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The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, was the invasion of Panama by the United States that deposed general, dictator and de facto Panamanian military leader Manuel Noriega in December 1989, during the administration of U.S. President George H. W. Bush.

Background

U.S. relations with Noriega spanned decades from 1959 to the early 1980s, when Noriega served as a U.S. intelligence asset and was on the Central Intelligence Agency's payroll. Noriega's relations with George H. W. Bush may have begun in the 1970s, when Bush was head of the CIA. Noriega had worked to advance U.S. interests in Central America, notably in sabotaging the communist Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the revolutionaries in El Salvador, receiving upwards of $100,000 for his efforts. At the same time, Noriega was collaborating with Fidel Castro; and as he worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration to restrict illegal drug shipments, he was known to work with the drug dealers themselves simultaneously. Bush declared that the U.S. wouldn't negotiate with a known drug-trafficker and denied having any knowledge of Noriega's involvement with the drug trade prior to his indictment.
   The official American justification for the invasion was articulated by President George H. W. Bush on the morning of December 20, a few hours after the start of the operation. Bush listed four reasons for the invasion:
  • Safeguarding the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama. In his statement, Bush claimed that Noriega had declared that a state of war existed between the United States and Panama and that he also threatened the lives of the approximately 35,000 Americans living there. There had been numerous clashes between U.S. and Panamanian forces; one American soldier had been killed a few days earlier and several incidents of harassment of Americans had taken place.
  • Defending democracy and human rights in Panama. Earlier that year the government insisted that they won the presidential election that in theory was won by U.S.-backed candidates from opposition parties.
  • Combating drug trafficking. Panama had become a center for drug money laundering and a transit point for drug trafficking to the United States and Europe. Noriega had been singled out for direct involvement in these drug trafficking operations, although the U.S. had turned a blind-eye to Noriega's involvement since the 1970s.
  • Protecting the integrity of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Members of Congress and others in the U.S. political establishment claimed that Noriega threatened the neutrality of the Panama Canal and that the United States had the right under the treaties to intervene militarily to protect the Panama canal. In regard to one of the reasons set forth by the United States to justify the invasion, namely the Panamanian legislature's declaration of a state of war between the United States and Panama, Noriega insists that this statement referred to a state of war directed by the U.S. against Panama, in the form of what he claimed were harsh economic sanctions and constant, provocative military maneuvers that were prohibited by the Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
       In the December 16 incident that led to the killing of American Marine officer Lt. Robert Paz, four U.S. personnel were stopped at a roadblock outside PDF headquarters in the El Chorrillo neighborhood of Panama City. The United States Department of Defense claimed that the servicemen were unarmed and in a private vehicle and that they attempted to flee the scene only after their vehicle was surrounded by a crowd of civilians and PDF troops. The PDF claimed the Americans were armed and on a reconnaissance mission. It was also reported by the Los Angeles Times that "according to American military and civilian sources" the officer killed was a member of the "Hard Chargers", a group whose goal was to agitate members of the PDF. It was also reported that the group's "tactics were well known by ranking U.S. officers" who were frustrated by "Panamanian provocations committed under dictator Manuel A. Noriega", although the group wasn't officially sanctioned by the military. The Pentagon later denied that such a group ever existed. According to an official U. S. military report "witnesses to the incident, a U.S. naval officer and his wife were assaulted by Panamanian Defense Force soldiers while in police custody".

