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Iran-Contra Affair
Iran-Contra Affair, American political scandal of 1985 and 1986, in which high-ranking
members in the administration of President Ronald Reagan arranged for the secret sales
of arms to Iran in direct violation of existing United States laws. Profits from the $30
million in arms sales were channeled to the Nicaraguan right-wing "contra" guerrillas to
supply arms for use against the leftist Sandinista government. This, too, was in direct
violation of U.S. policy. The chief negotiator of these deals was Lieutenant Colonel
Oliver North, a military aide to the National Security Council. North reported his
activities initially to National Security Adviser Robert C. McFarlane, the council's head,
and subsequently to his successor, Vice Admiral John M. Poindexter. The sale of arms to
Iran was initiated at the suggestion of the Israeli government with the dual goal of
bettering relations with Iran and of obtaining the release of American hostages held in
Lebanon by pro-Iranian terrorists. North was instrumental in setting up a covert network
for providing support to the contras, with its own ship, airplanes, airfield, and secret bank
accounts.
In November 1986 a Lebanese magazine disclosed that the United States government had
negotiated an arms deal with Iran. Later that month Attorney General Edwin Meese
verified that millions of dollars from these sales had been sent to the Contras in direct
violation of the Boland Amendment, which Congress had passed in 1984 and which
prohibited direct or indirect U.S. military aid to them. As new details of the widening
scandal emerged, a series of congressional and legal investigations began. In February
1987 the Tower Commission, a special panel headed by former U.S. Senator John Tower
of Texas, issued a report castigating President Reagan and his advisers for their lack of
control over the National Security Council. The Congressional Joint Investigative
Committee collected more than 300,000 documents, conducted more than 500 interviews
and depositions, and listened to 28 witnesses in 40 days of public hearings. In November
1987 the committee reported that the president bore the ultimate responsibility for the
implementation of his administration's policies but found no firm evidence that he had
known of the diversion of funds to the contras. In May 1989 North was tried and
convicted of obstructing Congress and unlawfully destroying government documents, but
his conviction was subsequently overturned. A guilty decision on Poindexter's actions
was also later reversed. The scandal's reverberations concerning the ultimate
responsibility for the operation continued into the 1990s. In December 1992 President
George Bush, who had been vice president under Reagan and who had also been
implicated, but not charged, in the scandal, issued pardons to many of the top government
officials who had been charged or convicted for their role in the Iran-Contra affair.
Independent prosecutor Lawrence E. Walsh published his final report on the investigation
of the affair in January 1994. Walsh concluded that there was no evidence that Reagan
had broken the law, but he noted that Reagan may have participated in, or known about, a
cover-up.
Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2002
http://encarta.msn.com (29 May. 2002)
Answer the following on the back of this paper.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How was the U.S. involved with Iran?
How and why were we helping the Contras?
Why was this illegal?
Who was convicted of a crime? Who was possibly involved in criminal activity?
Did Reagan have any knowledge of the issue?