Grenada invasion (U.S.A., 1983)
Operation Urgent Fury was the operational name for the 1983 invasion of the small Caribbean nation of Grenada.[1]
One of President Ronald Reagan justifications for the invasion was that the current government of Grenada was sympathetic to communist Cuba, an Cuba was helping to construct a new, longer, runway, at Grenada's airport, that would be long enough to land Cuban jet fighters, neglecting to mention it required a longer runway for larger airliners carrying tourists.
The United States provided most of the invading force, although six other nations in the Organization of American States provided token elements. Canada was not invited to play a role in the invasion, and was not informed of the invasion, in advance.
During the invasion American military spokespeople claimed that Cuban civilian workers, in Grenada, were reservists, and that these Cuban reservists stiffened Grenada's resistance to the invasion.[2]
References
- ↑ Phil Kukielski. How Grenada reshaped the US military, The Boston Globe, 2013-09-18. mirror
- ↑ B. Drummond Ayres Jr.. GRENADA INVASION: A SERIES OF SURPRISES, New York Times, 1983-11-14, p. A1. Retrieved on 2022-12-21. “Sergeant Wilburn landed safely. But once on the ground, he recalled, there was more fire to contend with, steady and well-aimed, from positions that were cleverly placed in the surrounding hills. Whoever was up there, Grenadian or Cuban or both, knew how to fight, the sergeant recalled thinking.”