By Dallas Darling 

There is probably no greater act of peaceful defiance than when demonstrators prayerfully and symbolically displace their anger and burn an effigy, or when they raise their voices and justifiably denounce their oppressors.

Last week when tens of thousands of Iraqis stomped on and burned an effigy of President George W. Bush-in protest of an unjustified invasion and a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact extending U.S. troop presence for three more years-it was reminiscent of when years ago, and half way around the world, I witnessed thousands of Panamanians marching through the streets and burning another effigy. Only this effigy was of then President George H.W. Bush, Sr. and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.

In the early morning hours on December 20, 1989, 50,000 U.S. troops landed in Panama to arrest President Manual Noriega. Even though Noriega had been on the CIA‘s payroll to destabilize socialist movements throughout Central America, Bush, Sr. still ordered the invasion. He not only claimed the Panama Canal and the rights of U.S. citizens were threatened, but he also accused Noriega of drug smuggling and becoming to cozy with the Sandinistas.

Before the invasion, termed Operation Just Cause, the Panamanian Defense Forces offered to arrest Noriega and turn him over to Cheney. Cheney refused this offer.

Since the military action started in the dark, early morning hours, many Panamanians ran into the streets mistakenly thinking an earthquake had occurred.

Military vehicles, Apache attack helicopters, AC-130 gunships, and newly developed missiles and incendiary devices left behind mass carnage. Over 5000 Panamanian women, children and men were killed, and 60,000 were left homeless.

Most of the damage was done in poor neighborhoods out of fear of an armed uprising against U.S. troops and attacks against U.S. military bases guarding the Canal Zone. Opposition parties to U.S. militarism were severely repressed.

The U.S. invasion of Panama was also a testing ground for future weapons, wars and U.S. military interventions around the world, including Operation Desert Storm in 1991-which Cheney oversaw, and the current occupation in Iraq known as Operation Enduring Freedom. It was an immense logistical experiment between the Army, Air Force, Marines, and National Guard-which had not been used since Vietnam.

During the initial stages of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the euphemism “Shock and Awe” was the innovative bombs used to destroy parts of Panama. The Rapid Deployment Force, hailed as a new strategy that quickly captured Baghdad, was the swift landing of US troops in Panama.

But more important, at least for the Pentagon and Southern Command that claimed only 200 Panamanian civilians died, was the control of the news media, images and information outlets.

After the shameful defeat of U.S. forces in Vietnam, along with a considerable peace (and violent) movement at home, the Pentagon went underground to fight its global and covert wars. It also worked tirelessly to bolster its image and to “sell wars” to U.S. consumers. While the international world and human rights groups condemned the invasion of Panama, Americans felt a new sense of pride and euphoria. The invasion of Panama was actually a public relations coups, much like the existing war in Iraq.

In fact, a new era of nationalism slowly emerged. After Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Bush, Sr. claimed, “By God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam syndrome once and for all!” Kicking the Vietnam syndrome, though, started two years earlier with the massive military invasion of Panama. A

nd in some ways, it is poetic justice that Bush, Jr. has invalidated his father’s attempt at kicking the Vietnam syndrome. As thousands of Iraqis prayed, beat with their shoes and burned an effigy of Bush, Jr., the Iraqi syndrome has replaced the Vietnam syndrome. And with one million Iraqi deaths, nonviolent-justified-displaced anger against aggressive-unjustified-misplaced militarism has once again dishonored the U.S.

And for the thousands of Panamanians and Iraqis, whom symbolically reverse imperialism by burning Bush, Sr.’s and Bush, Jr.’s effigies, they were/are also trying to demand a redress of grievances, an apology for family members killed, reparations for destroyed homes and businesses, restoration of human dignity, and the extradition of war criminals to be tried. Whether it is Operation Just Cause, Operation Desert Storm, or Operation Enduring Freedom, military operations are never surgical or clean. Neither do armed interventions discriminate between combatants and innocent women, children and men. The U.S. invasions of Iraq and Panama tragically reveal this important truth.

And just in case you think the Panamanian and Iraqi protests were/are a sign of democracy, then you do not understand the politics of burning effigies. The victims and sufferers know that an effigy is the closest they will ever get to confronting an isolated imperial leader. It is also a sign and reminder that the “means” to political freedom is just as important as the ends, if not more so.

-- Dallas Darling is the author of “The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Faith”. While a pastor and social-activist living in the U.S., he served the poor in rural communities and inner cities. Dallas teaches U.S. and World History and is a regular contributor to www.worldnews.com.