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"US officials categorically deny that US personnel in any way advised or encouraged the Salvadoran Air Force to bomb rebel zones to disrupt life there and drive out civilians. But while there is no direct evidence that US advisers encouraged the strategy, there is little doubt that US aid provided the ways and means to carry it out. U.S. intelligence may also have helped to pinpoint bombing targets: the step-up in bombing raids by the Salvadoran Air Force coincided with published reports that U.S. pilots were flying reconnaissance missions out of bases in Honduras and Panama."
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211
Step Three: The Air War
(A) Aerial Bombardment
An intensification of aerial bombardment of rural areas in
the five northeastern provinces where the rebels were most active
began in late 1983, as the National Campaign of pacification was
winding down. According to Pentagon figures, average flying hours
for UH-1H helicopters and A-37 strike aircraft -— the core of El
Salvador's air attack capability -- increased by over 220 hours
per month between July, 1983 and February, 1984. UH-1H flight hours
increased 60 percent (from 364 to 582 per month), and A-37 flight
hours increased 68 percent (from 31 to 52). (35) Britain's Jane's
Defence weekly also reported an increase in A-37 air strikes,
citing U.S. military sources for a figure of 227 air strikes in
all of 1983 (an average of 19 each month), versus 74 air strikes
in the month of June, 1984, alone. (36) Air attacks from UH-lHs
were especially heavy during the election period of March-May,
1984, when helicopters were flying at three to four times their
previous frequency. (37) The stated aim was to enhance security
for the elections.
U.S. officials categorically deny that U.S. personnel have
in any way advised or encouraged the Salvadoran Air Force to bomb
rebel zones to disrupt life there and drive out civilians. But
while there is no direct evidence that U.S. advisers encouraged
the strategy, there is little doubt that U.S. aid provided the
ways and means to carry it out. (See Figure 2 and Table 8.)
Through U.S. military aid, El Salvador received seven A-37s
since 1982 (three more are on their way in 1985), and (in 1982)
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