By DAVID GONZALEZ

          SAN SALVADOR -- The United States has touched a nerve in El Salvador
          by seeking to set up a military logistics point for its war on drugs in a country
          where American advisers, intelligence and money not long ago helped fuel a
          devastating civil war.

          The Salvadoran government agreed in March to allow American reconnaissance
          planes to use a military portion of the nation's international airport at
          Comalapa for refueling and maintenance as part of a regional network to
          monitor the routes used to smuggle drugs from South America to the United States.

          But the agreement has become caught up in a larger debate over the role
          of the military here -- both El Salvador's own and that of the United
          States -- in fighting organized crime and drug trafficking in a country
          where murder, kidnapping and drug-related crime have become
          hallmarks of life since the peace accords ended the civil war eight years
          ago.

          The crime wave has increased pressures for the Salvadoran military,
          which for years before and during the civil war was used as a political
          repression force, to play a role in shoring up domestic security, something
          the country's new constitution forbids. At the same time, the encroaching
          role of the United States is seen by some as infringing on national
          sovereignty.

          Approval of the accord has been held up in the National Assembly by
          members of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, or
          F.M.L.N., the political party of the former guerrillas who were sworn
          enemies of many American policymakers during the 1980's, when El
          Salvador's civil war became part of the larger hostilities of the cold war.

          Supporters of the accord say the American presence now would help
          deter the drug trade that has increasingly relied on routes along El
          Salvador's Pacific coast and helped fuel an explosion in crack cocaine
          use and related crime.

          Legislators from the F.M.L.N., who form the largest single bloc in the
          Assembly, say the accord turns over to the United States monitoring and
          enforcement tasks that rightly belong to El Salvador's own police and
          military. In addition, the 10-year renewable agreement, they say, is too
          broad and does not guarantee that the American role will not grow.

          "To have a United States base here would be a provocation because our
          democracy is not yet mature," said Blanca Flor Bonilla, an F.M.L.N.
          legislator and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. "The
          democracy we started with the peace accords is weak. There are fears in
          military terms."

          American officials say they do not consider the facility a base, since it
          would not have barracks, commissaries or other features of a permanent
          military installation. But they acknowledge that it would be a linchpin of
          the American government's anti-narcotics strategy after the closing last
          year of Howard Air Force Base in Panama, which handled in its day
          some 2,000 counternarcotics flights per year.

          Existing facilities in Ecuador, Aruba and Curaçao have been used to fill
          the gap left by Howard's closing and have about 15 ground support
          personnel stationed at each, with crews and aircraft rotating through in
          short-term stays.

          The Americans carry side-arms as part of regular security measures, but
          officials have insisted that they keep a low-profile and not take part in
          on-the-ground operations or make arrests. Any information about drugs
          entering other countries is passed on to local authorities for them to make
          arrests and seizures, American officials say.

          American officials have favored the facilities because they cost less to
          operate than a full base: about $18 million a year versus $75.8 million a
          year at Howard. And spreading the facilities over the Caribbean and
          Central and South America, they say, has allowed for greater coverage
          than when the planes flew from the single base in Panama.

          The new facilities, which in military parlance are known as forward
          operating locations, reflect a deeper change in American relations with
          countries in the region.

          "When we had Panama, it was a crutch for us," said an administration
          official. "We could do whatever we wanted and not worry about working
          with other countries. This F.O.L. prepares us for the reality in the region
          that there are problems we can no longer handle by ourselves."

          But seeking that aid has proved tricky in Central America, where the
          United States was deeply involved in trying to turn back leftist
          insurgencies in El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala through the
          1980's.

          Discussions with the Costa Rican government over locating a facility
          there failed earlier this year. Salvadoran officials offered to place a facility
          here, saying they wanted to contribute to regional security. But they also
          believed it would help them combat their own problems of drug abuse
          and crime.

          El Salvador has seen an explosion in crack consumption over the last 15
          years as traffickers started paying their Salvadoran accomplices in
          cocaine, rather than cash. Salvadoran authorities say that seizures of
          cocaine have increased, including the discovery of nearly 800 pounds
          aboard a private plane in June.

          "The reality is the narco-traffickers have so much money that they have
          technology that, due to our limited resources, we could never have," said
          José Antonio Almendariz, a legislator of the National Conciliation Party
          and president of the Assembly's Defense Committee.

          "The United States has that technology," he said. "Yet there are people
          who say, 'Why do you have to use our few resources to help the United
          States fight drugs that are heading there?' That might have been true 10
          years ago, but we see consumption in our own country."

          Opponents of the accord worry that it fails to specify the number of
          American troops allowed here. They also bristle at general references
          that allow American personnel access to any government institutions
          needed to carry out their mission.

          Rodrigo Avila, the nation's former chief of police who is now a legislator,
          countered that the accord presented no such threat.

          "This is a support operation and not about war or anybody coming here
          with tanks," said Mr. Avila, a member of the Nationalist Republican
          Alliance party, or Arena.

          "I am not in agreement that U.S. troops should come in here and do what
          they want, but that is not in the spirit of the accord."

          American officials acknowledge that the agreement is broad, but they say
          that it needs to be flexible in case troops have to move elsewhere quickly
          or need equipment or supplies not readily available here.

          The F.M.L.N. has indicated that it may support the agreement if changes
          are made and, if not, insists that it can block it. But even that is uncertain
          since lawmakers have yet to determine if the accord is a routine matter
          that requires a simple majority to pass or a treaty, which would need a
          three-quarters majority of the congress. The F.M.L.N. has enough votes
          to deny a three-quarters vote, but it could not stop a simple majority.

          While a selling point of the American facility has been its possible help in
          reducing crime, observers say it is unclear how much of an impact it
          would actually have. Others criticize the government for seeking outside
          logistical help from the United States before first addressing issues like
          police corruption and judicial inefficiency at home.

          In recent weeks, a presidential commission has been investigating police
          involvement in crimes like robbery and kidnapping, and recently
          submitted a list of 216 officers for expulsion.

          "The first thing the country should do is improve public security
          organizations," said Abraham Abrego of the Foundation for Studies on
          the Application of Law.

          But for El Salvador, the larger issue is what role the military should play
          in addressing internal security after a dozen years in which it took part in
          a war that left some 60,000 Salvadorans dead.

          The military is currently conducting joint patrols with the police in rural
          areas, and the head of the police recently called for American support
          with helicopters and flight crews for 15-day operations against drug
          traffickers and organized crime.

          Opinion polls show support for some of these measures in the face of
          growing insecurity.