US troops invaded Grenada, a tiny Caribbean island with 100,000 inhabitants. Reagan claimed it was a Soviet-Cuban colony being readied as a major military bastion to export terror and undermine democracy. As in one of his old Westerns, he sent 7,000 american soldiers into battle. Then in media, supposedly for their own safety, he offered government footage instead. The entire op was bungled from the start. 19 soldiers died and more than 100 were wounded, as a small force of poorly armed Cuban construction workers resisted. 9 helicopters were lost. The invasion from a military POV was a farce.
