On matters of fact, however, the Tower Board accepted Reagan's assurances that he knew nothing about Oliver North's secret efforts to funnel military supplies to the Nicaraguan contras and that the president had no hand in the White House cover-up of the Iran-Contra secrets.
But Reagan was not always cooperative with the cover-up plan to shift the blame onto North and other "cowboy" NSC staffers. In one press exchange about North's secret contra-supply operation, Reagan blurted out that it was "my idea to begin with." North, too, would tell the congressional investigation that the official version was a "fall-guy plan" with him as the fall guy.
Nevertheless, Powell's personal credibility helped persuade key journalists to accept the White House explanations. Soon, Washington's conventional wisdom had bought into the notion of Reagan's inattention to detail and North's rogue operation.
Fourth Star
At the start of George H.W. Bush's presidency in 1989, Powell wanted a respite from Washington and got it by assuming command of Forces Command at Fort McPherson in Georgia. That posting also earned the general his fourth star.
But his sojourn into the regular Army would be brief, again. By August 1989, President Bush and his defense secretary, Richard Cheney, were urging Powell to return to Washington where he would become the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell accepted the new assignment.
In mid-December 1989, tensions between the United States and Panama exploded when four American officers in a car ran a roadblock near the headquarters of the Panamanian Defense Forces. PDF troops opened fire, killing one American. Another American officer and his wife were held for questioning. After their release, the officer alleged that he had been kicked in the groin and that his wife was threatened with rape.
When word of this humiliation reached Washington, Bush saw American honor and his own manhood challenged. Powell also saw the need for decisive action. On Dec. 17, 1989, he recommended to Bush that a large-scale U.S. military operation capture Panama's dictator, Gen. Manuel Noriega, and destroy the Panamanian Defense Force.
On Bush's orders, the invasion began on Dec. 20, with Powell and Cheney monitoring developments at the Pentagon. The high-tech American assault force, using the F-117 Stealth aircraft for the first time, incinerated the PDF headquarters and the surrounding civilian neighborhoods.
Hundreds of civilians -- possibly thousands, according to some human rights observers -- perished in the first few hours of the attack. An estimated 315 Panamanian soldiers also died, as did 23 Americans. But Noriega eluded capture.
Best Spin
Despite the temporary setback, Powell followed his dictum of putting the best spin on a story. Stepping before cameras at the Pentagon, Powell declared victory and played down the disappointment over Noriega's disappearance. "This reign of terror is over," Powell declared. "We have now decapitated [Noriega] from the dictatorship of his country."
In the following days, as U.S. forces hunted for the little dictator, an edgy Powell demonized Noriega over the supposed discovery of drugs and voodoo artifacts in his safehouse. Powell started calling Noriega "a dope-sniffing, voodoo-loving thug." [The white powder would turn out to be tamale flour, however.]
When asked once too often about the failure to capture Noriega, Powell told a reporter to "stick it."
The tragedies on the ground in Panama could sometimes be worse. On Dec. 24, 1989, shortly after midnight, a nine-months-pregnant Panamanian woman, Ortila Lopez de Perea, went into labor. She was helped into the family Volkswagen which was marked by a white flag. With her husband, her mother-in-law and a neighbor, she headed to the hospital.
At a U.S. military roadblock on the Transisthmian Highway, the car stopped. The four Panamanians requested an escort, but were told that wasn't necessary. After being waved through, they drove another 500 yards to a second checkpoint. But at this spot, young American troops mistook the speeding Volkswagen for a hostile vehicle. The soldiers opened up with a 10-second barrage of automatic rifle fire.
But Reagan was not always cooperative with the cover-up plan to shift the blame onto North and other "cowboy" NSC staffers. In one press exchange about North's secret contra-supply operation, Reagan blurted out that it was "my idea to begin with." North, too, would tell the congressional investigation that the official version was a "fall-guy plan" with him as the fall guy.
Nevertheless, Powell's personal credibility helped persuade key journalists to accept the White House explanations. Soon, Washington's conventional wisdom had bought into the notion of Reagan's inattention to detail and North's rogue operation.
Fourth Star
But his sojourn into the regular Army would be brief, again. By August 1989, President Bush and his defense secretary, Richard Cheney, were urging Powell to return to Washington where he would become the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell accepted the new assignment.
In mid-December 1989, tensions between the United States and Panama exploded when four American officers in a car ran a roadblock near the headquarters of the Panamanian Defense Forces. PDF troops opened fire, killing one American. Another American officer and his wife were held for questioning. After their release, the officer alleged that he had been kicked in the groin and that his wife was threatened with rape.
When word of this humiliation reached Washington, Bush saw American honor and his own manhood challenged. Powell also saw the need for decisive action. On Dec. 17, 1989, he recommended to Bush that a large-scale U.S. military operation capture Panama's dictator, Gen. Manuel Noriega, and destroy the Panamanian Defense Force.
On Bush's orders, the invasion began on Dec. 20, with Powell and Cheney monitoring developments at the Pentagon. The high-tech American assault force, using the F-117 Stealth aircraft for the first time, incinerated the PDF headquarters and the surrounding civilian neighborhoods.
Hundreds of civilians -- possibly thousands, according to some human rights observers -- perished in the first few hours of the attack. An estimated 315 Panamanian soldiers also died, as did 23 Americans. But Noriega eluded capture.
Best Spin
Despite the temporary setback, Powell followed his dictum of putting the best spin on a story. Stepping before cameras at the Pentagon, Powell declared victory and played down the disappointment over Noriega's disappearance. "This reign of terror is over," Powell declared. "We have now decapitated [Noriega] from the dictatorship of his country."
In the following days, as U.S. forces hunted for the little dictator, an edgy Powell demonized Noriega over the supposed discovery of drugs and voodoo artifacts in his safehouse. Powell started calling Noriega "a dope-sniffing, voodoo-loving thug." [The white powder would turn out to be tamale flour, however.]
When asked once too often about the failure to capture Noriega, Powell told a reporter to "stick it."
The tragedies on the ground in Panama could sometimes be worse. On Dec. 24, 1989, shortly after midnight, a nine-months-pregnant Panamanian woman, Ortila Lopez de Perea, went into labor. She was helped into the family Volkswagen which was marked by a white flag. With her husband, her mother-in-law and a neighbor, she headed to the hospital.
At a U.S. military roadblock on the Transisthmian Highway, the car stopped. The four Panamanians requested an escort, but were told that wasn't necessary. After being waved through, they drove another 500 yards to a second checkpoint. But at this spot, young American troops mistook the speeding Volkswagen for a hostile vehicle. The soldiers opened up with a 10-second barrage of automatic rifle fire.
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