Word: bushing
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...reasons that are still unclear, Bush was not told of this for almost an hour. At that point, Washington passed word to the rebel officers that the U.S. "was prepared to lift this burden from their hands." The rebels refused. "They were clearly not of a mind to turn ((Noriega)) over to us," Defense Secretary Richard Cheney said later. "They were not willing to have him extradited to the U.S." Soon after, word arrived in Washington that the coup attempt had collapsed...
...helter-skelter quality of the plan was hardly enough to coax the U.S. into precipitate action. Instead, the Administration's prudent response was in keeping with the policy it has been enunciating for months. Bush, while he has repeatedly urged the P.D.F. to overthrow Noriega, has also maintained that the Panamanians must solve their own problems, with Latin leaders applying diplomatic pressure and the U.S. providing moral support...
Notably, none of the region's leaders stepped forward to criticize Washington's inaction, a reflection of continuing Latin sensitivity about Yanqui intervention anywhere in the hemisphere. Says a Bush aide: "The U.S. has always underestimated the nationalistic instincts of Latin American leaders and publics...
...Administration's caution may have been reinforced by the presence of President Carlos Salinas de Gortari of Mexico, who was in the White House Tuesday morning to meet with Bush. As the coup unfolded, Bush briefed Salinas on the developments; not surprisingly, the President did not do the same for General Dmitri Yazov, the Soviet Defense Minister, who visited the Oval Office Tuesday afternoon...
...Still, Bush's forceful calls for Noriega's ouster have created expectations in some quarters that the U.S. would intervene at some critical juncture to assist a coup attempt. The President's unwillingness to back tough talk with forceful action did not go unnoticed on Capitol Hill. No sooner had the shooting stopped in Panama than the shouting began in congressional chambers, resulting in some of the oddest political couplings in recent memory...