The Panama War
In December of 1989, the Bush administration announced a bold military intervention in Panama. Claiming to act on behalf of human rights, U.S. troops deposed the unpopular dictator and drug smuggler Manuel Noriega swiftly, but former CIA connections between President Bush and Noriega, as well as U.S. interests in maintaining control of the Canal Zone, prompted the United Nations and world public opinion to denounce the invasion as a power grab.In the 1980s, Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, a once U.S.-supportive leader who was later accused of spying for Fidel Castro and using Panama to traffic drugs into the United States, was one of the most recognizable names in America and was constantly in the press. The struggle to remove him from power began in the Reagan administration, when economic sanctions were imposed on the country; this included prohibiting American companies and government from making payments to Panama and freezing $56 million in Panamanian funds in American banks. Reagan sent more than 2,000 American troops to Panama as well. Unlike Reagan, Bush was able to remove Noriega from power, but his administration's unsuccessful post-invasion planning hindered the needs of Panama during the establishment of the young democratic government.
In May 1989, Panama held democratic elections, in which Guillermo Endara was elected president; the results were then annulled by Noriega's government. In response, Bush sent 2,000 more troops to the country, where they began conducting regular military exercises in Panamanian territory (in violation of prior treaties). Bush then removed the U.S. ambassador from the country and dispatched additional troops to Panama to prepare the way for an upcoming invasion. Noriega suppressed an October military coup attempt and massive protests in Panama against him; however, after a U.S. serviceman was shot by Panamanian forces in December 1989, Bush ordered 24,000 troops into the country with an objective of removing Noriega from power. "Operation Just Cause" was a large-scale American military operation and the first in more than 40 years that was not related to the Cold War.
The mission was controversial, but American forces achieved control of the country and Endara assumed the Presidency. Noriega surrendered to the U.S. and was convicted and imprisoned on racketeering and drug trafficking charges in April 1992. President Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush visited Panama in June 1992 to show support for the first post-invasion Panamanian government.
"Operation Just Cause" in Panama
President George H. W. Bush sits at his desk in the Oval Office Study and talks on the telephone regarding Operation Just Cause in Panama, as General Brent Scowcroft and Governor John Sununu stand nearby.
The Gulf War
As the Soviet Union was ceasing to be a threat, the Middle East became a source of increased concern. In the wake of its eight-year war with Iran from 1980 to 1988, Iraq had accumulated a significant amount of foreign debt. At the same time, other Arab states had increased their oil production, forcing oil prices down and further hurting Iraq’s economy. Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, approached these oil-producing states for assistance, particularly Saudi Arabia and neighboring Kuwait, which Iraq felt directly benefited from its war with Iran. When talks with these countries broke down, and Iraq found itself politically and economically isolated, Hussein ordered the invasion of oil-rich Kuwait in August 1990.
Bush faced his first full-scale international crisis. He condemned the invasion and began rallying opposition to Iraq in the U.S. and among European, Asian, and Middle Eastern allies. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Fahd; Fahd requested U.S. military aid in the matter, fearing a possible invasion of his country as well. The planning of a ground operation by U.S.-led coalition forces began forming in September 1990, headed by General Norman Schwarzkopf.
Bush spoke before a joint session of Congress regarding the authorization of air and land attacks, laying out four immediate objectives: that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait, Kuwait's legitimate government be restored, the security of the Persian Gulf be assured, and American citizens abroad be protected. He then outlined a fifth, long-term objective: "Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective – a new world order – can emerge: a new era – freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace." With the United Nations Security Council opposed to Iraq's violence, Congress authorized the Use of Military force with a set goal of returning control of Kuwait to the Kuwaiti government and protecting America's interests abroad.
Wary of not having sufficient domestic support for combat, Bush first deployed troops to the area to build up forces in the region and defend Saudi Arabia via Operation Desert Shield. On January 14, after Congress authorized the use of military force against Iraq, the U.S. orchestrated an effective air campaign, followed by Operation Desert Storm, a one-hundred-hour land war involving over 500,000 U.S. troops and another 200,000 from 27 other countries, which expelled Iraqi forces from Kuwait by the end of February.
Bush's approval ratings skyrocketed after the successful offensive. Moreover, President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker concluded that the coalition victory had increased U.S. prestige abroad and believed there was a window of opportunity to use the political capital generated by the coalition victory to revitalize the Arab-Israeli peace process. The administration immediately returned to Arab-Israeli peacemaking following the end of the Gulf War; this resulted in the Madrid Conference later in 1991.
First Gulf War
President George H.W. Bush greets U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, 1990