Larry+G.

=**May 10, 2010 - Preliminary research**=

Please post the following items:


 * Working thesis statement:**

The invasion of Panama lead many to believe that the United States was attempting to force a war upon Panama for sole control of the Panama Canal. Many of the reasons that the government was giving the country seemed to be either false or not good enough reasons for the country to go to war so this invasion was at times referred to as "Operation Just Cause" because there really was no good reason for it.

In December of 1989, the U.S. invaded panama to supposedly protect the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama and to fight against the drug trafficking that was occuring in Panama at the time. This invasion seemed to be pointless to many because the U.S. provided no legit reason for invading Panama besides wanting to begin a war.

I. Intro a. state thesis b. talk about the reasons for the invasion II. Body paragraph 1 a. reason: the invasion was done to supposedly protect the lives of the U.S. citizens within Panama III. Body Paragraph 2 a. protecting democracy IV. Body paragraph 3 a. Reason: fight against the drug trafficking that was occuring in Panama at the time. V. Body Paragraph 4 a. argument: the U.S. was just protecting the rights of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties by sending military to protect the Canal VI. Conclusion a. aftermath of invasion b. restate thesis.
 * Outline:**

Larry Guerrero June 1, 2010 U. S. History 2nd Period U.S. Invasion of Panama The United States of America has been a country that usually has power and fought as hard as they possibly could in order to either gain more power of keep that power they already have. An example of this wanting of power is when the United States invaded the country of Panama in the years 1989 through 1990 in what was later known as Operation ‘Just Cause’. The operation was called this for a variety of reasons of which will be later explained. However, the name ‘Just Cause’ couldn’t of fit any better as the title of this operation because as you will read you will see that the United States truly did the invasion, just cause. One of the reasons for the  United States invading Panama was to protect the lives of the 35,000 or so Americans that were residing in Panama at that time. The U. S. Government felt that the lives of these American residents were being put in danger by Manuel Noriega, the Panamanian military dictator. The U. S. proclaimed that Noriega had declared a state of war between Panama and the U. S. making Panama a risky place for an American to live in. Before the invasion there were many cases of citizen harassment and cases of violence inflicted on citizens. On the other hand, only one American citizen had been murdered before the invasion proving that maybe the U. S. Government may have just been assuming that the lives of U. S. citizens were being put in danger but not as dire as they proclaimed it to be. The  U. S. felt that Panama was quickly headed toward becoming a dictator government instead of the democratic government that the U. S. practiced and strongly influenced other nations to follow. With Noriega basically taking control of the Panama military by himself, the United States felt as if he may try to control all of Panama if he gets the power to do so. The only way to prevent the spread of dictatorship in Panama was to invade it and take away any power or force that Noriega had before he had a real chance to exploit it. The U. S. came to be successful when Noriega handed himself over to the U. S. military on January 3, 1990. This was a big blow for Panama in making any kind of critical attack on the U. S. because they no longer had a military leader. Drug trafficking was a big issue in Panama around the time of the Invasion. Noriega was said to be involved in a large sum of these interactions. Drugs were getting transport in and out Panama and Noriega was said to be a big part of those happenings. He would meet and deal with drug dealers himself and overview and protect large drug exchanges for a handsome profit in return. The U. S. believed if they were able to track down Noriega then they would be able to decrease the amount of drug trafficking that was occurring in Panama because there wouldn’t be anyone with authority to watch over the exchanges making it easier for the government to track down these happenings and their whereabouts. One of the final main reasons why the  U. S. invaded Panama was because they were protecting the rights that were stated in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. These treaties stated that the United States had control of the Panama Canal and must defend the canal for any possible threats until December 31, 1999. After that date, Panama had full control of the canal and became solely responsible for protecting the canal. This treaty seemed to suit both sides well when it was signed in 1903 but later turned out to be a very controversial topic in years to come. Panama thought that it should have full control of the canal since it was in their country but the U. S. thought otherwise. Panama tried to null and ratify the treaty but the U. S. didn’t agree with the ratification and that just lead to even more controversy. By the time the U. S. had invaded Panama, they was a lot of tension built up between these two countries because of the treaties and that only gave each side more fuel to go to war with one another. This treaty was sometimes said to be the only reason why the U. S. truly wanted to invade Panama to show that they weren’t strong enough to protect the canal and also for the U. S. to keep its property until it is no longer theirs. The aftermath of Operation Just Cause was much more severe than many thought it was going to be. The causality rate from the United States was the loss of 23 troops and 325 people wounded. However, the causality rate for Panama was much higher, ending up with 205 deaths and 1,236 captured. Still, this was not the most excessive statistic of the aftermath of the invasion of Panama. It was said that 20,000 became homeless due to urban warfare after the invasion. Also, the destruction of Panama didn’t end as soon as the operation ended neither. There was rioting and destruction for approximately two weeks following it. The Invasion left many Panamanian people in poverty and left many businesses bankrupt putting Panama in one the worst economical conditions ever. The invasion end up to be almost nothing but destruction of Panama because all the United States got from the invasion was the capture of Noriega because they still lost the Panama Canal on January 1, 2000. Many still believe that the entire operation was just unnecessary and all it did was cause harm to country of Panama and really solved no conflict. Panama ended up in an even worse condition than it previously was in and the United States still lost control of the Panama Canal on January 1, 2000 and all it had gained was the capture of a single enemy leader, Noriega. Many innocent lives were lost because of this invasion and in some of opinions just one lost life was one too many just for this unnecessaary operation.
 * Rough Draft**:

The Independent Commission of Inquiry on the U.S. Invasion of Panama. "The U.S. Invasion of Panama: the Truth Behind Operation 'Just Cause'." (1991) []
 * Working bibliography:**

Quigley, John B. "The Invasion of Panama and International Law." (1990) []

Crandall, Russell. "Gunboat Democracy: Interventions in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, and Panama." (2006) []

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