May 23, 2004

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  The Panama Canal, American Sovereignty and Self-Defense, Part I of III

  
  

   

  
  

  Also see

  
  

  Part 2

  
  

  Part 3

  
  

   

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

  

  
  

   

  
  

  The Panama Canal represents without a doubt one of the great wonders of the world.

  
  

  Long dreamt of by Spanish explorers, French and British pioneers, it was not realized until, relative to Spain, centuries later by good old fashioned American know-how. And it was not gold or commerce which inspired it for the Americans; it was in the spirit of national defense and self-determination that both provided for the man-power and governed new treaties that would be signed under which the U.S. would be able to better protect its interests, assets and people. During the Spanish-American War, the United States Navy for the first time was severely pressed to move its vessels between ongoing hotspots. They not only needed to move them to Cuba and locations of contest in the Caribbean, but also across the Pacific to the Far East and the Philippines. And they needed the true fluidity that would allow them to victoriously wage war on two disparate fronts. What if the Spaniards had pinned down forces in either of the two theaters? It would surely take months to move reinforcements down the coastline of South America and below Cape Horn at the tip of Chile. Even worse, the seas close to Antarctica could be hostile to traffic in certain seasons. The American Navy needed an alternative, and Theodore Roosevelt was happy to provide one.

  
  

   

  
  

  In the next few days I will discuss the essentials of the history of the Panama Canal (a primer, if you will) in order to provide you with a true context, along with examples of its strategic importance put in use during the 20^th Century. Next we will investigate and assess the claims that today, during wartime, our troops, fleets and missions could be endangered, along with the canal itself. As well as what that should mean to continental Americans if a hostile power were to prevent passage of our vessels through the canal, or use the abandoned U.S. bases there to launch attacks or espionage.

  
  

   

  
  

  We begin with the history of the Panama Canal 1534-1977

  
  

   

  
  

  Worldwide Interest, American Ingenuity

  
  

   

  
  

  French drawing of canal plans, 1888

  
  

  

  
  

  The first notions of a canal through what would become Panama began circulating around Madrid, Spain in 1534. In that year Charles V, the Spanish King, decided a route was needed to transport goods across the short isthmus to the other coast. Eventually this was abandoned in favor of paved roads, but it stands as the first attempt known to provide an adjoining waterway between the Atlantic and Pacific across Central America.

  
  

   

  
  

  Based on a failed British idea for a canal in the late 1840s, as well as later attempts by the French which failed, the US began formal plans to build the throughway in 1904 after war with Spain in 1899 forced them to realize the strategic vitality of just such a naval passage. A year later Panama declared independence from Columbia with the assistance of the U.S. in exchange for the canal rights, signed into law as the Hay-Bunau Varilla Treaty. The canal was completed ten years later in 1914 at a cost of over $370 Million- and possibly upwards of 25,000 lives at the worksite.

  
  

   

  
  

  The BBC describes President Theodore Roosevelt’s support for the canal in this way:

  
  

  “The US President Theodore Roosevelt saw the canal as being vital to America's destiny as a global power, and it was this that had driven him to push Congress to let him acquire the French rights to the Canal.”

  
  

   

  
  

  Today it is a vital waterway, passing some 14,000 ships a year through its locks, many of which are ships of the U.S. Navy as it carries out various missions around the globe.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  The Panama Canal During WWII

  
  

   

  
  

   In the 1930’s Japan began expanding its influence throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific. At the time, the U.S. was a key trading partner with the regime and used that position to pressure the Japanese to limit their expansion. In late September 1940, Japan however had different ideas and signed a strategic pact with Germany and Italy. As a result of this, the U.S. placed an embargo on Japan and, in July 1941 closed the Panama Canal to all Japanese traffic. Months later after further cascading events, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, surprising U.S. forces who expected hostilities instead to begin in Malaysia. 

  
  

   

  
  

  In order to revitalize a devastated Pacific Fleet after the 7 December 1941 Japanese attacks, the U.S. sent some of her largest war ships, including her giant Essex class aircraft carriers through the canal. Though not the largest class of ship possible in the canal, these carriers required special provisions be made prior to their passage: lamp posts on either side of the canal had to be removed. This vital passage took weeks off of the time needed to navigate Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America near Antarctica and to replenish naval forces in the Pacific and was likely instrumental in getting the United States onto the footing it needed to successfully prosecute the war.

  
  

   

  
  

  In the late summer of 1945, a desperate Japanese fleet plotted a surprise attack on the Panama Canal using submarine aircraft carriers. But given the weakness of their force at that time, a different target was selected. However that target was not realized either. The war was ended and the mission was altogether canceled.

  
  

   

  
  

  Today

  
  

   

  
  

  “The U.S. military presence in Panama has also played a role in the country's battle against illegal drug trafficking”, according to Infoplease.com, an online encyclopedia. “After Dec. 31 (1999), Panama's special police force will be the only armed forces left in the country.”

  
  

   

  
  

  The transition, part of a treaty signed on 7 September, 1977 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian leader Gen. Omar Torrijos, relinquished control over the canal to the government of Panama at midnight, 31 December 1999. Though the treaty as ratified by the U.S. Senate called for allowing U.S. military ships priority and ability to control the canal during times of war, the Panama version passed by their legislature omitted that crucial part. In point of fact, this should completely nullify the treaty, but it has continued to be recognized by both parties with little or no discussion over the finer details nonetheless.

  
  

   

  
  

  We will begin part two with the Panamanian giveaway of 31 December 1999 and what happened next both in Panama and elsewhere abroad.

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Additional Resources

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  A fantastic website with regularly updating live webcams of the canal and loads of interesting trivia: http://www.czbrats.com/cz_brats.htm

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Quick facts:

  
  

  Did you know the United States had to break a treaty with Great Britain in order to Fortify the Panama Canal?

  
  

   

  
  

  It did. In 1901, the United States obrogated a treaty it had made with Great Britain in 1850. The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty with Britain allowed for the building of canals, but prohibited the fortification of them and required free international use, as well as dividing any stake in building a canal into a 50-50 share. The treaty was made null when the U.S. signed the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty in 1901 without British objections. The American public was pleased with this nullification due to the canal’s strategic importance and the unsavory appearance of appeasing the British Empire which the old treaty bore.

  
  

   

  
  

  -Blogbat

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

   

  • 10:11 pm
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