When the US invaded Panama: Operation JUST CAUSE and the War on Drugs

The 1989 invasion of Panama was a quick and violent moment in the drug war. We revisit why we went and how it went down. The hung for Manuel Noriega, the messy Army Ranger airfield seizures, Navy SEAL assaults on escape air and water craft, the Little Bird Hostage Rescue of Kurt Muse, the first combat use of the F-117 (spoiler, it missed), the role AC/DC played at the Vatican Embassy, and like 20 other objectives in a joint US Special Operations and conventional forces endeavor.

Links:

https://aircommando.org/first-fight-special-tactics-in-panama-1989/ Semi-Official AFSOC History

https://www.jcs.mil/Portals/36/Documents/History/Monographs/Just_Cause.pdf Official Military History

https://amzn.to/4pFthAj Six Minutes to Freedom by Kurt Muse

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Intro music credit Bensound.com