Operation Just Cause: US Invades Panama

The US launched Operation Just Cause on December 20, 1989, with 27,000 troops to capture General Manuel Noriega (a former CIA asset turned drug trafficker). Noriega surrendered on January 3, 1990. The US-acknowledged civilian death toll was 202–300 Panamanians; independent investigators (Americas Watch, Ramsey Clark investigation) estimated 300–1,000+ civilian deaths, with entire neighborhoods destroyed. The UN General Assembly condemned the invasion 75–20.