Panama `Aggression' -- Sources Say Dead Marine Provoked Guards

PANAMA CITY, Panama - The killing of a U.S. Marine lieutenant by Panamanian forces last December, an event used by President Bush in part to justify the invasion of Panama, was not the unprovoked act of ``aggression'' portrayed by the White House, according to U.S. military and civilian sources.

Instead, it was a step in a pattern of aggressive behavior by a small group of U.S. troops who called themselves ``the Hard Chargers'' and who frequently tested the patience and reaction of Panamanian forces, particularly at roadblocks, the sources said.

The Pentagon categorically denied this version of the incident, saying that it was ``absolutely without foundation.''

``This is an old story. It's been checked out, and there's nothing to it,'' a Pentagon spokesman in Washington said.

Panama sources insist that although ``the Hard Chargers'' acted on their own, their tactics were well known by ranking U.S. officers, themselves frustrated by what then

seemed to be the unwillingness of Washington officials to strike at dictator Manuel Noriega.

The incident occurred Dec. 16, 1989, when four U.S. officers, dressed in civilian clothes and driving a private car, were stopped at a Panamanian-military roadblock close to the headquarters of the Panama Defense Forces.

According to an official U.S. statement issued the next day, the four unarmed officers became lost while driving to a downtown restaurant, were stopped at the roadblock, where Panamanian troops tried to pull them from their car. At that point, said the statement, the Americans drove away, but were fired on, with 1st Lt. Robert Paz, 25, of Dallas, being wounded. Paz died shortly later.

The next day, Dec. 17, Bush decided to invade Panama, an act that took place Dec. 20.

The president justified the invasion, which ultimately drove out Noriega and destroyed the Panama Defense Forces, as a last resort needed to protect American lives. He said the death of the lieutenant was the trigger to his decision.

According to three sources who confirmed the report independently of one another, the four U.S. officers were not lost on the day of the incident.

``They knew the area very well and had been to the Comandancia many times,'' one source said, referring to the Panama Defense Forces headquarters.

According to another source, the men were also armed and had frequently ``dared'' roadblocks by driving up to them and then refusing to stop or suddenly pulling away.

``What they did this time,'' a source said, ``was pull up to the Comandancia roadblock, knowing it was one of the most important and the guards (were) very nervous.

``When the PDF came up to them and ordered them out of the car, (the Americans) all gave them the finger,'' shouted an obscenity and drove off, the source said, and the Panamanians then opened fire.

Another source said that although Paz was badly wounded and one of his companions was also hurt, the Americans ``dumped their weapons, probably in the canal,'' before going to Gorgas Hospital near Southern Command headquarters at Quarry Heights.

The sources said that a report of the incident was filed with the Southern Command, which passed it on to Washington. However, they could not confirm that the report - with what they called the ``true details'' - ever reached Bush.