Ronald Reagan and Iran Contra: The failure of morality

[obd]

In the Iran-Contra Affair, United States President Ronald Reagan's administration secretly sold arms to Iran, which was engaged in a bloody war with its neighbor Iraq from 1980 to 1988 (see Iran-Iraq War), and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and democratically-elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua. Those sales thus had a dual goal: appeasing Iran, which had influence with militant groups that held several American hostages in Lebanon and supported bombings in Western European countries, and funding an anti-communist guerrilla war in Nicaragua.

The Iran Contra scandal not only contradicted firm US policy of not negotiating with terror, it also went directly against acts of Congress and violated and official trade embargo on Iran. In 1987 after Congressional hearings Americans were especially startled to learn that Colonel Oliver North had funelled millions from weapons sales to terrorist anti-American Iran to fund the destruction of a Democratically elected Sandanista government at the hands of corrupt right wing military Contra's. Next came the revlelation that both Oliver North and Ronald Reagan participated in a concerted ffort to destroy evidence and subvert justice. Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh found in his official findings that Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush were guilty of withholding information from US Congress and purposely misleading investigators.

In another bombshell it was leaned that the CIA, at the behest of the Reagan adminstration, was involved in aiding drug trafficers seeking to bring in large drug shipments into the United States to raise secret funds to support a war against Democracy in Nicaragua. Not only was Reagain engaged in illegal acts of subverting justice and misleading Congress, he was also invlved in a war on a Democraticly elected government, and, worst of all, he directed the CIA to help drig trafficers wage a terror war against American civilians (which is what drug trafficers are= terrorists) in order to raise money for that illegal war!!!!!

Ronald Reagan was corrupt! He odes not deserve to be honored by anyone. He sold out the American people. Not only was he a liar and a thief but he supported drug dealers in getting thier terror weapons (drugs) into America to destroy lives and our society and all so that he could wage an illega war against free thought and democracy in central America!!!! Idiocy taken to the extreme. Not even to mention that he illegally and secretly negotiated with a terror regime = Iran!!!!!

Reagan does not deserve his current legacy. He was a crook just like Nixon.

[2Sheds_Jackson]

And he was gay. Horribly, horribly gay. And ate children.

[lunatic2T2]

George Washington owned slaves. :lol:

[Seiyuuki]

George Washington owned slaves. :lol:

Heh...don't even get me started on Thomas Jefferson. :lol:

[username]

I doubt Ronald Reagan even knew what a president was. Has anyone ever compared how he behaved when he gave pre written speaches on the teleprompter(it's this thin clear thing that has the speech on it so he can still look around the room on different and give the speech and it doesnt look like hes reading the news) and compare that with interview he has when he's left to his own devices. It's like talking to a monkey, he's got no idea whats going on.

[username]

It's pretty much the same with bush. Reagen wasnt runnign the show. Neither is bush, but at least bush is making some input however minor it may be. You notice bush when he gives speeches without a teleprompter or the radio transmitter in his back with the wire to his ear. I remeber after he gave a 1 on 1 interview in i think it was USA's ABC, journalists commented after that it was so bad he appeared drunk.

[hank]

In the Iran-Contra Affair, United States President Ronald Reagan's administration secretly sold arms to Iran, which was engaged in a bloody war with its neighbor Iraq from 1980 to 1988 (see Iran-Iraq War), and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and democratically-elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua. Those sales thus had a dual goal: appeasing Iran, which had influence with militant groups that held several American hostages in Lebanon and supported bombings in Western European countries, and funding an anti-communist guerrilla war in Nicaragua.

The Iran Contra scandal not only contradicted firm US policy of not negotiating with terror, it also went directly against acts of Congress and violated and official trade embargo on Iran. In 1987 after Congressional hearings Americans were especially startled to learn that Colonel Oliver North had funelled millions from weapons sales to terrorist anti-American Iran to fund the destruction of a Democratically elected Sandanista government at the hands of corrupt right wing military Contra's. Next came the revlelation that both Oliver North and Ronald Reagan participated in a concerted ffort to destroy evidence and subvert justice. Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh found in his official findings that Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush were guilty of withholding information from US Congress and purposely misleading investigators.