    Invasion

    U.S. Army forces, supported by the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy, participated in Operation Just Cause. Ground forces consisted of combat elements of the XVIII Airborne Corps, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 7th Infantry Division (Light), the 75th Ranger Regiment, a Joint Special Operations Task Force, elements of the 5th Infantry Division, 1138th Military Police Company of the Missouri Army National Guard, 193rd Inf Bde, 508th Airborne Infantry, 59th Engineer Co. (Sappers) and the U.S. Marines.
       The military incursion into Panama began on December 20, 1989, at 0100 local time. The operation involved 57,684 U.S. troops and over 300 aircraft —including the AC-130 Spectre gunship, OA-37B Dragonfly observation and attack aircraft, and the F-117A Nighthawk stealth aircraft flown by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing, and AH-64 Apache attack helicopter. The invasion of Panama was the first combat deployment for the AH-64, the HMMVW and the F-117A. These were deployed against the 46,000 members of the Panama Defense Force (PDF).
       The operation began with an assault of strategic installations such as the civilian Punta Paitilla Airport in Panama City, a PDF garrison and airfield at Rio Hato, where Noriega also maintained a residence, and other military command centers throughout the country. The attack on the central headquarters of the PDF (referred to as La Comandancia) touched off several fires, one of which destroyed most of the adjoining and heavily populated El Chorrillo neighborhood in downtown Panama City. According to eyewitnesses, the houses in this neighborhood were purposefully set on fire by American soldiers in order to arrest PDF soldiers hiding in the area. During the firefight at the Comandancia, the PDF downed two special operations helicopters and forced one AH-6 Little Bird to crash land in the Panama Canal. Fort Amador was secured by elements of the 508th Airborne Infantry and 59th Engineer Company (sappers) in a night time air assault which secured the fort in the early hours of December 20th. Fort Amador was a key position because of its relationship to the large oil farms adjacent to the canal, the Bridge of the Americas over the canal, and the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. There where key command and control elements of the PDF stationed at Fort Amador. Furthermore, Fort Amador also had a large American housing Area that need to be secured--to prevent the PDF from taking American Hostages. This position also protected the left flank of the attack on the Comadancia and the securing of the neighborhood El Chorrillos which had many of Noriega's supporters in the form dignity battalions (referred to as Dingbats). A few hours after the invasion began, Guillermo Endara was sworn in at Rodman Naval Base. It is generally agreed that Endara would have been the victor in the presidential election which had been scheduled earlier that year. The 1138th Military Police Company of the Missouri Army National Guard set up a detainee camp at Empire Range to handle the mass of civilian and military detainees. This unit made history by being the first Guard unit called into active service since the Vietnam War. This wouldn't be the last time the unit would be called, as Operation Desert Shield/Storm was looming on the horizon.
       Military operations continued for several weeks, mainly against military units of the Panama Army. Noriega remained at large for several days, but realizing he'd few options in the face of a massive manhunt, with a one million dollar reward for his capture, he obtained refuge in the Vatican diplomatic mission in Panama City. The American military's psychological pressure on him and diplomatic pressure on the Vatican mission, however, was relentless, including the playing of loud rock-and-roll music on boomboxes day and night in a densely populated area. As a result, Noriega finally surrendered to the U.S. military on January 3, 1990. He was immediately put on a military transport plane and extradited to the United States.
       Corps elements began returning on January 12, 1990, while units of the 193rd Inf Bde, 508th Airborne Infantry and 59th Engineer Company (Sapper), 16th Military Police Brigade continued police patrols throughout the Panama City area to attempt to restore law and order and support the newly installed government (under the moniker Operation Promote Liberty).

    Casualties

    The Americans lost 23 troops, and 325 were wounded (WIA). The U.S. Southern Command, at that time based on Quarry Heights in Panama, estimated the number of Panamanian military dead at 205, lower than its original estimate of 314. There has been considerable controversy over the number of Panamanian civilian casualties resulting from the invasion. At the low end, the Southern Command estimated that number at two hundred (200). An inquiry headed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark estimated more than three thousand (3,000) Panamanian civilian casualties. There is no known accounting as to how many civilian deaths were directly attributable to military actions on either side. Physicians for Human Rights in a report issued one year after the invasion, estimated that "at least 300 Panamanian civilians died due to the invasion". The report also concluded that "neither Panamanian nor U.S. governments provided a careful accounting of non-lethal injuries" and that "relief efforts were inadequate to meet the basic needs of thousands of civilians made homeless by the invasion". The report estimated the number of displaced civilians to be over 15,000, whereas the U.S. military provided support for only 3,000 of these.
       According to official Pentagon figures 516 Panamanians were killed during the invasion; an internal Army memo estimated the number at 1,000 and an Independent Commission of Inquiry on the U.S. Invasion of Panama estimated Panamanian deaths at 1,000-4,000.

