"Michael Durant watched through night-vision goggles as two 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs slammed on to the Panamanian airbase while he hovered off the country's south coast in a Black Hawk helicopter. A gigantic flash, followed by a boom [like] the largest lightning strike you've ever seen in your life, the retired US army pilot recalled of the opening salvo of the Battle of Rio Hato Airfield in December 1989."
"The stealth bomber blitzkrieg and subsequent army ranger assault marked the start of the US invasion of Panama Operation Just Cause designed to dethrone Panama's military dictator, Manuel Noriega. Durant and his colleagues had orders to capture the Panamanian Defense Force (PDF) base to stop troops coming to Noriega's rescue. Over the coming days, the pilot and more than 25,000 other American troops hunted the autocrat, who finally surrendered on 3 January 1990."
Michael Durant described observing night-vision images of massive laser-guided bombs striking a Panamanian airbase and the explosive opening of the Battle of Rio Hato in December 1989. The operation combined stealth bomber strikes and army ranger assaults to initiate Operation Just Cause and remove Panama's military ruler, Manuel Noriega. US forces seized the Panamanian Defense Force base to prevent reinforcements and more than 25,000 troops pursued Noriega until his surrender on 3 January 1990. The recent US deployment to Latin America and the Caribbean includes carriers, B-52s, drones and roughly 10,000 personnel, officially aimed at narcotrafficking but widely seen as pressure on Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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