I guess I am not very objective about this, either. Seeing some unpleasant things in the present (i.e., I don't agree at all with the U.S. role in the "war against terror" - whether justified or not, is besides the point for this particular message), it is far too easy to extrapolate this, umm, unpleasant perception into the past...
>I am not very objective about this subject. I was in Panama for Just Cause and then for a year afterwards. For months afterwards I was in civilian clothes out in the interior living with the locals in several locations. The temperment would run in all directions at any given moment - understandable to say the least. My experience was that the majority of the locals actually were thankful for the U.S. removal of Noriega. Afterall, he did declare war on the U.S. and anyone who objected to him was beaten or killed. Has everyone forgotten that on December 15, 1989 Noriega asked the legislature for the title of chief executive officer of the government and then declared that a state of war with the United States existed? That Panamanian election results were voided and opposition leaders were physically beaten by Noriega's Dignity Battalions (DIGBATs)? That the next day Panamanian soldiers killed an unarmed U.S. Marine officer dressed in civilian clothes. The responsibility of the
>Panama Canal? Before the U.S. invaded Panama the Panamanians were accustomed to switching sides on a daily basis because life meant being on the winning side. I met those Panamanian 'students' who fought at Rio Hato. One became a close friend of mine later and still is today. I went to her school functions and celebrations. I am not sure that it could have been resolved any better than it was, but I would always hope so. I would always hope that anything other than war could be done. In this effort though, I am positive that the U.S. is not the bad guy.
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>>>Speaking of which, can Panama arrest the US president?
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>>Of course not. It is the U.S., and its enlightened president, who know what is best for other countries.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)
