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Through night-vision equipment, Mike Durant viewed as two massive laser-guided explosives slammed onto the Panama's military base while he remained airborne near the country's south coast in a Black Hawk aircraft.

"The gigantic flash, followed after a blast ... similar to the largest lightning bolt strike you've ever seen in your lifetime," the former US military aviator remembered of the initial strike of the Battle of Rio Hato's Air Base in December 1989.

Past Comparisons

The covert bomber blitzkrieg and subsequent army special forces attack marked the start of the US intervention in Panama - intended to oust Panama's military dictator, Manuel Noriega.

The pilot and his fellow soldiers had directives to capture the Panama's Defense Force base to block soldiers coming to Noriega's rescue. During the subsequent period, the aviator and over 25,000 other American troops hunted the dictator, who eventually surrendered on January 3rd 1990.

"Noriega was a awful person ... and he needed to be taken out," stated Durant.

Current Armed Forces Deployments

Recollections of Operation Just Cause have reemerged in recent weeks after Donald Trump authorized the largest US military deployment in South America and the Caribbean Sea since that invasion almost four decades' prior.

A significant portion of American naval resources - featuring the world's largest naval vessel, the USS Gerald R Ford - have been sent to the region starting in last August, with B-52 aircraft and elite troops spotted off Venezuelan north coast. Air strikes on suspected drug ships in the Pacific and Caribbean have killed over 60 individuals.

Stated vs Suspected Objectives

Officially, the stationing of naval vessels, military unmanned aircraft and about 10,000 military personnel is part of a crackdown on Latin American criminal organizations who the administration accuses of flooding the United States with drugs. But numerous believe Trump's true aim is removing Venezuela's ruler, President Maduro, similar to President Bush removed Noriega before he was tried and jailed in the US.

Opposition Viewpoints

Several members of Venezuelan political opposition appear keen for a repeat of Just Cause, on an even larger magnitude. The exiled political figure Leopoldo López lately voiced endorsement for a US attack to remove Maduro, who is generally believed to have manipulated recent presidential election.

"It's not to be the bearer of negative news, but it seems like we are about to embark on another government overthrow war, similar to, the coming week's time," declared Tucker Carlson this past week, mentioning the Iraq war as a prime example of the United States' ignominious history of regime changes that backfired.

"Such actions never succeeds - but we are doing it another time, seemingly," Carlson added.

Public and Expert Opinion

A latest survey found almost half of the public opposed utilizing military action to oust Maduro with merely 18% in favor.

The retired pilot additionally had concerns, even though viewing Just Cause the most effective operation of his 20-year army service. He was confident US troops could overthrow Maduro, as they did Noriega. "We have significant capacity and great people. But would it be worth putting all that at danger?" questioned Durant.

Before the Panama operation, thousands of American forces were deployed in the country, Durant commented, but it has no equivalent footprint in Venezuela.

Military Analysis

The situation was additionally unknown how prepared the Venezuelan leader's Bolivarian armed forces were of resisting against an invasion. "This to me is the largest uncertainty," Durant remarked. "The Venezuelan military do impressive military displays. But what can they really do? Are they prepared? Are they supported? Are they ready to fight? Are they faithful?"

Historical Precedents

Historian Grow, a researcher who authored study about American leaders and Latin American cold war operations, saw "intriguing comparisons" to historical military actions.

In 1988, on the brink of the Panama operation, the US charged Noriega for drug smuggling - similar to they have with Maduro who recently had a fifty million dollar bounty put on his person for supposedly running a "narco-terrorist" cartel. "Therefore ... they've established a convenient pretext if they decide to pursue a military route," Grow said.

Possible Scenarios

"However I don't think it's on the agenda with Trump ... These people are not neocons. They're much more America First ... I simply don't anticipate the United States becoming entangled in a military occupation in South America," Grow remarked, while he did not rule out "surgical attack unmanned operations"

Ambassador Story, the US's top official for Venezuela from 2018 to 2023, also skeptical about a Just Cause-style onslaught was imminent: "We typically like overwhelming power and it would take 100,000 forces - and that is not this administration's style."

Different Strategies

But the ex- diplomat - who initially viewed Trump's armed forces buildup bluster - now saw an 80% probability of "specific aggressive operation" on the country's soil in the following 30 days' time, likely an air strike. "The quantity of assets that have been arranged in the area suggest to me that we are going