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Using night-vision goggles, Mike Durant watched as two massive precision explosives crashed onto the Panamanian airbase while he hovered near the country's southern shoreline in a Black Hawk helicopter.

"A enormous explosion, followed after a blast ... like the most intense lightning flash you've ever witnessed in your lifetime," the former American military aviator recalled of the initial strike of the Battle of Rio Hato Air Base in December 1989.

Past Comparisons

The covert bomber assault and subsequent military ranger assault marked the beginning of the Panama invasion - intended to dethrone Panama's military leader, General Noriega.

Durant and his fellow soldiers had instructions to take control of the Panamanian Defense Force installation to prevent troops moving to Noriega's rescue. During the coming days, the pilot and more than 25,000 additional US military personnel pursued the dictator, who eventually gave up on 3 January 1990.

"Noriega was a bad, bad man ... and he needed to be taken out," stated Durant.

Current Military Deployments

Remembrances of the Panama operation have resurfaced in recent weeks' time after Donald Trump authorized the biggest American military deployment in Latin America and the Caribbean Sea since that invasion almost four decades ago.

A seventh of US navy forces - featuring the world's biggest naval vessel, the USS Gerald R Ford - have been sent to the region starting in August, with strategic bombers and elite troops observed off Venezuela's north shoreline. Military strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean have killed over 60 individuals.

Official vs Actual Objectives

Publicly, the deployment of warships, military unmanned aircraft and approximately 10,000 military troops is part of a crackdown on South American criminal organizations who the administration accuses of saturating the US with illegal substances. But numerous believe the administration's actual aim is overthrowing Venezuelan ruler, President Maduro, like George HW Bush removed Noriega before he was tried and imprisoned in the US.

Political Viewpoints

Several figures of Venezuela's political opposition appear eager for a recurrence of Just Cause, on an even larger magnitude. The exiled political figure Leopoldo López in recent times expressed endorsement for a American attack to remove Maduro, who is commonly believed to have stolen last year's presidential election.

"It's not to be the messenger of negative information, but it looks like we are about to begin on another regime change operation, like, the coming week's time," declared Tucker Carlson last week, mentioning the Iraq war as a primary example of the US's ignominious history of regime changes that backfired.

"Such actions never works - but we are attempting it once more, apparently," Carlson said.

Public and Expert Perspective

A current poll found almost 50% of US citizens against using military force to overthrow Maduro with merely 18% supportive.

Durant additionally had concerns, despite viewing Just Cause the most accomplished operation of his 20-year military service. He was confident US forces could overthrow Maduro, as they did Noriega. "Our forces have tremendous ability and excellent personnel. But would it be worthwhile placing all that at jeopardy?" wondered Durant.

Prior to the Panama operation, many of US soldiers were deployed in Panama, Durant noted, but it has no equivalent footprint in Venezuela.

Strategic Analysis

The situation was also unclear how effective Maduro's Venezuelan armed forces were of resisting against an invasion. "That to me is the biggest wildcard," Durant stated. "The Venezuelan military do good parades. But what can they actually do? Are they prepared? Are they funded? Are they prepared to resist? Are they devoted?"

Past Comparisons

Michael Grow, a historian who wrote research about US presidents and South American cold war actions, saw "interesting similarities" to previous operations.

In the year 1988, on the brink of the Panama operation, the United States prosecuted Noriega for drug trafficking - exactly like they have with Maduro who lately had a $50m reward issued on his head for reportedly running a "drug trafficking" organization. "So ... they've set up a suitable justification if they opt to pursue a military path," Grow said.

Possible Scenarios

"However I don't believe it's on the cards with Trump ... These officials are not neocons. They're far more isolationist ... I just do not anticipate the United States getting engaged in a military occupation in South America," Grow continued, while he didn't exclude "surgical strike unmanned operations"

James Story, the United States' top official for Venezuela from 2018 to 2023, also questioned a Just Cause-style onslaught was likely: "We usually prefer massive force and it would require 100,000 troops - and that's not Trump."

Alternative Approaches

But the former ambassador - who initially considered Trump's armed forces buildup sabre-rattling - now estimated an eighty percent chance of "specific preemptive operation" on Venezuelan territory in the following 30 days' time, probably an airstrike. "Our level of assets that have been positioned in the zone point to to me that we're preparing