The Iran Contra Affair

To fully understand Iran-Contra, you must know the history behind it. Draper explains to us that the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979 brought the

“25 years ago, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North did something really, really bad. He sold weapons to Iran in an effort to help fund rebels fighting Nicaragua’s Socialist government. It was a war that was already being funded by the small country’s cocaine trade, a fact that prompted Congress to halt the flow of money from the U.S. to Nicaragua.” (http://time.com/2954148/iran-contra/)

"Iran" and "Contra" came to be spoken in the same breath was the outcome of complex covert activities, all carried out, in the name of democracy. When Iraq and Iran were at war in 1985, Iran requested to buy secret

To begin, Congress, by fair vote, decided in the 1980s that the United States should not assist the contras fighting the socialist Sandinista government of Nicaragua (Corn 2006). Yet, the Reagan White House concocted several imaginative ways to pull an end-run around democracy (Corn 2006). Reagan’s decisions such as selling weapons to Iran were made with the knowledge that he would not suffer a decline in presidential approval. Thus, Reagan took various steps that were violations of law that not only involved himself, but members of the CIA. By 1986, two big revelations happened that caused this scandal to abrupt publically. The first was the shoot-down of a cargo plane over Nicaragua and the admission by the sole survivor that the plane had been delivering arms to the Contras against congressional restrictions (Kornbluh 2011). The second, revelation was the news story of Lebanon that stated

A brief background before the iran contra affair is set in reagan's presidency who supported a group an anti communist group in nicaragua and gave weapons to iranian terrorists but things were already brewing before this that led up to this point during reagan's presidency he was all for the people and believed in lower taxes and tried to make the economy better so that way we could get out of debt but the iran contra affair was us secret arms deal that traded missiles to free americans that were held hostage by terrorists in lebanon which was a political scandals but also had economic and social issues

Lieutenant Oliver North was a member of Reagan’s National Security Council and he was active and separating figures in the scandal that follow. He sold weapons to Iran in an effort to fund rebel fighting Nicaragua’s socialist government (Salima Koroma, 2014). In Addition, it was already a war being supported by cocaine trade made by small countries, which encouraged congress to stop the flow of currency from the United States to Nicaragua. However, He was held accountable for his actions a minimum prison sentence and an appeal. Oliver North continues to be a diverging figure and vital voice in the conservative sphere.

The Iran-Contra affair can be described as the type of event expected to give rise to a demonstration of public support for the president. However, this incident had the opposite effect. The public’s response to the Iran-Contra affair led to a sharp decrease in the support of President Reagan. Due to President Reagan’s role in the political scandal of aiding armed conflict in Nicaragua, the United States Congress used its constitutional power to investigate and check the role of the executive branch. The impact of this congressional oversight highlights the checks and balances the Founder’s instilled in our political government during our nation’s conception.

In 1992, George H.W. Bush ran for President for a second time, this time though, something was different. More information linking Bush to the Iran Contra Affair of the Reagan Administration had become public, and the news media was beginning to make the connections. In one of the first articles released regarding his involvement in 1992, the author, Walter Pincus, began to openly criticize Bush for his deception. Pincus, who wrote a lot about Bush and his involvement, explains that “In the almost six years since the scandal surfaced, records and testimony from congressional and legal proceedings reveal that Bush, while vice president, watched Iran-Contra unfold from a front-row seat in the White House.” (Pincus, Walter, 1). Pincus is

Prior to North sending money to the Nicaraguan Contras, Congress used one of their many constitutional powers, the power to manage foreign affairs, which allowed them to have control over the nation’s relationship with the Nicaraguan Contras, so they had written the Boland Agreement of 1984, in order to restrict the United States in their support for these Contras (Fredriksen). “Congress

During the Iran-Contra affair the public, as well as congress, were left in the dark about a deal was made with the enemy country of Iran to sell weapons to them to aid in their war with Iraq. Once sold the Profit were given to the Contras in Nicaragua. I will be arguing that advertising dollars, using the military as a source, and flak were used to skew the public’s perception of how the affair took place.

There were two countries involved with the United States in the scandal, Iran in the Middle East and Nicaragua in Central America. Nicaragua is the sight of the Contras, a group that was against the Nicaraguan government in the 80’s, and were often looked at as human rights abusers. The Nicaraguan government was seen by Americans as communists so in Regan’s eyes the anti government Contras were anti communists, and Reagan wanted to support them, and fund

According to Biography (2016), “Oliver North was the deputy director of the National Security Council appointed by President Ronald Regan.” He was involved in the Iran Contra Scandal through supplying military firearms to Iran in exchange for the United States Hostages that were being held in captivity, and the secret operations to financial fund the contras. He was indicted on the charges of illegal gratuity and destruction of documents, but he was granted immunity.

Whether it is the Spanish governor Pedrarias versus the Indian chieftain Diriangen or the Somoza family versus Sandinista leaders, it is always a fight for freedom or dictatorship. The anti-Americanism of some Nicaraguans also spans back centuries, and it is at least partially justified. From William Walker’s conquest and presidency to America “stealing” the Panama Canal, and the later betrayal of Roosevelt and Nixon, there was plenty of reasons to harbor resentment for Americans. Sandino, the hero who fought the U.S. and inspired the Sandinista revolution, once told an American reporter, “Tell your people that there might be bandits in Nicaragua but that they are not necessarily

In my opinion what president Reagan did was shady. Our President lied to everyone, he supported a bad group, and he had Oliver North sell weapons to Israel is a terrorist state supported Islamic militate. to get the american hostages in Lebanon from 1982 1986. congress and the president lied to people and said they were not doing that. it was dangerous able to sell weapons through fake private company Iran used the money from the missals to found wars I central america. big cover up happens people realize there lying national security staff destroyed documents and emails. president and his adviser committed perjury . top advisers lied top keep him safe. the legal staff on a special investigating community found enough events. he was never asked to leave office to embarrassing.

After World War II, the United States’ Cold War policy of Soviet Containment fostered a borderline hysterical fear of communism in America. This fear created an atmosphere of U.S. hypervigilance towards any actions that could appear remotely communist. “The U.S.-supported Coup in Guatemala was mostly a result of strong anti-Communist