The pushback from the administration was swift and ruthlessly effective. It denied everything, pointing to an obscure cable written by two American embassy officials who, “as the eyes and ears” of the US government, traveled with Salvadoran military personnel to evaluate the reports. The Americans were skittish about visiting areas controlled by the guerrillas, so they didn’t get close to any of the killing sites. Afterward, they wrote that “it is not possible to prove or disprove excesses of violence.” The ambiguous language of the cable served as the justification the administration
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