THE PANAMA DECEPTION

Receiving an Oscar for Best Documentary of 1992, THE PANAMA DECEPTION tells of the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989 to unseat Manuel Noriega, the corrupt and brutal dictator of that country. The film chronicles the events leading up to the invasion, starting with the building of the Panama Canal at the turn of the century. The history of Panama is reviewed, including the relationship between General Omar Torrijos Herrera and the U.S. When Torrijos was killed in a plane crash in 1981, his eventual successor was Noriega, a man who ruled with an iron fist on one hand and cocaine powder on the other. The film describes how the invasion was illegal, how the U.S. Government have constantly aligned themselves with the “wrong” side in foreign governments, and how lasers were used in the invasion, with one man stating that he saw one cut a car in half. Again, it is the Bush administration’s fault that things went sour in Panama; although, at one point, President Theodore Roosevelt is blamed as the instigator of the entire situation.

The politically-correct film details how all the press were duped by the U.S. Government. It seems that the real truth was only known by the producers of this documentary and various obscure, loony-left publications. Estimates as high as 8000 civilians killed during the invasion are cited, although Americas Watch, a human-rights group, estimated only about 300 deaths.