A new book on the irancontra affair shows that president ronald reagan stood at the epicenter of the scandal both in terms of his willingness to break the law in order to free american hostages. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that. The irancontra affair was a clandestine action not approved of by the united states congress. The declassified history provides the 101 most important documents on the policy decisions, covert operations, and subsequent coverup that created the most serious constitutional crisis of modern times. Discusses events leading up to the 1986 irancontra scandal, wherein the reagan administration sold guns to iran in exchange for hostages and assisted rebels trying to. Irancontra scandalreagan dumps 2 top officials over iran cash sent to contrasnewspaper article by. Like those vietnam war documents, the irancontra scandal brings up to date the peregrinations of the nationalsecurity apparatchiks. Irancontra scandal unravels eugene hasenfus is captured by troops of the sandinista regime in nicaragua after the plane in which he is flying is shot down. Walsh on march 19, at age 102, is an appropriate occasion to recall some of the extraordinary outcomes of his investigation into the most significant political scandal of the 1980s the irancontra affair stirred up profound political passions. The declassified history, 1993, had the following redactions which are now declassified. Until last week the irancontra scandal seemed ready to fade from the courts, the news and the mind. The irancontra scandal the usa illegally sold arms to iran in order to negotiate with terrorists, and illegally funded nicaraguan rebels.
Subscribe to hiphughes history, its stupid easy and. The events leading to the reagan administrations illegal deals to sell weapons to iran in order to fund the contras in nicaragua unfolded over several years. At last, the iran contra affair has a comprehensive history worthy of the scandal which, if the system had worked, should have landed many senior white house officials in the slammer. The affair wove together a number of important story lines, from u.
Learning objective c, wor theme reagans administration was embroiled in scandal when it came to light that the united states had sold weapons to iran and funneled the money to nicaraguan rebels. Irancontra affair legal definition of irancontra affair. Cia involvement in contra cocaine trafficking wikipedia. The majority report did not charge reagan, but the called the administrations actions unethical. A scandal from 1986 over secret deals to sell arms to iran and divert the proceeds to fund contra rebel forces in nicaragua.
Village voice the archives chronology offers a complete summary of every known relevant fact connected with the iran contra scandal. Hepburn is the editorial page editor of the toronto star. The irancontra affair involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by white house officials in the national security council nsc under president ronald reagan. The irancontra affair popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the irancontra scandal. On the news at this time is the question of the hostages, then v.
Irancontra revisited the national security archive. It was also published as the tower commission report, bantam books, 1987, isbn 0553269682. Irancontra scandal tarnished credibility but americans forgave president after he admitted judgment errors michael taylor, chronicle staff. The iranian element of these operations involved an attempt to release hostages in beirut, while in nicaragua, contra guerrilla forces were supported logistically in their fight against the. The major elements of the irancontra story were well known long before the 1986 exposures, apart from one fact.
The unmooring of american military power by rachel maddow, necessary illusions. Congress issues final report on irancontra scandal history. List of books and articles about irancontra affair. Congress issues final report on irancontra scandal after nearly a year of hearings into the irancontra scandal, the joint congressional investigating committee issues its final report.
Congress or violated the stated public policy of the government. The irancontra scandal embodied a number of speculative foreign policy ventures which aimed to enhance reagans control of problematic overseas events. Newsweek columnist jonathan alter listens with horrified fascination as oliver north testifies to the joint housesenate irancontra committee see july 710, 1987 about the 1985 apprehension of the arab terrorists who had hijacked the cruise ship achille lauro. One of the important events during his presidency was the scandal of the iran contra affair. Irancontra scandal synonyms, irancontra scandal pronunciation, irancontra scandal translation, english dictionary definition of irancontra scandal. Let hiphughes accompany you through a basic understanding of the reagan era scandal irancontra. Village voice the archives chronology offers a complete summary of every known relevant fact connected with the irancontra scandal. Like other conspirators of big and little wars against third world revolutions, the irancontra plotters drenched their intrigue with paper, but the words have a hollow, bureaucratic ring. Irancontra scandal essay 2291 words 10 pages the irancontra scandal of the 1980s, first brought to light in november 1986, is a complicated mess of scandal, arms dealings, hostage deals, and illegal acts irancontra affair. The irancontra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of president ronald reagan. The irancontra scandal the national security archive document. Irancontra scandal definition of irancontra scandal by. In 1972, a bungled breakin at the headquarters of the democratic national committee led to a. Peter kornbluh is a senior analyst at the national security archive in washington d.
