1989-+Invasion+of+Panama+G4

=Invasion of Panama- 1989=

Overview
The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, was the invasion of Panama by the United States in December 1989, during the administration of U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and ten years after the Panama Canal treaties were ratified to transfer control of the canal from the United States, back to Panama by the year 2000. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which set in motion the process of handing the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control, was signed by President of the United States Jimmy Carter and Omar Torrijos of Panama on September 7, 1977. U.S. relations with General 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. Three incidents in particular occurred very near the time of the invasion, and were mentioned by US President George H.W. Bush as a reason for invasion. In a December 16 incident, 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.

Central Issue
The military incursion into Panama began on December 20, 1989 , at 0100 local time. The operation involved 27,684 U.S. troops and over 300 aircraft, including the AC-130 Spectre gunship, OA-37B Dragonfly observation attack aircraft, 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 HMMWV and the F-117A. These aircraft were deployed against the 46,000 members of the Panamanian Defense Force. 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. U.S. Navy SEALS destroyed Noriega's private jet and a Panamanian gunboat. A Panamanian ambush killed 4 SEALS and wounded 8. Other military command centers throughout the country were also attacked. For nearly two weeks after the invasion, there was widespread looting and lawlessness, a contingency which the United States military indicated it had not 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". ====Conclusion==== Operation Nifty Package was an operation launched by Navy SEALs to prevent the escape of Noriega. They sank Noriega's boat and destroyed his jet at a cost of 4 killed and 8 wounded. Noriega finally surrendered to the U.S. military on January 3, 1990. He was immediately put on an MC-130 Combat Talon aircraft and extradited to the United States. The US lost 23 troops, and 325 were wounded. An estimated 1,000 Panamanians were killed. 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"; an independent inquiry by former Attorney-General Ramsey Clark claimed over 4,000. Human Rights Watch's 1991 report on Panama in the post-invasion aftermath, stated that even with some uncertainties about the scale of civilian casualties, the figures are "still troublesome."