CIA ASSETS - HALL OF FAME - Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega - Template US Intervention

CIA ASSETS - HALL OF FAME Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega - Template US Intervention via @WikiLeaks COL. WILKERSON - students study covert and overt U.S. operations from 1947 to the present - USA sits back and waxes eloquent re INTERNATIONAL LAW and re HUMAN RIGHTS - WHAT THE WORLD REALLY IS ABOUT IS:  *POWER* - USA exercises its POWER - CLANDESTINELY & OVERTLY quite frequently     / since end of COLD WAR (moreso than DURING COLD WAR) - complex reasons for invasions like PANAMA - USA always puts out RHETORIC such as that of GEORGE H.W. BUSH, in case of PANAMA ... - about LIBERTY and about DEMOCRACY and about FREEDOM BUT it is RARELY - if EVER - about those commodities - it is about RAW POWER -- ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL, sometimes PERSONAL POWER - it is about POWER - that is the way it is with GREAT POWERS - that is the way it is about the WORLD - lament it all day long, but this is the REALITY CONFRONTING us every day --- COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION IN SUMMARY https://www.democracynow.org/2014/12/23/how_the_iraq_war_began_in --- PANAMA - 1989, US INVASION - H.W. BUSH --- OPERATION JUST CAUSE 24,000 US TROOPS  v. SMALLER ARMY THAN NYC POLICE This month marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Panama. On December 20, 1989 President George H.W. Bush /  launched Operation Just Cause /  to execute an arrest warrant /  against Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega / General Noriega was once a close ally to Washington / on the CIA payroll / 1986, his relationship with Washington took a turn for the worse /  on charges of drug trafficking /during the attack, the United States unleashed a force of 24,000 troops equipped with highly sophisticated weaponry and aircraft / against a country with an army smaller than the New York City Police Dept << served as a template for future U.S. military interventions  << guests - Humberto Brown, a former Panamanian diplomat - Greg Grandin, a professor of Latin American history at New York University   / author of The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World  / article:  "The War to Start All Wars: The 25th Anniversary of the Forgotten Invasion of Panama" - Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell  retired Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, special assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff /  Chaired by General Colin Powell at the time of the invasion --- GEORGE H.W. BUSH - MEDIA LIES - NO MEDIA CHALLENGE / PUBLIC DENIED INFORMATION     PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH: One year ago, the people of Panama lived in fear under the thumb of a dictator. Today, democracy is restored. Panama is free.     JOSÉ DE JESÚS MARTÍNEZ: We are to say we invaded Panama because Noriega. I don’t know how Americans can be so stupid to believe this. I mean, how can you be so stupid?     MICHAEL PARENTI: The performance of the mainstream news media in the coverage of Panama has been just about total collaboration with the administration. Not a critical perspective. Not a second thought. --- PANAMANIANS KILLED - UNKNOWN NUMBER     REP. CHARLES RANGEL: You would think, from the video clips that we had seen, that this whole thing was just a Mardi Gras, that the people in Panama were just jumping up and down with glee.     VALERIE VAN ISLER: They focused on Noriega, to the exclusion of what was happening to the Panamanian people, to the exclusion of the bodies in the street, to the exclusion of the number dead.     REP. CHARLES RANGEL: The truth of the matter is that we don’t even know how many Panamanians we have killed. --- PANAMA - US, 'MIGHT MAKES RIGHT' DOCTRINE / DESTRUCTION OF COUNTRY TO 'SAVE IT' PETER KORNBLUH: Panama is another example of destroying a country to save it. And the United States has exercised a might-makes-right doctrine --- PANAMA INVASION - SETS STAGE FOR WARS OF 21st CENTURY ROBERT KNIGHT: The invasion sets the stage for the wars of the 21st century. ROBERT KNIGHT well-known host at WBAI, Pacifica Radio, in New York /  part of the trailer for the Academy Award-winning 1992 documentary, The Panama Deception --- ONE MONTH AFTER FALL OF BERLIN WALL - SET TERMS FOR FUTURE INTERVENTIONS - invasion of Panama took place a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall - set the terms for future interventions 1.  