Operation Fury: the Invasion of Grenada

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Operation Urgent Fury: The Invasion of Grenada Angela Garey HUMN 410, Betsy Anderson DeVry University February 23, 2011 The invasion of Grenada could very easily be described as a short-lived military action that involved U.S. troops and some Caribbean ground forces. With military strikes on airfields at Point Salines and Pearls, Operation Urgent Fury began on the tiny island nation of Grenada in the early morning hours of October 25, 1983. “Over the next nine days U.S. troops would rescue American citizens, restore a popular native government, and eliminate a perceived threat to the stability in the Caribbean and American strategic interests there” (Cole, n.d.). This purpose of this paper is to provide background information on Grenada, the Grenada Revolution, the events leading up to the U.S. invasion as the well as details of Operation Urgent Fury. Also, who were the major participants in Grenada’s revolution? Why was Grenada important to Fidel Castro? Was Operation Urgent Fury considered a success and did the U.S. military and peacekeeping forces achieve their objectives? Why did the United States become involved? Background Information on Grenada Grenada is a small island nation in the Caribbean where neighboring democratic islands maintain a small military force or none at all. “About 133 square miles in size, twice the size of Washington, DC, with a current population of about 100,000, primarily English-speaking, descendents of African slaves, Grenada belonged to France for more than a century before it was ceded to Great Britain in 1763 by the Treaty of Paris” (Cole, n.d.). After 1833, Grenada remained a British territory. “One of the smallest, poorest, and least important of the Windward Islands—its principal exports were mace and nutmeg” (Quirk, 1995). The Grenadian Revolution, 1979-1983 After winning independence from Great

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