EL SALVADOR: RETURNING TROOPS RELATE POSITIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 002391

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2015
TAGS: ES IZ MARR PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR: RETURNING TROOPS RELATE POSITIVE
EXPERIENCE IN IRAQ


Classified By: DCM Michael A. Butler, Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Having been relieved by a fifth rotationof
troops deployed to Iraq in support of coalition forces, El
Salvador's fourth contingent returned to El Salvador August
24-25. Notwithstanding the loss of one of their comrades in
a non-combat-related incident, the troops related generally
positive experiences to a pollster with the nation's leading
daily. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) The fourth rotation of El Salvador's Cuscatlan
Battalion began arriving home August 24, having been relieved
by the fifth contingent. The fourth battalion's sole fatal
casualty was the non-combat-related June 27 death in a
traffic accident of Carlos Amando Godoy Castro. Including
the fifth rotation of 380 recently-arrived troops in Iraq,
approximately 1,900 Salvadoran troops--nearly 15 percent of
its total armed forces--are now veterans of frontline
experience in the field, with the benefit of having operated
state-of-the-art military technology in conjunction with
modern armed forces such as those of the United States and
United Kingdom.


3. (U) Leading daily "La Prensa Grafica" conducted a poll
among "Cuscatlan IV" soldiers shortly before their departure
from Iraq. Some 83 percent of those interviewed
characterized their experiences in Iraq as either "Very Good"
or "Good", with only one of 30 respondents indicating that
his time in Iraq had been a "Bad" experience. Approximately
77 percent of those interviewed outlined that the worst
problem they faced while in Iraq related to difficulties in
language and communication. (Note: El Salvador is the only
remaining Spanish-speaking nation with troops in Iraq, and
the Cuscatlan Battalion is deployed as part of an
international brigade, under Polish command, at a base where
eight languages are spoken. End note.) Twenty-two of 30
interviewees said that, having now experienced military
service in Iraq, they would do the same thing over again, and
93 percent were of the view that the "Salvadoran presence was
necessary in Hilla" (the city in Babylon province in which
they were deployed). Not surprisingly, 70 perecent of those
polled identified their families as what they missed most
while overseas.


4. (C) COMMENT: The degree to which Salvadoran soldiers
portray their experiences in Iraq in an upbeat light is
somewhat surprising, given the constant danger of attack and
the privations that a military camp in the desert entail.
(Note: During the fourth contingent's February-to-August
deployment, daily maximum temperatures in the Hilla area
reached as high as 131 degrees Fahrenheit. End note.) Their
positive experiences, together with the absence of more
serious combat casualties, help lessen President Saca's
exposure to one of his only political vulnerabilities--his
unpopular dispatch of Salvadoran troops in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. END COMMENT.
Barclay