OPERATION JUST CAUSE
Introduction
On December 20, 1989 the United States military launched a full scale invasion of Panama, code named Operation Just Cause. Operation Just Cause was also known as Operation Blue Spoon but was later changed for political reasons. This invasion occurred during the presidency of George H. W. Bush. The goal of Operation Just Cause was to capture General Manuel Antonio Noriega who was the commander of the Panama Defense Forces (PDF). Noriega was wanted for drug trafficking, money laundering and other illegal activities. At the time, President Bush wanted to put an end to drug trafficking. By capturing Noriega, the amount of drugs coming into the United States from South America would be reduced. “Just Cause was extraordinarily complex, involving the deployment of thousands of personnel and equipment” from across multiple military instillations and branches. Within the first twenty-four hours, over two dozen objectives were to be been secured.1 These victories would place the U.S. in a position to continue influencing operations for the remainder of the invasion. Planning and preparation helped U.S. forces minimize casualties and excessive collateral damage during the invasion. “Within seventy-two hours of the outbreak of hostilities, all major combat operations ended” and shifted the role of American forces from that of “war fighters to that of peacekeepers”. The success of the operation was the result of well thought out objectives, detailed planning, excellent leadership, and dedicated training.2 The operation lasted only a few weeks and concluded on January 31, 1990.
History
President George Bush defended the invasion with a number of reasons as to why the U.S. military was sent into Panama ...
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...an agencies were given little warning about their upcoming role in supporting the post combat mission. With the lack of warning and proper time to prepare, the transition from military to civilian operations became very complex in the time following Operation Just Cause. 17 This led to improvements made in the planning process where several military and civilian governmental organizations now come together to discuss upcoming operations and how the post process will be carried out by all parties. Working together allows for multiple ideas to be brought forth and all strengths and weaknesses can be taken into account. Civilian agencies such as the State Department, Justice Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development must be given the necessary time to plan for post combat phases so that their assistance is of a great value to the military. 18
A third character, the Ambassador Gilbert MacWhite, is a patriotic diplomat who lives up to many of the SOF Imperatives, but fails at one. His intent is admirable and the Ambassador realizes the actions required to combat the communist threat. One of the SOF Imperatives that he abides by is to ensure the legitimacy and credibility of Special Operations. ADRP 3-05 defines this as “legitimacy is the most crucial factor in developing and maintaining internal and international support. The United States cannot sustain its assistance to a foreign power without this legitimacy.” The publication also elaborates that decisions and actions that comply with U.S. and international laws foster legitimacy and credibility. This concept ties into several
Higgins' books begins with a brief review of the way the United States presidents dealt with Latin America in that era. It starts from President Franklin D, Roosevelt leasing Guantanamo Bay to President Dwight D. Eisenhower invading Guatemala Operations Fortune and Success which becomes the model for President John F. Kennedy's Bay of Pigs operation. It gives more in depth information of how Eisenhower's tactics and plans set up the invasion of Cuba which was later altered, modified and approved by President John F. Kennedy.
...icies from past Presidents. Furthermore, it was strongly detrimental to Latin America, for the reason that it eliminated the possibility of increasing Latin American exports to the United States, thereby destroying the hopes of Latin American countries focused upon President Nixon’s policy of “trade rather than aid.” During this time, the government justified itself by proclaiming that the United States needed to focus on avoiding involvement and learning from the mistakes made in Vietnam. All in all, over the course of the presidencies of Monroe, Roosevelt, FDR, and Nixon, the U.S. intervened in Latin America numerous times. Now, was it the right thing to do? At those specific points in time, the government thought so. Various arguments can be forged over the suitability of the actions of the U.S. during these times; however that is a discussion for another time.
One change they wish to fulfill is how they communicate locally and globally. They believe that communication is essential in achieving strategic plans effectively. In the past, ineffective communication has negatively impacted the peace keeping for a number of reasons including limited understanding of a culture or diverse views of the population. This has resulted in failures of expectations along with being unable to to sustain local support. Global communication is just as important as local communication because global communication builds public support internationally. If the media shows the conflict happening abroad, there is a better chance that the people of the world will intervene. In the documentary film, “Hotel Rwanda,” a journalist named Jack says to Paul Rusesabagina that it is not likely that people will intervene in the conflict because no one will care enough, “I think if people see this footage they 'll say, ‘Oh my God that 's horrible,’ and then go on eating their dinners.” Without global communication, people will not intervene or help out with the conflict, which is why the DPKO and DFS are aiming to develop public information activities to guarantee the awareness of information that has to do with peace keeping operations. Training and equipment is another factor in peace keeping that must be improved. Under-prepared personnel deploys to the field all the time, and as a result it often shows in challenging and remote environments. The Member States are trying to strengthen UN peace keeping’s training strategies by having experienced personnel to help. Equipment can be just as important in the field as well, it is essential to be fully equipped for building future capacity. Examples of equipment that could better the UN peace keeping strategies would be night vision equipment and naval vessels. Setting mission objectives and strategy is another change the UN plans
Observing the political path of Manuel Noriega from being a paid CIA operative and ally of the American government, to military governor of Panama, to ousted dictator, to convicted American prisoner, exposes a series of political interactions that culminated in Operation Just Cause on December 20, 1989. Coming in the shadow of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and preceding Operation Desert Storm, this brief military action is often overshadowed by the other world conflicts of the time. How does a county the size of America justify invasion of the tiny Panamanian isthmus? How does a dictator such as Manuel Noriega justify declaring war on the United States. Given the great disparity between these two nations, understanding these questions can help interpret their nature. In order to answer these questions, the events leading up to the violent confrontation help establish each nations’ political position and offer insight into their own justifications to engage in military action. The realist and Marxist political perspective theories can be used by analyzing and different levels the justification of armed action involving these two nations.