Washington, dc, march 26, 2014 the passing away of irancontra independent counsel lawrence e. I think some of the dates may be off, and i know there are fairly big holes in it like when north testifies and gets convicted or when the first reports of the scandal are reported. November 16, 1987 irancontra congressional report is released. To enhance this documentat ion, the editors provide contextual overviews of the complex components of the irancontra. Iran contra affair ronald reagan was the 40th american president who served in office from january 20, 1981 to january 20, 1989. The work of the national security archive has helped prevent this issue from being swept under the rug, the iran contra scandal. These claims have led to investigations by the united states government, including hearings and reports by the united states house of representatives, senate, department of justice, and the cias office of the inspector general. The document, originally published by the national security archive in the book, the irancontra scandal.
Malcolm byrne has told this complex story in brilliant fashion. Irancontra scandal get writing ideas and topics with the biography assistant. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the. Learn about the irancontra affair under president reagan who secretly supported an anticommunist group in nicaragua and funneled. Caso irancontra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the ira n contra scanda l, or simply ira n contr a, was a political scanda l in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration. Irancontra and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. For the related broader allegations of drug trafficking by the cia, see allegations of cia drug trafficking. Many comparisons have been made between russiagate and the earlier scandals of watergate and irancontra, but the similarities are at best superficial, explained robert parry on june 28, 2017. The irancontra scandal was an important political event of the 1980s.
At last, the irancontra affair has a comprehensive history worthy of the scandal which, if the system had worked, should have landed many senior white house officials in the slammer. What are quality books about the irancontra affair. The minority report claimed that the actions taken by the president and his administration were within the powers of the executive branch. Kimches outreach is the final piece in the complex.
The iran contra scandal this is a timeline of various events in the scandal history i found on the internet. Drawing on uptodate information such as the recently discovered bush diaries, this reader features once top secret. The work of the national security archive has helped prevent this issue from being swept under the rug, the irancontra scandal. Contradictions, disarray and a case for impeachment the purpose of this essay is to analyze the irancontra scandal and to argue whether the president of the united states, ronald reagan, deserved impeachment as a consequence.
This overview of the irancontra affair is organized into the following sections. The irancontra scandal the national security archive document peter. The irancontra affair, 1986 noam chomsky chomskys brief account of the us selling arms to iran via israel in order to fund farright paramilitary contras in nicaragua. Mark leighton bettmann corbis david kimche, the director general of israels foreign ministry, meets secretly with national security adviser robert mcfarlane to advise him that israel may be able to use its influence with iran see 1981 to engineer the release of american hostages currently held by hezbollah. Irancontra and armsforhostages scandals history commons. The irancontra conspiracy and coverup, also by walsh. On the cover memo, the redaction between clair george and dewey clarridge reads tom twetten. The contras were a paramilitary group fighting against the fairly elected leftist sandinista government. Knowledge of drug trafficking and the contras the national security archive obtained the handwritten notebooks of oliver north, the national security council aide who helped run the contra war and other reagan administration covert operations, through a freedom of information act lawsuit filed in 1989. A number of writers have alleged that the united states central intelligence agency cia was involved in cocaine trafficking during the 1980s. The irancontra scandal of the 1980s, first brought to light in november 1986, is a complicated mess of scandal, arms dealings, hostage deals, and illegal acts irancontra affair. The irancontra conspiracy and coverup by lawrence e.
122 1280 859 1495 602 1207 1217 616 57 51 804 359 858 566 674 500 739 675 1184 1229 176 1276 146 1482 673 1065 1085 1533 1441 157 750 1220 190 676 24 402 1398 1064 601 227 691 737 1171 835 987 1495