Agreed, I think -- by the time the war goes nuclear, nuking the canal isn't as useful as something to shut it down in the winter of 1996. If the Soviets can't get some sort of conventional strike onto it (launched from a sub or a surprise stashed on one of the "Soviet trawlers" that seemed to be prowling around the globe during the Cold War), then supporting guerrillas (and maybe using them to screen a SOF effort by Cuban and/or Soviet units) would be a pretty good idea.
I'm not sure what the US has left to throw against them, besides the brigade already down there. 7th SFG comes to mind immediately, and in the 80s and 90s, they spent so much time down there (not even counting the C/3/7 guys who were forward deployed there) that a real FID mission in Panama would probably seem like a Group-level live fire FTX. Can't think of anyone else unaccounted for in the US OOB.
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