[Bus Insider] On the night of December 20, 1989, the US invaded Panama to overthrow dictator Manuel Noriega.
This small-scale conflict was full of special operations — some of them successful, others not — involving Rangers, Navy SEALs, and Green Berets.
But it was also the first time that Delta Force successfully completed a large-scale hostage rescue.
Historically, the US had a turbulent and colorful relationship with Noriega. He had been a longtime CIA associate but was also known for drug trafficking.
After the Iran-Contra operation was exposed, Noriega's utility to the US diminished.
As relations between the two countries deteriorated, Noriega went on the offensive, arresting Kurt Muse — a CIA operative who owned a publishing company in Panama — on espionage charges and threatening to execute him.
Noriega kept Muse in the squalid and overcrowded Modelo Prison. The prison was in downtown Panama City, close to the Comandancia, which was Panama's Pentagon, and within sight of US Southern Command headquarters.
To make matters worse, Noriega told Muse that he would be killed on the spot if there was a rescue attempt. To back up his threat, the Panamanian strongman ordered a guard be outside Muse's cell at all times, tasked with killing the American in the event of a rescue operation.
On December 16, Panamanian troops attacked a civilian vehicle carrying four American officers going out for dinner, killing one and wounding another. Operation Acid Gambit was a go. 
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