All dictatorships are perceived as communist regimes. Panama was created in 1903 when Columbia refused to acquiesce land for the construction of an overland waterway that would connect the Pacific to the Atlantic at the continent’s narrowest point. Teddy Roosevelt began construction of the canal in a 10-mile wide strip of land through the newly created Panama. To begin construction, cheap labor was recruited from Central America and the Caribbean. The infusion of non-nationals changed the racial make-up of Panama since so many worked on the project. Like everywhere else in Earth history, the non-natives were considered 3^rd class citizens on a melanin scale.

In 1968, Torrijos overthrew the government and implemented reforms that equalized the people. Because he addressed racial issues that his predecessor did not, Torrijos achieved appreciable esteem among the natives and transplants alike. In 1979, Jimmy Carter negotiated a treaty with Torrijos that surrendered control the canal to the Panamanians by the year 2000. In true form, Torrijos was killed by the CIA when his plane crashed later that year.

Ronald Reagan won the next US Presidential election.

The Iran-Contra hearings began when the Shaw of Iran was replaced by popular election in Iran. Since the US didn’t know what the newly elected leader would be like, the US assisted the Mossad in reinstating the Shaw. When Kohmanni took over in Iran, he said, "Let’s just throw the evil Americans out!" After the US embassy siege in Teheran, Carter arranged with Kohmanni to free the 52 American hostages in exchange for weapons that Iran would use against Iraq. To vindicate himself, Carter ordered a rescue attempt. When the rescue failed, Kohmanni exposed the weapons deal in retaliation. Since the Iran arms deal was being funded by the same extrabudgetary fund that the Contras were being funded by, the entire affair resulted in John Poindexter being called before Congress to give accountability. At that time, a drink had been invented by Washington bartenders called the ‘Poindexter’. When you asked the bartender what was in it, he would say, "I don’t know." [the ‘Reagan’ had the same ingredients]. Ollie North became the focus of the investigation because he was the only one who actually understood mechanically and administratively what was going on. The extrabudgetary fund was money raised by the CIA through the sale of cocaine for the purchase of arms. The fundraiser was considered State secret, which means that the State doesn’t need to know about it.

The CIA hired Noriega to provide information on drug trafficking while Noriega was still a Colonel. The CIA paid him $100G/year for his services. He was promoted to Commander of the PDF in 1983. Since Noriega managed a lucrative cocaine business on the side, he agreed to supply Contra bases in Costa Rica with arms in exchange for a ‘blind eye’ by the CIA to his cocaine trafficking. Once Noriega became a full dictator, his cooperation with the US began to fail. In response to Noriega’s negligence, the US froze Panamanian assets to induce riots in Panama. This caused Noriega to terminate any and all cooperation with the US altogether.

The Bush administration had romanced the media into full cooperation. Rather than objective reporting, the media focused on nothing but Noriega. He was indited on counts of drug trafficking by 2 US courts, the first head of State to be indited by a US court. To regain control of Panama, the US staged Panama’s first free election with Endora as the US-backed candidate. Since Noriega knew fully that the election was rigged, he orchestrated civil unrest to justify halting the election. Bush reacted to Noriega’s interference by mobilizing 2,000 soldiers to Panama. Bush told the American public that Americans in Panama were being threatened and killed.

A coup was staged to overthrow Noriega internally. After anti-Noriega forces seized control of the government and apprehended Noriega, the US did not respond. Forces loyal to Noriega regained control of the government and freed him. Bush resolved to finish the job by dispatching Navy Seals to stir up minor skirmishes that would generate public support at home.

On 19 December 1989, Bush ordered a large-scale invasion of Panama. Many civilians were killed in what locals called ‘criminally belligerent conduct’ by American soldiers. Because American media was controlled to the maximum possible extent, Americans were unaware of what really happened during the Panama invasion. The injustice was further aggravated when 3 Panamanian officials provided a list of names to the Marines. On the list were the names of political, cultural, civic and labor leaders who were deemed enemies of the State. The Marines hunted down each person on the list, apprehended and relocated the individuals for interrogation. More than 7,000 Panamanian civilians were rounded up and relocated in this fashion.

During the invasion, the foreign press knew more about what happening in Panama than the American public did. The media demonstration provided evidence to the Soviets that the American public could be beguiled just as easily theirs. Up until that point, foreign interests routinely preyed upon an uncensored American media to influence peacetime public reaction. The tactic had worked ever since WWII.

After the invasion, the US concealed slain Panamanians in 15 massive graves; the exact number of victims is still unknown. The collateral damage in Panama City leveled whole city blocks when the objective called for the elimination of a single target. The most impoverished areas were the hardest hit, leaving the influential districts relatively unharmed by comparison.

