Why was Panama invaded, was it Just and honorable to invade Panama?

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The Corinthian

The official American justification for the invasion was given a few hours after the start of the operation. The four reasons listed for the invasion:

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

Ben O

Becuase Manual Noriega was blocking free trade throught the panama canal and extorting the peolpe in a manner thats was against the treaties and trade acts he signed and swore to uphold.

Wake the hell up and do some research before me and my friends have to come there and do Operation Just Cause all over again!

thesongfairy

It was invaded to remove a drug lord who wouldn't cooperate with us for a drug lord that would.

Weasel McWeasel all that & chips

I'm betting election year politics had somethuing to do with it.

Ya gotta kick SOMEONE's ***!

and it can't be IRAQ everytime!!

hey.....then they start calling ya a bully!

raysny

Panama has been a puppet state of the US since 1903:
http://www.princeton.edu/~kerickso/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppet_state

â€œNoriega was head of Panamaâ€™s military intelligence and had a long standing relationship with the United States. He had been on the CIA payroll since the 60â€™s. When George Bush became Director of the CIA in 1976, under President Ford, he inherited Noriega as a contact. Despite evidence that Noriega was involved in drug trafficking, Bush kept Noriega on the payroll. In fact, he increased Noriegaâ€™s salary to more than $100,000 a year and eliminated a requirement that intelligence reports on Panama include information on drug trafficking.â€

â€œWith support from the CIA, Noriega was able to outmaneuver his rivals and in August of 1983, he became Commander of the Panamanian Military. As the Reagan administration expanded its covert war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, Noriega became increasingly helpful. Working with the CIA, and with Israeli arms dealers, Noriega helped coordinate an arms supply network to provide weapons to contra bases in northern Costa Rica.â€

â€œDespite Noriegaâ€™s collaboration with many U.S. covert operations, he was becoming increasingly uncooperative with U.S. objectives in Central America. In 1984, he angered the Reagan administration by hosting Latin American leaders at the Contadora Peace Talks. The talks called for an end to U.S. intervention in Central American affairs.â€

At this point, Jesse Helms revealed that Noriega was a drug trafficer and put Regan in the position of having to call for Noriega's overthrow.

http://www.addictedtowar.com/dorrel.html#panama
http://www.addictedtowar.com/docs/panama.htm

http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/navy/pmi/panama.pdf

David M

Your question shows a total ignorance of history. The scary thing is that your vote counts as much as mine. One of the reasons our country appears to be heading in the wrong direction of socialism and a welfare state.

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