Manuel Noriega dead, have we learned from the experience?

The U.S. continues to intervene around the world.

Manuel Noriega has died, at the age of 83. The disgraced Panamanian dictator was closely affiliated with the CIA until he built relationships with drug lords and attempted to build a narcotics empire that trafficked drugs into the USA. He was removed from power by President H.W. Bush, who ordered the military to oust him. Following his capture, he spent the rest of his life in various prisons.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Manuel Noriega, former Panamanian dictator, has died at age 83. Noriega appears to have died of a brain hemorrhage following surgery to remove a tumor in March and a medically-induced coma. He is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Noriega was born into poverty in 1934 but rose to attend a military academy in Peru. He became joined the military in Panama and participated in a coup in 1968. His service was noticed by the CIA who brought him onto their payroll that year.

In 1983, he became the ruler of Panama, and he held power with an iron fist. He assassinated political rivals as needed. While he ensured the defense of the Panama Canal, he also forged alliances with drug lords, and facilitated trafficking of drugs into the U.S., drawing the anger of the U.S. government. He was subsequently indicted in the U.S. for trafficking. In late 1989, President Bush ordered the U.S. military to oust Noriega by force and to secure the Panama Canal.

Following the invasion, Noriega took refuge in the Vatican embassy and driven out in ten days by loud music blasted at the facility by U.S. troops.

Once in the United States as a prisoner, he was sentenced to 40 years for trafficking. The sentence was later reduced to 17 years. After serving that sentence, he spent seven years in a French prison and finally was sent to Panama to serve three consecutive 20-year sentences.

He was later diagnosed with a benign tumor. When that tumor started growing again, he was placed under house arrest to prepare for surgery. Following the surgery, which removed the tumor, he began to bleed and was placed into an induced coma after a second operation. Noriega died of complications yesterday at the San Tomas Public Hospital.

He is survived by his wife and three adult daughters.

Noriega's passing provides an opportunity for Americans to reflect on our foreign policy which involves extensive foreign intervention. While we suspect Russian involvement in influencing the 2016 presidential election, the U.S. often intervenes to shape outcomes elsewhere. And regime change is intervention is its most extreme form. The U.S. has induced regime change in Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, and several other places around the world.

The intervention in Panama revealed the complex and morally ambiguous ties that our government forms with leaders around the world. Sometimes these leaders rule unethically by Western standards, yet we remain allied to them because our economic interests align. But when those interests conflict, we appear quick to intervene. We have learned little and profited less from these experiences.

No funeral arrangements for Noriega have yet been announced.