Casualties During United States invasion of Panama in 1989 To Arrest Noriega
The US lost 24 troops,and 325 were wounded . The U.S. Southern Command, at that time based on Quarry Heights in Panama, estimated the number of Panamanian military dead at 205, lower than its original estimate of 314.
There has been considerable controversy over the number of Panamanian civilian casualties resulting from the invasion. The Southern Command estimated that number at 200.
Physicians for Human Rights in a report issued one year after the invasion, estimated that "at least 300 Panamanian civilians died due to the invasion"; an independent inquiry by former Attorney-General Ramsey Clark claimed over 4,000.
The report also concluded that "neither Panamanian nor U.S. governments provided a careful accounting of non-lethal injuries" and that "relief efforts were inadequate to meet the basic needs of thousands of civilians made homeless by the invasion".
The report estimated the number of displaced civilians to be over 15,000, whereas the U.S. military provided support for only 3,000 of these.
Other estimates have suggested that between 2000 and 5000 civilians died, some arguing that this was a result of use of excessive force and novel weapons by the U.S military.
A US Army M-113 in PanamaAccording to official Pentagon figures 516 Panamanians were killed during the invasion; an internal Army memo estimated the number at 1,000.
An Independent Commission of Inquiry on the invasion estimated Panamanian deaths between 1,000 and 4,000.
Human Rights Watch's 1991 report on Panama in the post-invasion aftermath, stated that even with some uncertainties about the scale of civilian casualties, the figures are "still troublesome" because
"[Panama's civilian deaths] reveal that the 'surgical operation' by American forces inflicted a toll in civilian lives that was at least four-and-a-half times higher than military casualties in the enemy, and twelve or thirteen times higher than the casualties suffered by U.S. troops. By themselves these ratios suggest that the rule of proportionality and the duty to minimize harm to civilians, where doing so would not compromise a legitimate military objective, were not faithfully observed by they invading U.S. forces. For us, the controversy over the number of civilian casualties should not obscure the important debate on the manner in which those people died."
MORE HERE
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(Bush Jr. beat his daddy at the same game. His invasion of Iraq to arrest and execute Saddam Husein so far has cost the lives of over 1.3 million innocent civilians or as some may call "collateral damage".
Notice the similarities between Noriega and Saddam?
Both were dictators working closely with the United States until they were told to give up their "thrones".
They both refused and many died so the two could be arrested. - Chimp)
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Manuel Noriega
Alive
Born: 2/11/1938 or 1934 (In one week, we can sing:HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...)
Age: 70 or 74
Full name: Manuel Antonio Noriega Morena
Noted For: general and dictator of Panama (1983-89); ousted by U.S. invasion; extradited to U.S. and convicted of drug trafficking (1992); imprisoned (1992-).
Noriega's US prison sentence ended in September of 2007; pending the outcome of extradition requests by both Panama and France, he remains in prison as of January 2009.
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