Operation Just Cause: The Storming of Panama [Hardcover]

Thomas Donnelly (Author), Margaret Roth (Author), Caleb Baker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0669249750 | ISBN-13: 978-0669249750 | Publication Date: December 1991

The authors visited each major battle site to write this authoritative and vivid account of Operation Just Cause--and offer a firsthand account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the U.S.invasion of Panama, and the fall of General Noriega, in December, 1989. Index.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Drawing on hundreds of interviews, the authors describe the invasion of 26,000 U.S. troops against the Panama Defense Forces, and the toppling of Manuel Noriega. In addition to crisp accounts of conventional firefights during the brief campaign--December '89-January '90--the book describes a wide variety of military situations, affording readers a close look at how U.S. troops make war in the post-Vietnam era: Capt. Linda Bray becomes the first female to lead American troops into battle; an American civilian is rescued from the Model Prison by Delta Force commandos; U.S. and Panamanian forces fight hand-to-hand in an airport women's restroom. As the authors make clear, Operation Just Cause marked a significant change from Washington's concentration on the Soviet menace. With the protection of American citizens abroad becoming increasingly important in the face of terrorism and hostage-taking, we can expect the smaller U.S. Army to be oriented toward a different variety of threats, note the authors. The book offers a sharp examination of how the Army went into action on a new kind of front. Donnelly and Roth report for Army Times , Baker for Defense News.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Three editors of Army Times offer a minutely detailed--and adulatory--narrative of Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama in December 1989. Despite Gen. Noriega's intelligence services to the US about Cuba and the Marxist forces in Central America, the authors say, it was clear to the White House that the Panamanian strongman had to be deposed. According to Donnelly, Roth, and Baker, Noriega and his henchmen had stolen elections, looted the Treasury of Panama, murdered, kidnapped, beat, and tortured rivals, built a ruthless military force, dealt in lucrative drug trafficking, detained and beat Americans, and, finally, killed a US marine officer. The general had also worked with Cuba against US interests, endangering Canal security and American citizens. Finally, President Bush, his patience exhausted, gave go-ahead orders to the planners of Operation Just Cause, Generals Powell and Thurmon, who, the authors note, had learned in Vietnam the high price of the piecemeal application of deadly force--a price not paid again in Panama as, under the unified command of General Carl Stiner, elite American units from all service branches swept away the well-armed forces of Noriega in eight hours. The authors see the kind of small, splendidly trained and equipped all-volunteer army that defeated Noriega as well suited for the role of possibly stabilizing other countries in order to buy time to allow democratic societies and free economies to develop. Starting with Carter, they argue, American policy has begun to promote democracy and human rights in Latin America, replacing the old image of ``Yankee imperialism.'' Recent revelations about the high number of Panamanian casualties during the invasion leave some doubt as to exactly how efficient American forces were. Still, an unusually upbeat military history of the war that served as a training ground for Operation Desert Storm. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 454 pages
• Publisher: Lexington Books (December 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0669249750
• ISBN-13: 978-0669249750
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,269,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > History > Americas > Central America > Panama

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A war from 20 years ago that has lessons that still apply today, October 20, 2011

By 

J. Rudy "Major, USAF" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Operation Just Cause: The Storming of Panama (Hardcover)

In the late 1980s, Manual Noriego engaged in a game of political cat and mouse with the United States government. In 1989, he pushed it too far when his Panamanian Defense Forces murdered 1st Lt Robert Paz, USMC. In December, the United States responded by deploying armed forces in an operation named "Just Cause". "Operation Just Cause: The Storming of Panama", by Thomas Donnelly, Margaret Roth, and Caleb Baker, is a compilation of stories of the men and women who were there.

The book begins with a cursory introduction to the modern history of Panama, specifically on the rise to power of Manuel Noriega. Readers discover that under his leadership, the Panamanian Defense Forces perpetuated a pattern of harassment and violence of Americans who lived in the country. This violence culminated with the murder of Lt Paz on December 16, 1989.

On the American side, readers are introduced to the Army generals who would be leading the ground operations during the liberation of Panama. Under their leadership, US Southern Command developed multiple iterations of war plans to respond in the event that combat operations were necessary. Also under their leadership, US military forces conducted numerous command post exercises, and field training exercises in both the United States and Panama. The exercises in Panama, codenamed `Sand Flea', familiarized US forces with some of the key targets and terrain that would be assaulted during the operation.

The balance of the book tells the story from a tactical level of the men and women who fought on the ground, as well as perspectives of American citizens who lived in the country at the time. The book does an excellent job of discussing some of the Special Operations that took place in Panama, and candidly addresses the faults of the tragic assault on Paittilla Airfield, which resulted in the deaths of four Navy SEALs.

What I found most interesting were the lessons learned. General Carl Stiner, the commanding general for the operation, arrogantly stated there were no lessons to be learned from this operation. From my perspective 20-years later, it is obvious that many lessons could have been learned here that would have applied to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. On more than one occasion, the book documents situations where company commanders liberated a town or village, only to find themselves as the new "mayor" of the town. There are also angles of how the Panamanians manipulated facts to milk the American cash cow to get new equipment (medical, wells, schools) to improve living conditions in their little corner of the world. More than 10 years later, American forces would again be faced with these same situations on a different continent.

Aside from minor annoyances such as reading similar passages in multiple places (like how airborne troops learned the assault was compromised 2 hours early in at least three different chapters), it was a well-written book. This book made it onto the Chief of Staff of the Army reading list, and as an Airmen I can see why. It talks to the integration of conventional and special operating forces, and it has many lessons learned that still resonate today.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars OPERATION JUST CAUSE: STORMING OF PANAMA, September 18, 2011

By 

Hogan_62 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Operation Just Cause: The Storming of Panama (Hardcover)

I HAVE NOT HAD BEEN ABLE TO READ IT YET BECAUSE I PURCHASED A LOT OF BOOKS AND I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR SURGERY. I GLANCED THROUGH IT AND IT IS WHAT I WANTED.