The Korean War. Vietnam. These are some of the most famous conflicts in the past century, and they still have deep and lasting impacts on the United States. Then, they were seen as an America attempt to stop communism. Now, they’re increasingly viewed as military overreach and blunders (particularly the loss in Vietnam). However, these were not the only two Cold Wars that the United States participated in. And not just via providing supplies - there’s another conflict in which troops were landed, bombs were dropped, and an entire country was overthrown.
The 1983 US Invasion of Grenada.
The Buildup
For years before the US invasion, the Grenadians had been in a state of unrest. Distasteful of the increasingly authoritarian regime, the people of the small island nation in the Caribbean (with a population of only 100,000) overthrew their leadership and installed a new government. A man named Maurice Bishop, who had led the New Jewel Movement, was given the position of Prime Minister. And… everything was fine, for a while. Their first orders of business were simply, according to one source, to “encourage trade union representation, introduce free medical services, and to prioritize education and adult literacy programs as well as projects benefitting small farmers and farmworkers.” However, it does appear that the new government was pro-Marxist. This is what the United States believed - US President Ronald Reagan and has administration became quickly distrustful of the relations that Bishop’s government was forming with communist powers Cuba and the Soviet Union. This was unacceptable under the new “Reagan Doctrine,” which pledged the United States to containing and rolling back communism wherever it may be. Thus, almost immediately the United States began to apply diplomatic pressure onto the small country. This was still the height of anti-communist sentiments in the United States, so you can probably guess where this is going.
The Invasion
The other shoe finally dropped in 1983. Just before, Bishop’s government had been overthrown, and the PM placed on house arrest, by deputy PM Bernard Coard and his sympathizers. When a group of protestors freed Bishop and marched on a military fort, a massacre ensued, killing 10-100 people. Bishop himself died in the attack. It was then that Reagan ordered the full-scale US assault on the island, citing concern for the safety of the roughly 1,000 American students on the island - and no doubt the military-commercial airport being built with the Cubans played a role as well. With the support of Jamaica, a total of 7,600 troops were participated in the invasion. Grenada was heavily bombed, with the new airport decimated (killing some Cubans) and even a mental health hospital destroyed. With 20 US troops and 60 Grenadian and Cuban soldiers dead, the island was quickly overwhelmed, and the United States rapidly assembled a regime that supported their interests.
Was It Justified?
Was this attack a justified use of United States military force? On one hand, it was, since the country had become unstable and dangerous. There was a genuine risk for the Americans living there, and the joint Grenadian-Cuban built airport so close to the United States certainly posed a national security risk. Even the Grenadians nowadays appreciate the invasion: it’s celebrated as a national holiday. On October 25th, “Thanksgiving Day” is held to commemorate the invasion. Since that conflict, Grenada has been a peaceful place.
But, on the other hand, the US-Jamaican attack could be easily seen as yet another example of American imperialism and overreach. Grenada was (and is) a sovereign nation, and its government was not for Americans to decide. The Grenadians had overthrown a government they found oppressive and installed a new one. While there had been strife, that was for Grenada to figure out - not the US. The United Nations issued a statement, with 33 abstentions, that the assembly,
Deeply deplores the armed intervention in Grenada, which constitutes
a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty
and territorial integrity of that State
Many nations shared similar concerns.
Which of these perspectives do you support?
Sources
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/united-states-invades-grenada
https://nacla.org/remembering-us-invasion-grenada-40-years - Note: this source is from a site with explicit anti-imperialism bias, making this source less reliable (but confirmed facts are still useable)
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/25/united-states-invades-grenada-oct-25-1983-244072
https://web.archive.org/web/20001219223600/http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/38/a38r007.htm
Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CH-53D_HMM-261_Grenada_Okt1983.jpeg