What is commonly referred to as the Iran-Contra Affair was actually made up of two separate aspects: The sale of arms to Iran, a contravention of American Policy and Law; and the funneling of the profits from those sales to the anti-communist Contra resistance movement in Nicaragua.
Even though the affair happened more than 20 years ago, it is still pertinent to today’s world in that similarly immoral and illegal covert operations are allegedly being run by the current administration all over the Middle East, some say toward the end of provoking a military confrontation with Iran.
( http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact )
What was the Plan?
The plan, concocted by members of the CIA, the state department, and the armed forces, was to sell weapons to Iran in order to gain their help in securing the release of 30 American hostages being held by terrorists inside Iran. As the plan developed it was decided that profits from these sales should be funneled to the Nicaraguan Contra resistance fighters who were fighting a CIA directed battle to oust the Communist Sandanista Government.
The CIA was heavily involved with funding and training resistance movements in any South American country feared to be leaning toward communist governance, which would have bad results for American companies wishing to gain access to resources and markets. There are numerous atrocities that were committed directly by the CIA all over South American such as mining harbors and bombing airports (see Bob Woodward’s book: Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987 ). As knowledge of these acts spread through the senate action was taken to try to bring the CIA under control. This led to the Boland Amendment that outlawed financial support for the training of the Contras. Thus need to get money from other sources.
Who were the major players?
The main actors in the affair were CIA director William Casey, National Security Council (NSC) aide Oliver North, and National Security Advisor William Poindexter. Although President Ronald Reagan was shown not to have had knowledge of the affair by the Tower Commission he was criticized for not having better control over the NSC and the intelligence services.
Scandal and Aftermath
News of the affair broke after a Lebanese newspaper reported the sale of weapons to Iran in exchange for hostages. The resulting nationally televised senate hearings resulted in indictments for North, Poindexter and others. But through presidential pardons and legal technicalities none of those involved with the planning of the affair were actually sent to prison. William Casey, the CIA director who was a driving force behind the whole CIA South America anti-communist policy, conveniently died as the hearings began.
