Word: evens
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...combat troops under the Southern Command far outstrip the 6,000-man Panama Defense Forces in both training and hardware. But civilian and military casualties would have been high, if only because the vital military installations are situated in downtown Panama City. As a Marine officer pointed out, "Even an M-1 rifle can kill a lot of people in a crowd...
Panamanian rebel commander Moises Giroldi apparently ignored the even greater threat from Battalion 2000, based near the airport 15 miles east of Noriega's headquarters. This group of 800 officers and men has 90% of the P.D.F.'s firepower -- including 120-mm mortars, rocket launchers and armored personnel carriers -- and many of its troops are Cuban-trained. Ultimately, it was units from Battalion 2000 that retook the headquarters and freed Noriega...
...Even deadlier would have been any American attempt to seize Noriega when the coup leaders refused to turn him over, which would have pitted U.S. troops against not only the pro-Noriega forces but the rebels as well. Moreover, some units of the Dignidad paramilitary forces and the Doberman riot-control units, though badly trained and disciplined, might have resorted to subsequent guerrilla warfare. That would endanger not just American troops but also the 50,000 U.S. civilians living in Panama...
There are few more abject sights than that of Congress surrendering to interest-group pressure. But even by the craven standards of Capitol Hill, it was striking when the House voted 360 to 66 last week to rescind the Medicare catastrophic health-insurance program that it had lopsidedly approved amid a self-congratulatory frenzy just last year. The Senate showed enough moxie to save fragments of the plan, but it too voted to kill a special income-tax surcharge (up to $800) that would have been levied solely on the affluent elderly to help fund the program...
...certainly not get the maximum penalty (120 years and $5 million in fines) when he is sentenced Oct. 24, he is likely to spend time behind bars. Potter had earlier meted out a tough eight years in prison and a $200,000 fine to former Bakker aide Richard Dortch, even though Dortch testified for the prosecution. Two other staffers who provided evidence drew draconian prison terms for tax evasion...