Tommy Vitor

23 US troops were killed, hundreds were wounded, hundreds of Panamanian troops were killed along with hundreds of civilians.

And the US military just leveled Panama City, like tens of thousands of people lost their homes and became IDPs or refugees.

But I think what makes the

That operation, especially crazy been in the benefit of hindsight, is that like Noriega was a longtime CIA asset throughout the Cold War.

The CIA paid Noriega for information about the Cubans or about, you know, or to train the Contras or other, you know, do other dirty deals for them.

And they turned a blind eye to the fact that he was a military dictator who killed his political opponents.

He was a serial rapist.

He was a massive drug trafficker and just by all means an evil dude.

But he's our friend.

And then the Cold War ends.

The war on drugs starts.

George H.W.

Bush goes from CIA director to president.

And he turns on his old ally or asset.

And here we are.

Before you know it, Noriega is getting prosecuted in a court in the US.

So

You know, an interesting but very dark bit of history, Ben.

And it's like, I think if you really dig into the details of the Noriega operation, it's not necessarily a comparison I would want to make if I were the Trump administration.

Yeah.