Iran-Contra Affair

In the days and weeks that followed, the Reagan Administration and the nation were plunged into the worst national scandal since Watergate: what has come to be known as the Iran-Contra affair. It was revealed that not only had the Administration traded weapons to Iran for hostages, but that profits from the deals had been tunnelled --- in violation of Congressional restrictions --- to the so-called contras fighting to overthrow the Marxist Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

The immediate result was, in large measure, the unravelling of the Reagan Administration. If the President knew about the activities undertaken in his name, a strong argument could be made that he had committed an impeachable offense. His ironic defense was that he did not know, and the defense was a credible one because Ronald Reagan had already compiled a long record of being poorly informed about both public affairs in general and the actions of his own Administration in particular. He was forced to endure a sort of public spanking in the form of the socalled Tower Commission report (formally the President's Special Review Board, composed of former Senators John Tower and Ed Muskie, and long-time Repu

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nuous. In fact, Congress had voted almost consistently against aid to the contras. It changed its mind once, voting for the aid in 1985, then changed back and voted against it in 1986. The most realistic appraisal of the Congressional attitude toward the aid program would be to say that Congress tended rather markedly to oppose the program, and was only persuaded under heavy Administration pressure to approve such aid once, and even then with the "humanitarian" limitation --- which many members of Congress presumably did not expect to be interpreted as broadly as it was. In fact, the actual conduct of those involved in the aid program shows clearly that they expected Congress to rescind the aid. Here we enter the murky region where no investigation has ever really answered the central questions. Did Reagan authorize the development of independent means for funding the contras? He has always testified that he did not, and that he was surprised to find that such a program had in fact been established. No one has come forward to testify otherwise, so there is no "smoking gun" in Reagan's hand. The then-Director of the CIA, William Casey, is dead, and his knowledge and his secrets went to the grave with him. Oliver North ha
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Approximate Pages = 20 (250 words per page)

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