Lt Col Oliver North
The Iran–Contra affair was a political scandal in the United States that came to
light in November 1986. During the Reagan
administration, senior Reagan administration officials secretly
facilitated the sale of arms to Iran,
the subject of an arms embargo.
Some U.S. officials also hoped that the arms sales would secure the release of
hostages and allow U.S. intelligence agencies to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
The scandal began as an operation to free seven American
hostages being held by a group with Iranian ties connected to the Army of the
Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. It was planned that Israel would ship weapons
to Iran, and then the U.S.
would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. The Iranian recipients
promised to do everything in their power to achieve the release of the U.S.
hostages. The plan deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which
members of the executive
branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the
American hostages. Large modifications to the plan were devised by Lieutenant
Colonel Oliver North
of the National
Security Council in late 1985, in which a portion of the proceeds
from the weapon sales was diverted to fund anti-Sandinista
and anti-communist
rebels, or Contras,
in Nicaragua.
While President Ronald Reagan was a
supporter of the Contra cause, the evidence is disputed as to whether he
authorized the diversion of the money raised by the Iranian arms sales to the
Contras.
Handwritten notes taken by Defense Secretary Casper
Weinberger on December 7, 1985 indicate that Reagan was aware of potential
hostages transfers with Iran, as well as the sale of Hawk and TOW missiles to
"moderates elements" within that country. Weinberger wrote that
Reagan said "he could answer to charges of illegality but couldn't answer
to the charge that 'big strong President Reagan passed up a chance to free the
hostages.'" Still, many believe that it is unclear exactly what Reagan
knew and when, and whether the arms sales were motivated by his desire to save
the U.S. hostages. After the weapon sales were revealed in November 1986,
Reagan appeared on national television and stated that the weapons transfers
had indeed occurred, but that the United States did not trade arms for
hostages. The investigation was impeded when large volumes of documents
relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by Reagan
administration officials. On March 4, 1987, Reagan returned to the airwaves in
a nationally televised address, taking full responsibility for any actions that
he was unaware of, and admitting that "what began as a strategic opening
to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for
hostages."
Several investigations ensued, including those by the United States
Congress and the three-man, Reagan-appointed Tower Commission. Neither
found any evidence that President Reagan himself knew of the extent of the
multiple programs. In the end, fourteen administration officials were indicted,
including then-Secretary of
Defense Caspar
Weinberger. Eleven convictions resulted, some of which were vacated
on appeal. The rest of those indicted or convicted were all pardoned in the
final days of the presidency of George H. W. Bush, who had
been vice-president at the time of the affair.
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Research courtesy of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Contra_affair
Images courtesy of David Fowler / Shutterstock.com
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