They deserved to be raped and murdered because "The nuns were not just nuns; the nuns were political activists"

December 2nd marks the 34th anniversary of the rape and murder of four US Churchwomen by the Salvadoran National Guard - Ursuline Sister Dorothy Kazel, lay missionary Jean Donovan and Maryknoll Sisters Maura Clarke and Ita Ford. Like many Salvadorans, the women were killed because they tried to live a life of solidarity with the poor at a time when that got you labelled a communist.

Many Salvadorans and Jesuit universities commemorated the martyrdom of eight people at the UCA last month, an event that helped bring about an end to the civil war. From some of what we understand about the Jesuit murders, US officials could not believe that the Atlacatl Battalion that we had just spent a decade training and the High Command that we had been supporting were stupid enough to carry out such an attack. While we also wanted to support our Cold War allies in their fight against the communist FMLN, there was also a disbelief that led US officials to obstruct investigations into the murders.

Nearly ten years earlier, the Salvadoran Nation Guard, most likely under orders from the High Command, raped and killed the four US women. The response of US government officials in Washington to their murders was truly reprehensible as they blamed the victims for being raped and murdered by the Salvadoran military.

Here is how Secretary of State Alexander Haig responded to questioning concerning the tragic events

“Perhaps the vehicle that the nuns were riding in may have tried to run a roadblock — or may have accidentally been perceived to have been doing so — and there may have been an exchange of fire,” said Alexander Haig, the secretary of state under President Reagan.

It was the gun toting nuns' fault.

US Ambassador to the United Nations and another reason to kick Georgetown, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, made her feelings known.

"I don't think the government (of El Salvador) was responsible. The nuns were not just nuns; the nuns were political activists. We ought to be a little more clear-cut about this than we usually are. They were political activists on behalf of the Frente and somebody who is using violence to oppose the Frente killed them"

The churchwomen deserved to be raped and murdered because they were working with the poor. Even if we want to be kind to Ambassador Kirkpatrick, she seems to be arguing that it is okay for people who are against the FMLN to rape and murder those who are in any way associated with the organization, even if they happen to be Catholic US citizens.

The Carter administration cut off aid to the Salvadoran military following the murders. However, they resumed the aid weeks later as the FMLN launched its first final offensive in January. While President Carter seemed to have been outraged by their murders, he wasn't ready to "lose" another country to anti-American forces. Iranian and Nicaraguan revolutions and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had each occurred one year earlier, and Iran was still holding US hostages. The Guatemalan guerrillas still on the offensive.

We are screening Justice & the Generals Wednesday night on campus, a film that covers the initial murder investigation, the trial of the Guardsmen, and later attempts to bring justice to the military leaders who ordered the murders, men who were living comfortably in Florida. You can learn about the case in the video above, here, and here.