SNIIP
>Invasion of Grenada – small nation – who cares?

You may find this interesting:

http://www.historyguy.com/Grenada.html

My daughter's father went and it was something to be sure. The reasons presented to the public at the time and the reality are somewhat different.


>
>Invasion of Panama – saved the world.

I have a more difficult time with this one. Having been there and personally witnessed the effect on not only our military already stationed there but the local civilian population as well when Noriega himself declared war on the U.S. on December 15th (He actually stated that a 'state of war' existed between our countries. Also Panamanian soldiers killed an unarmed marine in civilian clothes the next day.) We really had no choice but to depart the country completely (including the many U.S. civilians and civilians of other nations working in the Zone at that time) or jump in. We jumped in two days later. What no one mentions in any account I've seen is the days leading up to Dec 15th and the threat everyone felt from the PDF.

Personally, I feel that it was all due to the fact that the PDF intended to ensure the handing over of the entire US-built military complexes to the PDF which would allow the PDF to be responsible for the canal's security. In days previous, the PDF taunted and made threats to soldiers continuously and kept telling us 'you just wait and see.' The PDF also believed that they had the right to directly administer the canal. Militarisation of canal operations would give the PDF an independent source of financing as well as autonomy from any civilian authorities in Panama or Washington.