-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! US military pulls out of Panama Tuesday, 30 November 1999 22:22 (GMT) (UPI Focus) US military pulls out of Panama By PAMELA HESS WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) - The U.S. flag came down Tuesday over Ft. Clayton, the last of 14 U.S. military bases in Panama. U.S. forces are pulling out in anticipation of the hand over of the canal to the Panamanian government, as agreed to in the 1977 Panama Canal Treaty by President Jimmy Carter. The hand over will take place on Dec. 31. The treaty was ratified in 1978, which began a 22-year transition period during which Panama's control of the canal would increase while the U.S. control and presence would gradually decrease. Fewer than 300 military personnel remain in country, as most have left for bases in the United States and Puerto Rico. Panama began agitating for control of the canal in 1964, after a clash between protestors and U.S. military forces, sparked by the placement of a U.S. flag in the canal zone, resulted in the death of 21 Panamanians and four Americans. Carter negotiated for the transfer because he believed the canal would be more secure if it were in the hands of a friendly country with a stable government than if it remained in U.S. control, held by a garrison and surrounded by a hostile Panama. The U.S. military presence in the canal region goes back to 1903, when U.S. marines landed in Panama to help secure the newly formed Panamanian government which had broken away from Columbia. The purpose of the force was to defend the 10-mile wide Panama Canal zone and the 51 mile long canal itself. U.S. presence there burgeoned during World War II, when the canal became a major transit point for U.S. forces moving between the two theaters of war. In 1989 a force of about 10,000 in Panama formed the basis of Operation Just Cause, in which Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega was removed after his connection to the drug trade became evident. Noriega is now in a U.S. jail. In more recent years Howard Air Force Base in Panama has served as a major jumping off point for U.S. anti-drug operations. The closing of Howard in June has made flying long-range surveillance aircraft over the area a more complicated task, with elaborate international negotiations required to assure access to large airfields in the Caribbean. The most important asset the military is giving up, however, is a jungle warfare training center, which was vitally important during the Vietnam. There is no other facility like it, although it plans to conduct training in a piecemeal fashion in countries like Belize, according to U.S. Southern Command spokesman Raul Duany. -- **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