unilateral     * without the sanction of the United Nations     * without the sanction of the Organization of American States     = RISKY for USA / didn't occur often even during COLD WAR 2.  violation of NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY     * while USA did this often during COLD WAR, it was the TERMS of the VIOLATION that changed     * done in name of << DEMOCRACY <<     OVERTLY ARGUED that NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY subordinated to << DEMOCRACY <<        thus:  that USA has right to ADJUDICATE the QUALITY of << DEMOCRACY << 3.  invasion of PANAMA -  preview to the first Gulf War     * massive coordination of awesome force     * done spectacularly for public consumption     = putting VIETNAM SYNDROME to REST DEATHS - PANAMA INVASION - Panamanians said something like 3,000 - Pentagon said 'hundreds' of people died HUMBERTO BROWN / PANAMA DIPLOMAT at time of US INVASION - poor neighbourhoods devastated:  el Chorrillo, Maranon, Caledonia - majority that suffered = urban poor -  intimidation / literally expressing NO concern for the POOR -  in the first hour, we had had 200 [BOMBS] and—about close to 400 bombs were dropped after midnight - ELITE (who were complicit) - their neighbourhoods were PROTECTED & they were SAFE - ELITE - some removed from their homes & placed in CANAL ZONE - two different approaches to the URBAN POOR & the PANAMA COMPLICIT ELITE new president, President Varela / wanted to create a special commission to investigate events of INVASION / attempt to get 'national reconciliation' day of mourning vs. day of reflection vs. day of 'liberation' debate /  conflicting view of the impact COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION *my understanding was the understanding that the press reported - everything from attacks on or threatened attacks on our officers and men and women in the military in Panama - to drug trafficking and extensive contacts with drug gangs, grown larger than ever contemplated NOTE:  "you could learn a lot about U.S. operations in its own hemisphere"---COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION -  an operation, not so unique MARINE GENERAL SMEDLEY BUTLER / US MILITARY A CRIMINAL FOR AMERICAN COMMERCIAL INTEREST - look at Marine General Smedley Butler, in his testimony to the then Armed Forces Committee in the Congress - GEN. SMEDLEY BUTLER essentially compared himself to AL CAPONE "Al Capone operated on one continent, I operated on two. I was a criminal for American commercial interest."---Marine General Smedley Butler, in his testimony -- USA, x35 INVASIONS in CARIBBEAN since 1850 - USA hemisphere - interjected our military force into someone’s territory in the Caribbean about 35 times since 1850 - Monroe Doctrine is still operational - USA position:  entitled to interfere in anyone’s country at any time - 2002, USA tried to foment coup in CARACAS, VENEZUELA to overthrow HUGO CHAVEZ -- COLD WAR - forced USA to operate under LEGITIMACY OF MULTILATERALISM - multilaterialism is SWEPT AWAY with the US INVASION of PANAMA 1989 - sets terms of FUTURE USA INVASIONS -- PANAMA INVASION 'CAPSTONE' TO IRAN-CONTRA & to 1980s US INVOLVEMENT NICARAGUA - Noriega key player / shadowy player - mysteries of national security state far outstrip the mysteries of the trinity (Catholicism / religion) - Noriega played both sides - passed info to CUBA same time he brokered deals with the CONTRAS - was an intermediary with CARTELS in COLOMBIA - this is the deep politics behind IRAN-CONTRA - SEYMOUR HERSCH -  broke story, in NEW YORK TIMES - before IRAN-CONTRA     / outlining Noriega involvement in drug running / that was TURNING OF TIDE re USA & NORIEGA -- REAGAN ADMIN. FEDERAL JUDICIARY issue WARRANTS for NORIEGA - drug trafficking & racketeering "You know, Noriega wasn’t really high on our agenda."---BRENT SCOWCROFT, national security adviser for GEORGE H.W. BUSH GEORGE H.W. BUSH ADMIN - pushed by DOMESTIC POLITICS /  OCTOBER INVASION / COUP PANAMA - lot of criticism - PRESS baiting BUSH ADMIN for not supporting plotters AGAINST NORIEGA -- COLIN POWELL -KNEW NOREIGA CIA PAYROLL FOR QUARTER CENTURY "Powell was aware that Noriega had been on the CIA payroll for a quarter century. He had witnessed Noriega being feted as a savior of the Contras by Weinberger at the Pentagon. Support for Noriega had been so staunch that for a time the Reagan administration impeded investigations into allegations of his drug trafficking. