Operation Just Cause Research Paper

The United States military is downsizing, becoming a more fit and agile military. Due to this action the Army has come up with a program to place Soldiers in a field that they can perform at their maximum capacity physically and mentally. This program is called Soldier 2020, it is in its final testing stages even though parts of this program have already been integrated into TRADOC.

The U.S. involvement with these countries began in 1951. Jacobo Árbenz was a military officer who used his military forces to suppress laborers and take what he wanted. Hearing about this the current U.S. President Eisenhower sent weapons to guerrilla groups in order to help over throw Árbenz. Fast-forward a few years and the Cuban revolution happens and results in Cuba becoming a communist government. Around this time many of the guerrilla groups started disappearing but still remained intact. Most people who have an opinion on the matter agree that supplying arms and providing aid to these extremist groups was the starting point to forming the current gangs in Central America. “We made policy decisions that put short-term prioritization of winning battles against insurgents and people we considered communists over the long-term stability of those countries, they are now living the results.” (Katel p.7). This quote sums up the idea the U.S had with their

High school, for many students, is prison. A prison that holds us for seven hours every day, five days a week. This type of attitude is what ruins students. Students with huge potential and bright futures are falling victim to this epidemic every year. It is time we try and change that.

In December 19989, thousands of American troops invaded Panama with the goals of extraditing the dictator, General Manuel Noriega, to the United States and reinstating true democracy within the nation after being indicted by two federal grand juries in Florida, after months of economic sanctions and covert tactics meant to force him out of power. In the years since there has been a question as to the validity of the reasoning behind the interference. Shortly after the invasion, President Bush gave his reasons and goals saying “the goals of the United States have been to safeguard the lives of Americans, to defend democracy in Panama, [and] to combat drug trafficking…” for the operation but further investigation contradicts what the people were

This led to a sense of fear among the people of Panama C) Though it can't be proven, it is believed that the US helped organize the Civic Crusade to combat the corruption. After Manuel attempted to rig the 1989 election, he called it void due to outside interference. He named his own leader while the US recognized another setting up for a face off D) After multiple incidents of assaults on US soldiers, the US invaded Panama and after a tense battle and eventual standoff, Manuel surrendered.

The motivation behind US endeavors during the Cold War was to interfere with Latin American countries politically to counter the spread of communist ideologies that were seen by the US as being directly opposed to its economic and philosophical interests. The US’ economic interests were spread and consolidated through corporations operating within Latin America such as Alcoa, United Fruit, and others. It is through these corporate interests, which were under threat of nationalizion in their respective countries by leftist governments taking hold, that the US justified much of its involvement toppling governments in the region.

Doing so in a time where everyone scrambled to collect money, only increased the likelihood of corruption. Paying with drug money appealed to those in the covert war, covert meaning secretive activities are fulfilled without knowing the sponsors. Thus, the U.S. could disagree with the action, but still not know that they were sponsoring, since many drug traffickers disguised their intentions while negotiating with political groups. Also, the weapons and/or drugs were supplied by various people, even by professional personnel, such as the Panamanian Defense Forces, so we do know there was governmental involvement, not just naïve volunteering. The drug traffickers may have made a deal that if the U.S. or other participating countries provided weapons, they would provide them with drugs to produce money in order to give the traffickers the weapons, without losing resources or causing financial

United States Army defines leadership as influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization. Leadership to me is defined as doing what is morally and ethically correct, all while influencing people to accomplish a specific task. A Senior Warrant Officer is essential to the overall leadership of the military.

“Woodstock Academy Girls Varsity Team”: A program that is more then banners, championships and awards, a program that is built on dedication, excellence and teamwork. Five years ago I found myself at the Bentley Athletic complex, intimidated by the talent that this program exuded. I remember vividly the first day of tryouts. I was 14 years old, I had come from a small private school so I did not know anyone in the school. My parents dropped me off waved good bye and said good luck! I walked slowly with a ball at my feet, water in my bag, and my head down over the table to hand in my paper work. Tryouts started a few minutes later and Amy Cross the head coach of the program at the time gathered all the girls around and introduced the senior class and talked about the expectations of this program. As a team we were required to attend every practice and game ready to work hard for 2 hours, respect towards our

Certainly, the Republic of Panama paid a heavy price for the excesses of entrenched military regime in power for over two decades and which was the culminating stage narco-dictatorship of Noriega. The secret services of the United States, for which Noriega had worked, were undoubtedly the most responsible for the situation created in Panama. But we must not forget that Carter legitimized the dictatorial and unconstitutional regime subscribing Torrijos in the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Moreover, Washington sponsored the electoral fraud of 1984 and up to a certain extent the moral corruption and mismanagement, but that was not all. Once the troops invaded Panama and the Defense Force was disintegrated, Americans assumed police functions implementing the order or avoiding the chaos that was produced. The aid pledged for reconstruction was cut by the U.S. Congress to assist Nicaragua. Our country is not even able to recover intact the 375 million that were being held in respect of payments for the Canal and taxes of U.S. companies. United States arranged for a part of it served to pay off part of servicing the external debt had not been paid in recent years.

Central America's everlasting theme of violence, drugs and poverty influence the way many see as a culture of darkness and crime. The great leader of Panama, Manuel Antonio Noriega, was born in Panama City, Panama on February 11, 1934. Noriega’s early path seemed to be winding its way towards failure after being born into a very poor family and abandoned at the age of 5. These emotional and physical hardships could have determined the rest of his life, but Noriega did not allow these events to shape his future. Through hard work and sacrifice, he was awarded a scholarship to the Chorrillos Military School in Lima, Peru, one of the most renowned high schools in all of Central America.3 His major in education was military intelligence and counterintelligence.4

So, they began feeding the public information about Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking in order to undermine him. Noriega’s involvement in drug trafficking was soon placed in a number of news articles. Unfortunately, at that time, the general agreement was that the cost of military intervention would outweigh whatever benefits they could hope to gain. In addition, Noriega had considerable knowledge of U.S. military and intelligence (Robinson, 190). Because Washington had no wish to be defeated as they had in previous wars during the Cold War, and Noriega was not an imminent threat, they chose to restrain themselves from using military force.

There are many differing theories as to why the United States chose to invade Panama. Some historians claim it was a primarily prompted to the continuation against the threat of communism. It is hard to take into account since the threat was considerably weakened by this point. Others maintain that the goal was protection of both the citizens and democracy, without any additional motives. If that was the case, the United States would have been inclined to carry out the invasion much earlier, even shortly after he took power. A belief is also circulated that Noriega’s drug trafficking and disregard for international agreements led to the invasion. Again, Noriega had been involved in drug trafficking for years and the U.S. chose to ignore his

Pinochet was put into power . This is a perfect example of how the US foreign policy replaced genuine democracy with dictatorship for their own benefit, and again, supposedly in the name of National Security. Latin America was a victim of US foreign policy and corporate greed.

The lectures in class this week and the article “10 of the Most Lethal CIA Interventions in Latin America” by Olivier Acuña has opened my eyes to the U.S.’s international political connections. The U.S. has proved throughout history to be self serving and has proven to intervene in nations that will lead to its own economic and political advantages. I find it unfortunate that the CIA and American government tries to pride itself on our democratic system, but will support corrupt dictators and absolute rulers