Thompson, William R and Rasler, Karen A., ‘War and Systemic Capability Reconcentration’ The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 32, 2, 1988, p. 337
Saddam Hussein’s main purpose of sending troops to take over Kuwait was to take control of their oil fields, which Hussein believed would be an easy task; however, he failed to understand that the United States and United Nations were keeping a very close watch on the Iraqi’s actions. Hussein also had other motives, such as freeing himself from the debt he was drowning in from the Iran-Iraq War just two years earlier. He set the pretense for war with Kuwait by defining their refusal to give land to Iraq as an act of military belligerence. President Bush ordered the United States to respond just five days after Iraq had invaded Kuwait. If the United States had not taken action, Hussein would have possibly continued to invade other oil producing countries and take control of the United States main sources of oil as well as threaten a number of innocent people’s lives.
The effects of this invasion were immediate. The United States became involved quickly after the initial invasion. Pres...
Sworn to protect Colombia, the United States held them in battle, and forced them to recognize a new country whose land and people were once theirs. This battle, known as Panama’s Revolution, which started on November 3rd of 1903, was due to America’s greed and hunger for land. This land would be used to build not only a canal for the world, but to build an American empire. The United States desperately needed a canal by 1898, during the Spanish-American war, and would stop at nothing to get it. President Theodore Roosevelt, who came into office in 1901 after the death of President McKinley, led the country in the biggest investment of its time, investing hundreds of millions of dollars and years of hard labor into a canal. In order to become an imperialistic power, the United States needed to gain control of overseas territory by creating and upholding a canal that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to make traveling not only faster in war situations for America, but less costly.
Throughout the past 60 to 70 years there has been speculation as to the involvement of the United States in the overthrowing of Jacobo Arbenz’ regime. The United States, through the CIA, although not officially confirmed, did participate in overthrowing Arbenz and his government. It was because of Arbenz’ land reforms, including that of United Fruit Co., that the CIA decided to invade Guatemala. They intervened to prevent Guatemala from falling to Communism by invading her to overthrow Arbenz’ government, which they believed was already following Communistic ideals. The main reason the intervention has been criticized is because it makes it confusing for people to know whether the CIA’s intervention actually helped Guatemala. The CIA’s intervention
On the night of April 9, 1989, Kurt Muse, the man behind La Voz de la Libertad, would finally be arrested while trying to clear immigration at Panama City’s Omar Torrijos International Airport. It would take nearly two and a half days and the cancelation of all Panamanian visas to the United States by the State Department for the Panamanian Defense Force to finally present Kurt Muse to the world; as a spy for the United States government.1 Kurt founded La Voz de la Libertad, and used it to promote the over threw of Noriega. Once news of his arrest was discovered, the other key players in La Voz de la Libertad and their families knew what had to be done. A member transmitted “shopette” and soon twenty-six Panamanians were asking for asylum at the gates of Fort Clayton.2 Kurt was the only American actively involved in La Voz de La Libertad and would not incriminate his Panamanian coconspirators. It would take nearly nine months for Operation Acid Gambit to come to fruition, and Kurt finally be liberated from his jail cell by Delta Force.
Kent, Randolph and Mackinlay, John. May/June 1997. “International Responses to Complex Emergencies: Why a new approach is needed?” NATO Review, 27-29.
When comparing and contrasting U. S. military operations and capabilities with regard to regular versus irregular warfare it is important to understand the definition of irregular and the spectrum of conflict. In recent history, the term “irregular warfare” has been used interchangeably with or alongside insurgency and counterinsurgency warfare. This usage and comparison is too narrow. ...
Current military leadership should comprehend the nature of war in which they are engaged within a given political frame in order to develop plans that are coherent with the desired political end state. According to Clausewitz, war is an act of politics that forces an enemy to comply with certain conditions or to destroy him through the use of violence. A nation determines its vital interests, which drives national strategy to obtain or protect those interests. A country achieves those goals though the execution of one of the four elements of power, which are diplomatic, informational, military and economical means. The use of military force...
UN. Department of Public Information (1995). United Nations peace-keeping: Information notes. Update, December 1994. Retrieved from UN website: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unikom/background.html