Acting Like a Great Power : Panama: The invasion seems to have been a successful, justifiable and proportionate use of force.

PANAMA CITY, Jan. 10, 1990--U.S. officials today confirmed the death of 23 American citizens in Panama as violence escalated overnight in the capital. The total number of American deaths has now reached 48 since an off-duty Marine was killed last December. U.S. troops have been placed on alert and the evacuation of military dependents has begun from Howard Air Force Base.

The latest incident is seen as retaliation for the killing of eight Panamanians Sunday by Marine security guards who fired as a mob made up primarily of so-called Dignity Battalion members assaulted the U.S. Embassy. Two Marines died in the attack, which is still under investigation. In a radio broadcast, Gen. Manuel A. Noriega reiterated that a state of war existed between Panama and the United States, that the deaths of the Panamanians during a “peaceful” demonstration at the U.S. Embassy revealed the true hostile nature of American policy in Panama, and that all Americans would be treated as combatants.

In Washington, members of Congress criticized what they called the “criminal inaction” of the Bush Administration.

Of course we will never know whether a similar series of events could have occurred if U.S. forces had not intervened in Panama last week. We do know that second-guessing began almost immediately. Some questioned the use of force on principle. Others who supported the goal of the invasion wondered whether the cost, both at home and abroad, might be too high to justify the use of force. Still others argued that the invasion actually made things worse with regard to the publicly stated goals of U.S. foreign policy.

At present, the situation in Panama is far from resolved. To date, 23 American servicemen have been killed and 330 have been wounded. Panamanian casualties, including civilians, are believed to be high. Order is being restored, but the Dignity Battalions still hold sway in parts of Panama City. Noriega has avoided capture by U.S. forces by fleeing to the residence of the Papal Nuncio. The government of President Guillermo Endara is still in transition. In many respects, the hardest part of the U.S. effort is yet to come. The re-establishment of order will take some doing, even with Noriega no longer directing the resistance.

Yet even in light of the current uncertainty, the U.S. action in Panama seems to have been a justifiable and even proportionate use of force. The killing of an American serviceman, the abduction of another serviceman and his wife and the wounding of a Panamanian soldier by an American indicated that a spiral of escalating violence had become a very real possibility, one that the President could not ignore. Have Americans so quickly forgotten Tehran?

The plan for the use of force itself appears to have been sound and well executed. Accordingly, the prospects for a favorable outcome in Panama are good. Military planners had determined that, based on a realistic intelligence assessment, the exclusive use of special operations forces to take Noriega out faced a high probability of failure, with its attendant political costs. Another option, the use of forces already stationed in Panama, was rejected as well. Insufficient force would have indicated a failure to learn from Beirut. A President who decides to use force owes it to the nation’s servicemen and their families to use all that is necessary to prevail quickly. To his everlasting credit, President Bush did just that.

Some Americans have come to believe that even justifiable force should be used only if there is a guarantee that all goals can be accomplished almost immediately and with little cost. Of course, the problem with war and war plans is that, as Karl von Clausewitz observed 150 years ago, an adversary is an entity that reacts. Thus, even the best plans seldom survive first contact with the enemy. Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided the President with no illusions. The operation, he made clear, would take time without the promise of immediate success. Nonetheless, the military goals seem to have been largely achieved.

No one knows what the future holds for U.S. policy in Panama. Guerrilla warfare remains a distinct threat. The highest priority has to be given to shoring up the legitimate government of President Endara. Once military objectives are achieved, and once order is restored, U.S. forces will be phased out as quickly as security permits.

Every now and again a great power has to act like one. If it doesn’t, it creates the possibility that what used to be called tin-horn dictators may come to believe that they are exempt from the constraints of civilized behavior. When that happens, the world becomes a far more dangerous place.