The Argentinean Dirty War

Abstract

The research paper discusses the Argentinean dirty war. The war that lasted for a long period of seven years was a government supported violation not only against the subversives and dissidents but also against the entire civilian nation. The crimes committed during the war by the military were heinous. The research paper not only discusses the major events that took place during the war but also highlights the lessons to be learnt from the tragedy.

The Argentinean Dirty War

Introduction

The Argentinean Dirty war started in the year 1976 and lasted up to 1983. It was a seven year long government campaign against subversives and dissidents. The war is seen as state sponsored violence. The war began when President Juan Peron died a controversial death in the year 1974. The wife of the deceased along with the then Vice President took up the power but they both failed to deliver. Her failure led to the military taking over the power and imposing a coup. The coup was based on one fundamental strategy. Anyone who had the courage to challenge the military's authority was cracked down by the military. The war posed a situation in the country where it would not be wrong to say that nearly everyone had blood on their hands (Daniels, p. 1).

There was extreme disorder in the country that ranged from terrorism and strikes in every nook and corner of the country. The dirty war inevitably affected the Argentinean economy. Not only the currency depreciated but the country was under a huge debt burden. It also led to the formation of labor unions and the predicted high rate of inflation.

Origin of the term

The dirty war was so called because of the application of dirty torture techniques. There were torture and rape cases on a very large scale. The military justified its actions by saying that it was essential to eradicate political subversives and maintain a social order. Not only the court of law but also various private nongovernmental organizations considered the ongoing war as civil and not merely the military's attempt to maintain social order. Hence, the term dirty war was coined as a euphemism to hide the gang activities under the veil of legitimate military actions (Daniels, 1).

The military claimed that the purpose of the violence was to mitigate the guerilla activities. They claimed that there target was only the trade unionists and the people opposing the government and the military's authority, but it was untrue to say the least. The violence was conducted against anyone and everyone including students and other civilians who had nothing to do with opposition against the government. The most ironic part of the war is the fact that the crimes committed during the war time were not questioned by the court of law.

The disappeared

During the seven years countless number of people disappeared from their houses in the middle of the night. These people included not only ones who were against the government but ...