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had even awarded him with a commendation for his contributions to the 'war on drugs.' Powell observed that the Reagan and Bush administrations should have know that 'you could not buy Manuel Noriega, but you could rent him.'" ---Christopher O’Sullivan, 'Colin Powell: American Power and Intervention from Vietnam to Iraq' "With the Cold War ending and the obsessive fear about Nicaragua dissipating, Noriega’s usefulness to Washington evaporated. He also took the fateful step of endorsing the Contadora Peace Process for Central America." ---Christopher O’Sullivan, 'Colin Powell: American Power and Intervention from Vietnam to Iraq' "... it’s a pretty good summary of some of the things that happened ... Powell deputy NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER and then NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER ... last year of REAGAN second administration ... up close & personal watching these things ... Some still classified" ---COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION US MACHINATIONS in LATIN AMERICA from El Salvador to Honduras today: / US supported overthrow of leader of HONDURAS & installed USA'S MAN - well known / THIS IS HOW USA DEALS WITH SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE / LATIN AMERICA ---COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION U.S. has a long history with Panama, going decades back, long aligning itself with the light-skinned European elite from an internal process of Panama itself; not US-only foreign policy - invasion PANAMA - represented a move of USA to ensure that when PANAMA CANAL was returned to PANAMA - that govt in power was the ELITE that USA was accustomed to relate to - former OLIGARCHY & their reps were installed by US as govt - so not limited to NORIEGA no longer served US INTERESTS  / also internal conflict in PANAMA over governance & control of resources - USA concern that if PANAMA CANAL got transferred to PANAMA military would still be in power, giving them control of RESOURCES - ie.  resources from ADMINISTERING PANAMA CANAL --- DEAD IN PANAMA - STILL NO ANSWERS HOW MANY KILLED - families that don’t have any answers of where their family disappeared to / big question in PANAMA - from 1903, when USA supported the oligarchy to become an independent country - to intervention in every INTERNAL conflict in PANAMA >> USA was the FORCE << - first 40 years, Panama policemen never a force that could handle the internal process - depended on US 14 military bases - thus US defines politics and internal process of Panama - PANAMA INVASION / COUP - consolidation of the historical domination of US in PANAMA - US determined politics and all internal process in Panama and supported a small elite that are loyal to USA PANAMA - US INVASION IS PANAMA'S 9/11 - US bombed PANAMA when ppl celebrating CHRISTMAS - US bombed PANAMA at midnight - US violated every basic INTERNATIONAL LAW - from GENEVA CONVENTION / and violated principle of PROTECTING CIVILIAN population in time of war President George H.W. Bush’s announcement on INVASION of PANAMA:     PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH: L     Last night, I ordered U.S. military forces to Panama. No president takes such action lightly. This morning, I want to tell you what I did and why I did it. For nearly two years, the United States, nations of Latin America and the Caribbean have worked together to resolve the crisis in Panama. The goals of the United States had been to safeguard the lives of Americans, to defend democracy in Panama, to combat drug trafficking and to protect the integrity of the Panama Canal Treaty. Many attempts have been made to resolve this crisis through diplomacy and negotiations. All were rejected by the dictator of Panama, General Manuel Noriega, an indicted drug trafficker. --- PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH, December 20th, 1989 - NORIEGA "was on the payroll of the CIA" - NORIEGA "played multiple roles within Panama" - during the height of Iran-Contra, CIA was willing to work with NORIEGA - at end of COLD WAR, things turned:  NOREIGA became inconvenient to USA - NOREIGA - El Chorillo neighbourhood, barrio, next to CANAL ZONE - from migrant workers - most from Caribbean / helped build CANAL ZONE - NORIEGA - lower classes, dark lower classes - NOREIEGA - belief in witchcraft, sorcery / NORIEGA superstition presented in press - deemed 'racism' by history prof. GREG GRANDIN --- GREG GRANDIN, professor of Latin American history at New York University --- NORIEGA - RENDERED / NOT EXTRADITED - NORIEGA imprisoned - wasn't "extradited" / USA did NOT have extradition treaty with PANAMA at time - NORIEGA seized ILLEGALLY by USA & brought to FLORIDA / then extradited to FRANCE - NOREIGA imprisoned in FRANCE briefly - NORIEGA then back in PANAMA - NORIEGA put on trial in FLORIDA by federal court in 1992 - NORIEGA defence:   "I was working for the CIA." - number of US GOVT witnesses CONFIRMED NOREIGA DEFENCE - one confirmed NOREIGA helped broker COLOMBIAN DRUG CARTEL deal, in which COLOMBIAN CARTEL passed $10m to CONTRAS - speaks to other issues having to do with the "Dark Alliance" series of Gary Webb, journalist, disclosed later - overt history of US INVASION of PANAMA seen - but DEEP POLITICS - covert / unseen / dark national security state / CIA - the dark national security state history is still UNKNOWN / classified --- GREG GRANDIN, professor of Latin American history at New York University --- MODEL FOR LATER IRAQ INVASIONS NOREIGA -  tyrant, his worst crimes committed with U.S. support, then at some point either he disobeys or her misunderstands orders, then all of a sudden he’s demonized in the corporate media and his country is invaded ---AARON MATÉ, JOURNALIST COL. WILKERSON - students study covert and overt U.S. operations from 1947 to the present - USA sits back and waxes eloquent re INTERNATIONAL LAW and re HUMAN RIGHTS - WHAT THE WORLD REALLY IS ABOUT IS:  *POWER* - USA exercises its POWER - CLANDESTINELY & OVERTLY quite frequently     / since end of COLD WAR (moreso than DURING COLD WAR) - complex reasons for invasions like PANAMA - USA always puts out RHETORIC such as that of GEORGE H.W. BUSH, in case of PANAMA - about LIBERTY and about DEMOCRACY and about FREEDOM - but it is RARELY - if EVER - about those commodities - it is about RAW POWER -- ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL, sometimes PERSONAL POWER - it is about POWER - that is the way it is with GREAT POWERS - that is the way it is about the WORLD - lament it all day long, but this is the REALITY CONFRONTING us every day --- COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION -- DEMOCRACY NOW PRESENTER RAISES QUESTION OF CALLING PROSECUTING GORGE H.W. BUSH ADMIN OFFICIALS      & PROSPECT OF CHANGE - CHANGE IN US FOREIGN POLICY, AS RESULT - COL. WILKERSON (ret.) does not thing there was POLITICAL WILL to hold G.H.W. BUSH ADMIN OFFICIALS accountable - that is reflection DEMOCRATIC FEDERAL REPUBLIC of USA - not very democrratic these days - does not see anything changing substantially until a PROFOUND CRISIS (eg. 9/11, but more serious) confronts USA - thinks that crisis is RAPIDLY COMING upon USA - thinks it's 'climate change' / how tht is handled next generation will:     - paint republic either in very draconian terms     - collapsing in own perfidity [betrayal, intentional deception, intentional breach of good faith]     - or it will resurrect republic --- COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION --- CUBA - SIGNIFICANCE LIFTING OF US EMBARGO - President Raúl Castro and President Barack Obama made their announcements - historic moment - hope the rhetoric of President Obama is matched by deeds - embargo, horrible thing for CUBAN PPL - esp. since end of COLD WAR - BATISTA being original dictator that CASTRO originally overthrew in 1959 - embargo on CUBAN PPL satisfied "BATISTA LEFTOVERS"  - ppl such as:     * IIEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, US Congress     * BOB MENDEZ, US congress    - policy should have been changed long, long ago - all kinds of ramifications to change:     * security     * agricultural sales     * commercial operations - but this is change for 11.5 million CUBAN PPL -- COLONEL WILKERSON (ret.), an aide to Colin Powell during PANAMA INVASION     CUBAN POLITICS - HEAD OF US-CUBA POLICY INITIATIVE 'NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION' https://www.democracynow.org/2014/12/23/how_the_iraq_war_began_in Enjoyed that interview / article.