LESSONS
Transitional Public Security – Operations Just Cause
and Promote Liberty [Panama] (Lesson #2683)
Observation:
The U.S. military played a key role in restoring civil security & public order and supporting
detention operations (i.e., “transitional public security”) during Operation Just Cause
(20 December 1989 to 11 January 1990) and the concurrent Operation Promote Liberty
(which had the same start date, but continued on through September 1994) – successfully
accomplished in spite of shortfalls in “whole of government” planning.
Discussion:
Along with Operation Just Cause – which was launched to protect American lives and
facilities, bring Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to justice, neutralize the Panamanian
Defense Force (PDF), and restore Panamanian democracy – the United States also
conducted Operation Promote Liberty (OPL) … the follow-on stabilization operation that
was originally planned under Operations Order (OPORD) Blind Logic. OPL’s purpose was
to “secure Panama in the wake of chaos and looting in some cities and support efforts to
restore services and reconstitute the PDF in a new, democratically controlled security
sector” (Jayamaha et al, pp. 13-14). OPL had been solely planned by the military. The core
of the stabilization mission in OPL was the restoration of law and order in Panama and then
building new civilian law enforcement capabilities. The USG ultimately utilized at least five
departments and agencies to accomplish this mission. Key among them were: the Depart-
ment of Defense (DoD), the Department of State (DoS), and agencies of the DoJ including
the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and the
International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP). However, the
original planning of Blind Logic not only lacked civilian (DoS and DoJ) involvement, it also
lacked cohesion between military commands (SOUTHCOM and XVIII Airborne Corps):
SOUTHCOM J5 and XVIII Airborne Corps planners discussed the implications of
OPORD Blind Logic … and reached some tentative agreements, which SOUTHCOM
believed would inform the planning efforts back at Fort Bragg. The XVIII Airborne Corps
headquarters, however, did not regard these agreements as formal taskings and
continued to focus almost exclusively on [the] combat mission. Unfortunately, the
realization of this disconnect between the two planning shops did not come until much
later, on the eve of Operation Just Cause. In the meantime, [SOUTHCOM’s] CA
planners working on OPORD Blind Logic incorrectly believed the XVIII Airborne Corps
fully grasped and was acting on the fact that, if it became the warfighting headquarters,
“the law and order mission and emergency service restoration mission would belong to
the JTF” manned by the XVIII Airborne Corps’ commanding general and his staff.
(Yates, pp. 48-49)
Fortunately, Operation Just Cause (OJC) was highly successful, with its mission accom-
plished and objectives attained in a matter of just 22 days. The first few days, however, did
see a breakdown of civil security/order in Panama City and Colón:
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