iran contra scandal
The Iran-Contra affair is not one scandalous incident, but rather two covert operations started under Reagan's administration. In the beginning, these two operations were independent of each other, but eventually became linked though funds received from the sale of arms to Iran for hostages and then given to the Contras fighting to overthrow a Marxist government in Nicaragua. The scandal began with Nicaraguan politics. After the Marxist Sandinista regime took over Nicaragua in 1979, the government was faced with a growing communist threat to US interest in Central America. When President Reagan took office in 1981, he was vehemently determined to halt the spread of communism, especially in Central America (Arnson 1989, 8). Seeking to bolster US prestige and military power, Reagan took a tough stand against communism in the Western Hemisphere. In Nicaragua, he gave the Central Intelligence Agency the approval to help organize and aid a group of "Contrarevolucionarios" or "Contras" who were in opposition to the Sandinista regime (Arnson 1989, 6). Congress, unwilling to fight in another country's war after the devastating loss in Vietnam, began restricting the use of government funds for rebel guerrillas in Central
America. The CIA, concerned that soon Congress would cut off the funding for their program, began to stockpile arms for the contras (Walsh 1997, 18). Their fears were realized when Congress enacted the second Boland Amendment which stated: The connection to these two events was confirmed domestically when Edwin Meese, Counselor to the President and Attorney General, announced that money from the sale of weapons to the Iranians had been given to the Contras in their struggled against the Sandinistas. It was though this revelation that the world was informed of the greatest scandal since Watergate. The President of the United States had authorized and knowingly deceived Congress about two major international operations, both of which were illegal. The Iran-Contra Affair remains a disgrace in the history of American policy and tarnished the Reagan presidency. Walsh, Lawrence E. 1997. Firewall: The Iran Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up. New York:
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Approximate Word count = 1072
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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