Panama

Chris

WRIT 100 F

April 20th 2004

Panama Video Reaction

I have to come to realize in my 19 years as an American citizen that the United States is not the best at dealing with other nations. There is no question that the United States is the most powerful country in the world and therefore deserve the respect of other nations we often times try to help in certain situations. There have been many decisions made by the United States regarding foreign affairs that might not have seemed to be the correct decision in that situation and the rest of the world then views the US as a "bully". I myself do not believe the United States to be a bully but I do, however, believe that the US has made some questionable calls; an excellent example was the situation in Panama and General Noriega. The video depicted several gruesome pictures of US soldiers basically destroying the nation of Panama. Panama civilians were killed on the streets for no real reason. The United States claimed that the attacks on Panama were justifiable because Noriega was involved in drug trafficking.

The whole situation in Panama was a tragedy and it took the nation of Panama a very long time to recover due to decisions made by the US. The way that the Panama situation unfolded is eerily similar to that of the current situation in Iraq. The United States claimed Sadam had weapons of mass destruction and that that was our motive for the war. Yet some Americans and many people around the world could argue that the US invaded because we wished to control the Iraqi oil supply, the same way we invaded Panama because we wanted to control the Canal. The similarities are undeniable right down to Sadam and Noriega who were both at one time allies of the US. I guess what I am trying to say is that maybe the US should've