Word: noriega
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
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...
...facts seem stacked against Bush. But he has not had his day in public, and his command process is more secretive than that of any recent President. We know that young Panamanian officers responded to U.S. pressure to rid their country of Manuel Noriega, that we were aware of the plot, involved to some undetermined degree and that a few yards away were some of the 12,000 trained and armed American troops stationed in Panama. Does opportunity ever knock so hard...
...City and disgorged armed troops at the headquarters of the Panama Defense Forces. The soldiers joined 200 others stationed there, and gunfire soon erupted inside and outside the building. Within 90 minutes, the rebels had seized the Comandancia, as it is known locally, and trapped Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega in a small part of the compound. At 11:30, the insurgents issued a statement on national radio proclaiming their coup a success...
...sounds of battle soon erupted again, this time mortar and grenade explosions and gunfire from forces loyal to Noriega. The firefight claimed the lives of ten rebels and wounded 18 loyalist troops and five civilians. By 2 that afternoon, Noriega's supporters were rounding up the last of the rebels. It was all over but the pompous pronouncements in Panama -- and the recriminations in Washington...