Talk:Operation Nifty Package

Presidente Porras P-102

There are a number of errors in this entry. - There was NO serious concern that Noriega could escape via the Presidente Porras (P-102). Hours before H-hour, the roads leading to this facility were to be locked down as part of the US PML Delta status (and were in fact locked down as part of the lead-up to the operation). Thus, neither the crews nor Noriega could have reached the boat before the SEALs would have attacked it at H-hour. And anyway, . . . at exactly H-hour, the docks were to be siezed by the Army's TF Bayonet. There simply was no opportunity for either crew or Noriega to reach the boat, and no one seriously considered this a danger. This operation was simply a stunt to get into the record books, and the link to Noriega's potential 'escape' was merely a tongue in cheek excuse. - P-102 was not heavily armed. In fact it was very lightly armed, with only a single 12.7mm machine gun (earlier Panamanian craft of similar size mouted 2x20mm cannon plus machine guns). - The SEALs were NOT attacked by Panamanian grenades. The article neglects to note that the SEALs were so dealyed by the mechanical problems with both zodiac boats' engines that they were significantly behind schedule (after one engine finally started, they had to relay the two diver pairs to the insertion point). Approximately 20 minutes before the SEALs reached the pier, the dock facilities had been assaulted and secured by a Military Police platoon from the Task Force Bayonet. These MPs had also siezed the two unmanned Panamanian patrol craft (one of which was the Presidente Porras) and were aboard siezing commo equipment, charts and documents. MPs on the docks had tried repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, to warn off the SEAL swimmer pairs (they surfaced frequently to orient themselves due to the night conditions and murky waters). The MPs abord the two craft were hastily evacuated and the platoon sat helplessly as the SEALs proceeded to destroy the two captures. As a result, rather than conducting the first US swimmer attack on a hostile warship since WWII, they merely swam into a harbor already in US hands and destroyed two boats already controlled by US forces. - Because the two swimmer teams were inserted separately due to the engine problems, the attack was uncoordinated, and the swimmer teams did not realize that they actually attacked two different patrol boats (the second was smaller than P-102), which happened to be moored nose to tail. In an act of overkill, they also sank the floating dock to which the patrol craft had been moored. 24.39.246.130 (talk) 21:19, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

rickrolling

There is a mistake from fixing some of the rick rolling that happened in the past I think. Look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Nifty_Package&diff=prev&oldid=373380164

Anyway I remember the news stories when I was a kid and this was taking place that "Welcome to the Jungle" from GNR was played. The article has "Eyes of Destruction" instead. I think that's a mistake, "Welcome to the Jungle" was from the album "Appetite for Destruction" and that's how it likely got to this point. I don't think there ever was a GNR song with the title "Eyes of Destruction" certainly not back during Operation Nifty Package when I was a GNR fan. I would edit the article but it seems to want to be a link to a song and I have no idea how to do that fancy stuff, sorry. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.225.23.168 (talk) 19:00, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

• The source isn't online, but Allmusic doesn't show that song in Gun n Roses' discography. I removed it, pnding some verification. Niteshift36 (talk) 22:44, 31 January 2012 (UTC)

Title of the page

I have added the verifiability template because this page has a fundamental problem : what it describes was not operation Nifty Package.

The only first-hand source that reported about Nifty Package is Bob Woodward's book The Commanders (Simon & Schuster, 1991, p.138). It says it was a secret deployment of special operations forces approved in the Pentagon on 20 October 1989, which included a Delta force squadron, helicopters, signals intelligence listeners and staff.

So it's not part of Op Just Cause (which was not yet decided then), did not include the battle of Paitilla airport nor the cornering and surrender of Noriega as they happened in December. So pretty all the article is off-topic. Rob1bureau (talk) 19:09, 15 June 2022 (UTC)