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| The Iran-Contra Affair in a nutshell |
| In the midst of the cold war, Iran and Iraq were at war; America was supporting the guerrilla Nicaraguan Contras who were fighting against the democratically elected, left wing, Sandinista government. In 1983 congress prohibited further aid to the Contras with the Boland Amendment. Simultaneously, there were a number of Americans being held hostage in Lebanon. The American government became involved in an arms-sale agreement which involved selling weapons to Iran, through Israeli representatives in an 'arms for hostages' agreement. This was despite the fact that selling weapons to a government designated by the U.S. as a supporter of international terrorism went against public government policy and violated the U.S. arms embargo against Iran. When the profits from the arms sales exceeded expectations Oliver North, who had been organising both the Contra and Iran operations, came up with the idea that the funds be redirected to the Contras; hence the link. The disclosure of all of this became known as the 'Iran-Contra Affair', raising issues of Presidential knowledge, illegal sales, disregard and distain for Congress and Governmental procedures, illegal activities and then, destruction of evidence. The President denied knowledge and the key players maintained that although the President did not know what they were doing, or did not directly order it, they were following his policies. Most information was destroyed or edited before the trials began. One of the key witnesses and players in the Affair died before the trials commenced. The Tower and Congressional reports, the two major inquiries into the Affair concluded that although the President did not know, it was his responsibility to know what his officials were doing. After lengthy and widely publicised trials, those who were a found guilty of their charges were subsequently pardoned by President George Bush (who had been Vice-President throughout this scandal, yet remained un-involved.) Ask anyone who is old enough to remember what the Iran-Contra Affair was about, and they will reply with something about Weapons, Terrorism, Iran, Nicaragua and all that 'stuff' on television. The media heavily fuelled the Affair and everyone was aware that people were asking similar questions to those in Watergate: 'What did the President know and when did he know it?', yet few people can tell you much more than that. Short of returning to TV News and Newspaper archives there are few records about this event in a public forum. For the super-keen, in Washington stacks of government documents in archives can be found, but what is there for the people in-between? This site aims to explore a few of the key issues with a discerning eye, to critique the issues and to offer suggestions on where to go to learn more about it. A brief encyclopedic potted history is something that has been avoided in the construction of this site. There are 7 key areas that have been identified, all of which have links to the outside world in some form, mostly the internet or hardcopy books. This is an event in history that defies simple containment. It stems from the particularities of cold war politics in late 1970s, flowing beyond the end of the trials that ended in the early 1990s. The key players in the scene are now in the current Bush jnr Administration, while Oliver North now hosts a conservative and influential radio programme. Understanding the Iran-Contra Affair gives insight and perspective into events in current times. In order to understand the Iran-Contra Affair, the mentality of the people involved and how it happened, it is essential to understand the political, cultural, economic and historical context. The early nineteen eighties were a time of deep cold war paranoia, the Soviet "threat" continued to loom near in the imagination of the government, media and public. (Link to something that gives a low-down on this.) Patterns in history are as important as the 'what happened' facts. Events such as these must be viewed in a broader context. An immediate context is essential, but so is a wider and broader perspective in order to understand the full implications of such an event. The Iran-Contra Affair was not the first time that the government executive had undermined, or ignored congressional rulings. The essential question raised is who holds the power? Is it Congress or the President who decides on American Foreign Policy, and by that do we mean policy and actuality? The Iran-Contra Affair has multiple examples of how actions varied significantly from public policy. Understanding the history of American Presidential Scandals is one element that enhances understanding, another is the history of conflict between Congress and the Executive Administration officials, especially when with regards to matters of foreign policy. What did Islamic Iran and the right-wing extremist Nicaraguan Contra guerillas have in common? How did the links between the two develop into the 'Iran-Contra Affair': a tangled web, where seemingly separate events became strangely inter-connected. Firstly, even in the name 'Iran-Contra' there is a suggestion that 'Iran' preceded 'Contra' when in fact it was the other way around. It was precisely because of American involvement with the Contras that Iran became associated with an otherwise totally unrelated region of the world. American involvement in both Iran and with the Contras were actually very separate operations, thus linking them together implies that they were two parts of a whole. Moreover, putting 'Iran' before 'Contra' also skews the chain of events. The grammatical link echoes the strange connections that entangled two seemingly separate events together. Oliver North is to the actuality what the hyphen is to the grammar. Without North, neither side of the equation would have happened, or they certainly would not have been joined together. He masterminded and co-ordinated the two.
To see a timeline of Ronald Reagan's Presidency and the political, social, economic and historic events, go to the PBS Reagan Timeline References |
| ©2002 Anna Burns |