The Iran Contra scandal began due to Reagan's efforts to eradicate communism worldwide. He felt particularly close to an insurgent group in Nicaragua called the Contras, who were battling the Cuban backed Sandinistas who were in power. The Contra group was created and trained by the United States. However, Reagan could not officially provide aid due to the Democratic-controlled Congress and their bill that specifically prevented the CIA from operating in Nicaragua. This bill came from the fact that many in Congress were alarmed at the amount of human rights abuses the Contras were committing.
Reagan and his administration hatched an elaborate plan to help the Contras. Because Iran and Iraq were at war, Iran requested to buy weapons from the US despite the embargo on Iran. Reagan's advisors supported this request and explained that it would increase American influence in the Middle East, an area that Reagan was obsessed with due to his inability to extract American hostages from it. The arms were then traded for the hostages, only for three more hostages to be captured.
This secret deal quickly became public knowledge, and severely damaged the public's trust in Reagan, who was previously admired for his honesty. While investigating this scandal, the attorney general Edwin Meese discovered that out of the reported $30 million that Iran was supposed to pay, only $12 million had reached the government's coffers. This was explained by an officer in the army, who confessed that the money had been going to fund the Contras.
The public was both astonished and outraged, and repeatedly pestered Reagan to know his knowledge and involvement in the scandal. Although there was no evidence able to link him to the scandal, his public image was severely hurt and many in his administration were forced to resign or were fired. However, it seems as if the effects of this scandal were fleeting. Reagan's public image quickly rebounded, and he exited office as one of the highest rated presidents in history.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/reagan-iran/
https://www.britannica.com/event/Iran-Contra-Affair
https://www.history.com/topics/iran-contra-affair
Alan, I liked your post on the Iran-Contra Affair. I found it interesting that the public was still supportive of Reagan after this scandal. After Oliver North testified to Congress, many Americans publicly supported him and the President. Also, after the incident, President H.W. Bush pardoned many of the key participants in the affair, which caused many to question whether Bush was as disconnected as he claimed.
ReplyDeletehttps://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/iran/2016-11-25/iran-contra-affair-30-years-later-milestone-post-truth-politics
https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_28.htm
Alan, thanks for going over this important historical event. What I found to be most interesting and surprising was the level of deceit that went into this plan. Not only did the US provide money to the Contras after a bill had been passed to stop that from happening, but Reagan also chose to sell weapons during a supposed embargo. This seems to be a rash move, as it was unlikely the public would never find out about the scandal. This leads to the question of: did Reagan know the public wouldn't care about the scandal or did Reagan truly believe it would never be unveiled?
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