    Origin of the name "Operation Just Cause"

    Operation plans directed against Panama evolved from plans designed to defend the Canal. They became more aggressive as the situation between the two nations deteriorated. The Prayer Book series of plans included rehearsals for a possible clash (Operation Purple Storm) and missions to secure American sites (Operation Bushmaster). Eventually these plans became Operation Blue Spoon, which was renamed by President Bush as Just Cause. The name "Just Cause" has been used primarily by the United States military for planning and historical purposes and by other U.S. entities such as the State Department. The Panamanian name for the Operation is "The Invasion" (La Invasión).
       In recent years, the naming of U.S. military operations has been the source of some controversy, both internationally and domestically (see Operation Enduring Freedom). At the time operations to depose Noriega were being planned, U.S. military operations were given meaningless names. Just Cause was planned under the name Blue Spoon, and the invasion itself incorporated elements of the Operation Nifty Package and Operation Acid Gambit plans. The name Blue Spoon was later changed to Just Cause for aesthetic and public relations reasons. The post-invasion occupation and reconstruction was titled Operation Promote Liberty.

    Local and international reactions

    The Panamanian people overwhelmingly supported the action. According to one poll, 92% of Panamanian adults supported the U.S. incursion, and 76% wished that U.S. forces had invaded in October during the coup. At the UN Security Council, after discussing the issue over several days, a draft resolution demanding the immediate withdrawal of United States forces from Panama was vetoed on 23 December by three of the permanent members of the Security Council, France, United Kingdom, and the United States who cited its right of self-defense of 35,000 Americans present on the Panama Canal. On 29 December, the General Assembly of the United Nations voted 75–20 with 40 abstentions to condemn the invasion as a "flagrant violation of international law." Peru recalled its ambassador in protest of the invasion.
       The Washington Post disclosed several rulings of the Office of Legal Counsel, issued shortly before the invasion, in regards to the U.S. armed forces being charged with making an arrest abroad. One ruling Interpreted the Executive Order against Assassination of Foreign Leaders, which prohibits the intentional killing of foreign leaders as suggesting that accidental killings would be acceptable foreign policy. Another ruling concludes that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the armed forces from making arrests without Congressional authorization, is effective only within the boundaries of the US, such that the military could be used as a police force abroad — for example, in Panama, to enforce a federal court warrant against Noriega.

    Aftermath

    Since Noriega's ouster, Panama has had three presidential elections, with candidates from opposing parties succeeding each other in the Palacio de las Garzas. Panama's press, however, is still subject to numerous restrictions. On 10 February 1990, the Endara government abolished Panama's military and reformed the security apparatus by creating the Panamanian Public Forces. In 1994, a constitutional amendment permanently abolished the military of Panama, and in 1991, the U.S. created a law to reopen the Torrijos-Carter Treaties to allow the U.S. military to become the sole power enforcing the neutrality and providing security for the canal. These events lead some to theorize that the underlying motive of the invasion was to further U.S. interests by maintaining a hold on the canal after the turnover on December 31, 1999.
       Economically, while Panama's GDP recovered by 1993, very high unemployment remained a serious problem. This could be attributed to numerous other causes unrelated to its political environment post-Noriega, including the debt crisis of Mexico in 1994–1995, severe recession in Latin America throughout the 1990s, and the Asian financial crisis.
       The government of Guillermo Endara designated the first anniversary of the U.S. invasion a "national day of reflection". On that day hundreds of Panamanians marked the day with a "black march" through the streets of this capital to denounce the U.S. invasion and Endara's economic policies. Protestors echoed claims that 3,000 people were killed as a result of U.S. military action.
       One notorious after-effect of the invasion was nearly two weeks of widespread looting and lawlessness, a contingency which the United States military indicated it hadn't anticipated. This looting inflicted catastrophic losses on many Panamanian businesses, some of which took several years to recover. On July 19, 1990, a group of 60 companies based in Panama filed a lawsuit against the United States Government in Federal District Court in New York City alleging that the U.S. action against Panama was "done in a tortious, careless and negligent manner with disregard for the property of innocent Panamanian residents". Most of the businesses had insurance, but the insurers either went bankrupt or refused to pay, claiming acts of war are not covered.
       About 20,000 people lost their homes and became refugees from the invasion. About 2,700 families that were displaced by the Chorrillo fire were each given $6,500 by the United States to build a new house or apartment in selected areas in or near the city. However, numerous problems were reported with the new constructions just two years after the invasion.

    U.S. units involved in the operation

  • 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) » *4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment

  • 7th Infantry Division (Light) » *27th Infantry Regiment


       *4th Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment » *6th Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment


       *B Battery, 7th Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment » *B Battery, 2-62d ADA


       *1st Battalion, 123rd Aviation Regiment » *9th Infantry Regiment

  • XVIII Airborne Corps Further Information

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