Word: canalizes
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...account of giving away the Panama Canal [Oct. 18], President Carter takes credit for decisions made long before he took office. As a participant in the process, I can attest to the following...
...that a new treaty was absolutely necessary. I was convinced that we needed to correct an injustice. Our failure to take action after years of promises under five previous Presidents was poisoning our relations with Panama. In addition, though we could not talk about it much in public, the Canal was in serious danger from direct attack and sabotage unless a new and fair treaty arrangement could be forged. Our military leaders came to tell me, and also testified to Congress, that the Canal could not be defended permanently unless we were able to maintain good relations with Panama...
...March 13, 1977, meeting with the Panamanians in Washington, our negotiators proposed two treaties. One would set forth new arrangements for the joint operation of the Canal for the rest of this century, at the end of which Panama would assume total control. The other would guarantee the permanent neutrality of the Canal, and the right of the U.S. to defend...
...terrible political costs and the effort we had to exert. Each time, I decided that we simply could not afford to fail. Privately Torrijos praised us highly, but later he revealed to the public that he had given orders for the National Guard to attack and blow up the Canal if the Senate had rejected our agreement...
...with Panama if if the the treaties had been rejected? I honestly do not know. There is no doubt that, in a massive military confrontation, we could have prevailed against this tiny country, but in the bloody process all of us would have suffered, and the Canal would have been closed...