Shane Bauer, freelance journalist and Arabic speaker living in the Middle East, discusses civilian abuse claims against the Iraq Special Operations Forces (ISOF), the actual Salvadoran paramilitary trainers in Iraq that made the “Salvador option” more than analogy, the plight of Iraqi refugees abroad and how Maliki is using the ISOF – which is accountable only to him – to consolidate his power.

MP3 here. (28:10)

Shane Bauer is the author of the article “Iraq’s New Death Squad” in The Nation. He is a freelance journalist and Arabic speaker living in the Middle East.