On 26th February 1987, a report published by the Tower Commission was delivered to President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The Commission had been appointed by the President himself, to investigate what had become known as the Iran-Contra scandal. I bring this up in keeping with yesterday's piece touching on the interference of the United States Government in the politics of Nicaragua. It is surprising how events seem to have a certain synchronous quality.
It started with a plan to improve U.S.-Iranian relations with a view to getting Iranian assistance in securing the release of six American hostages being held by Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shia Islamists organisation. A rather convoluted plot to say the least. The idea was for Israel to ship weapons to a politically influential group of Iranians. The United States would then resupply Israel and received payment. The Iranians promised to do everything they could to get the hostages released. It was believed that there was a close connection between the groups as part of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. This ridiculous enterprise quickly became an arms-for-hostages enterprise, in which members of the US executive sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the hostages. Much of this was orchestrated by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North who was at the National Security Council in late 1985. A portion of the proceeds from the weapons sales was diverted to fund anti-Sandinista and so called anti-communist rebels, the Contras, in Nicaragua.
As usual with such half assed enterprises, the whole business was exposed and unravelled as the result of a leak. The by now familiar cries of "What did the President know, and when did he know it" As a result, Reagan announced the creation of a Special Review Board to investigate. He appointed Senator John Tower, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former National Security advisor Brent Scowcroft. It became known as the Tower Commission. Its main objectives to enquire into the circumstances surrounding the Iran-Contra matter. It began of 1st December 1986 and delivered its report to the President on 26th February 1987. In three months the Commission had apparently interviewed 80 witnesses to the scheme, including the President, and two of the arms trade middlemen, Manucher Ghorbabifar and Adnan Khashoggi. There were 200 pages and the Commission concluded with criticism of the actions of Oliver North, John Poindexter (National Security Advisor), Caspar Weinberger (Secretary of Defence) and others. It determined that the President did not have knowledge of the extent of the program, especially not the diversion of funds to the contras, although it argued that the President ought to have had better control of the National Security council staff. They heavily criticised Reagan for not properly supervising his subordinates or being aware of their actions.
After publication of the report, the Senate began its own televised enquiry in May 1987. I have posted 4 of 8 parts of a documentary on the affair posted on You tube. If you want to see the rest, go to you tube. You might like it. There are also longer views of Oliver North's evidence to the Senate hearings. Oliver North is now listed as a former U.S. Marine Corps officer, political commentator, host of War Stories with Oliver North on the Fox News Channel, military historian and a New York Times best selling author. As they always say "FOLLOW THE MONEY' and then the drugs, whatever takes your fancy. This is worth revisiting. As David MacMichael, a former CIA Analyst states in the course of an interview, in reference to the Reagan Presidency, "This administration is impossible to embarrass…they rely on the old rule Deny, Deny, Deny, despite the vast amounts of evidence that is available…" I wonder, could that apply to other administrations we have seen, say in the UK recently ??
No comments:
Post a Comment