In the final analysis, Bush said that he ordered the Panama invasion to protect American lives. According to American residents there, they were not in any danger. Bush said that the invasion was necessary in order to preserve Panama’s democratic system of government. Panama had never been democratic since its creation in 1903. Endora had been relocated to a US military installation and sworn in so that Bush’s claim would not wholly untrue. Bush, backed by the American media, said that Noriega had to be apprehended and brought to trial on charges of drug trafficking when in reality, Noriega was only a renegade CIA crony.

To influence public opinion about Noriega’s character, a set containing voodoo paraphernalia, pornographic materials and a copy of Mien Kampf was represented as Noriega’s office. The same set had been used for similar occasions elsewhere.

Bush’s objective reached full fruition when the unpopular Endora government passed a law that eliminated Panama’s army. In response, Congress passed legislation that would guaranteed a strong US military presence in the Canal Zone indefinitely.

I was assigned to the base that staged and launched the majority of American resources, personnel and equipment into Panama during this contingency. Although I see no serious peril to National Security if I express an opinion, the debriefing that I attended indefinitely deprives me of my freedom of expression on operational issues. Only those personnel who physically entered the theater of operations are aware of the conditions described. There are even more nauseating atrocities that were committed by Noriega’s regime and the drug cartel in general against captured DEA agents. Several cartel insurgents sponsored terrorist activities within the continental US. Bush did not want to admit that America was so easily penetrated by anyone for any purpose for the right price. The Cartel subsequently launched another crusade against DEA agents closer to home: The gorilla brutality uncovered in those events surpassed inventions by Josepf Mengele and the Viet Cong combined. Before and after the Panama invasion, there was a literal war going on behind-the-scenes in Central America in which Panama represents a minor skirmish. The public still has no knowledge of those wars; highly-paid, covert operatives conduct them.

Bush announced during a State address that Congress would appropriate 7 million dollars to finance the war on drugs. The Cartel Lords mocked Bush’s threat by appropriating the equivalent of $US SEVEN BILLION dollars to secure their investment in American youth. Bush did not mention the Cartel’s financial strength for the benefit of those whose mathematical prowess and olfactory nerves were working.

By the time I separated from active duty, the covert mobilization of personnel, resources and equipment to Central American regions had reached an alarming rate and I was the one coming up with the airplanes to get them there and scheduling the launches. I don’t think that I’ve said anything that a reasonably intelligent person couldn’t deduce on their own, but I should probably stop here since I’m still under oath.

The video itself, is a compelling portrayal of a large scale, drug interdiction from a Panamanian perspective. Jimmy Carter was the biggest drug user when he gave the canal away in the first place. The US cold-war mentality was covertly extending Manifest Destiny within our sphere of influence and the Iran-Contra episode got way out of hand. Reagan reinjected pride in an American spirit that Carter’s philanthropy had demolished. Carter was a benevolent soul, but not a warrior in the face of Soviet missiles and 3^rd world bickering. The matter is deeply subjective.

When the US played according to 3^rd-world rules, our equally embarrassing reaction(s) diminished America’s standing in the international community. The hostage situation proved it. When the sporting cloak & dagger escalated to gorilla warfare and then the private little wars, Bush staged one event to mark his legacy as President and reverse America’s plummeting international esteem. He slapped the little guys back down and demonstrated to the Soviets that a full-scale war would have nothing to do with public opinion. He reasserted America’s superpower status in a world that esteemed America as having no balls after Viet Nam. He demonstrated to the Drug Cartel that their $7 Billion dollar threat against America’s children could not oppose a $4 Quadrillion dollar war machine. He prepped the international community to accept and expect an American response to a worsening Iraqi situation, in which the US could finally test American technology against the Soviets in a fairly realistic proving ground.

In the process, thousands of people have suffered undeserved brutality. I will hypothesize that Panamanians were perceived as being accomplices in drug trafficking since many Central American countries depend upon cocoa production like Microsoft depends on software. We could likely debate the semantics until we are blue in the face and never validate anything. The equation reduces to different standards and different values in which one side or the other is bound to lose. The US is an expansionist system; our consumption depends upon the cooperation of everyone else. When ‘others’ don’t cooperate, we either change our values (like that will happen) or beat them into submission. Chapter One in the Capitalist Manifesto is titled Sadism & Merchandising. If Earnest Hemmingway was still around, I’d volunteer to write the foreword. It’s the only book that exists in philosophy…but not in print.