In another bombshell it was leaned that the CIA, at the behest of the Reagan adminstration, was involved in aiding drug trafficers seeking to bring in large drug shipments into the United States to raise secret funds to support a war against Democracy in Nicaragua. Not only was Reagain engaged in illegal acts of subverting justice and misleading Congress, he was also invlved in a war on a Democraticly elected government, and, worst of all, he directed the CIA to help drig trafficers wage a terror war against American civilians (which is what drug trafficers are= terrorists) in order to raise money for that illegal war!!!!!

Ronald Reagan was corrupt! He odes not deserve to be honored by anyone. He sold out the American people. Not only was he a liar and a thief but he supported drug dealers in getting thier terror weapons (drugs) into America to destroy lives and our society and all so that he could wage an illega war against free thought and democracy in central America!!!! Idiocy taken to the extreme. Not even to mention that he illegally and secretly negotiated with a terror regime = Iran!!!!!

Reagan does not deserve his current legacy. He was a crook just like Nixon.

I for one would like to see your source for this. I rememebr watching the witnesses on TV in the Congressional hearings. Much of this is conjecture. No one ever went to jail or even got fired for any of this, if i rememebr correctly.

Sources?

Illegally negotiated with Iran? Do you mean the October surprise? Again, do you have any sources. my understanding is that there is nothing like Reagan to any of this.

hank

[hank]

In the Iran-Contra Affair, United States President Ronald Reagan's administration secretly sold arms to Iran, which was engaged in a bloody war with its neighbor Iraq from 1980 to 1988 (see Iran-Iraq War), and diverted the proceeds to the Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and democratically-elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua. Those sales thus had a dual goal: appeasing Iran, which had influence with militant groups that held several American hostages in Lebanon and supported bombings in Western European countries, and funding an anti-communist guerrilla war in Nicaragua.

The Iran Contra scandal not only contradicted firm US policy of not negotiating with terror, it also went directly against acts of Congress and violated and official trade embargo on Iran. In 1987 after Congressional hearings Americans were especially startled to learn that Colonel Oliver North had funelled millions from weapons sales to terrorist anti-American Iran to fund the destruction of a Democratically elected Sandanista government at the hands of corrupt right wing military Contra's. Next came the revlelation that both Oliver North and Ronald Reagan participated in a concerted ffort to destroy evidence and subvert justice. Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh found in his official findings that Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush were guilty of withholding information from US Congress and purposely misleading investigators.

In another bombshell it was leaned that the CIA, at the behest of the Reagan adminstration, was involved in aiding drug trafficers seeking to bring in large drug shipments into the United States to raise secret funds to support a war against Democracy in Nicaragua. Not only was Reagain engaged in illegal acts of subverting justice and misleading Congress, he was also invlved in a war on a Democraticly elected government, and, worst of all, he directed the CIA to help drig trafficers wage a terror war against American civilians (which is what drug trafficers are= terrorists) in order to raise money for that illegal war!!!!!

Ronald Reagan was corrupt! He odes not deserve to be honored by anyone. He sold out the American people. Not only was he a liar and a thief but he supported drug dealers in getting thier terror weapons (drugs) into America to destroy lives and our society and all so that he could wage an illega war against free thought and democracy in central America!!!! Idiocy taken to the extreme. Not even to mention that he illegally and secretly negotiated with a terror regime = Iran!!!!!

Reagan does not deserve his current legacy. He was a crook just like Nixon.

I for one would like to see your source for this. I rememebr watching the witnesses on TV in the Congressional hearings. Much of this is conjecture. No one ever went to jail or even got fired for any of this, if i rememebr correctly.

Sources?

Illegally negotiated with Iran? Do you mean the October surprise? Again, do you have any sources. my understanding is that there is nothing like Reagan to any of this.

hank

[obd]

Yeah, try "A History of The United States" Volumn II, 3rd Edition.

Goldfield, Abbott, Anderson, Barney, Weir, Argersinger.

[Dennis G]

Liberals, It's not that they're ignorant, it't just that they know so much that isn't so. - Ronald Reagan

[username]

'Facts are stupid things' - Ronald Reagan

[James]

Shouldn't this be in the history section? Iran Contra happened almost 20 years ago.

Just a thought.

[TriggerPuller]

Shouldn't this be in the history section? Iran Contra happened almost 20 years ago.

Just a thought. I was directly involved with some of this. I was on Special Operations for a year during the Iran-Iraq war. Anybody wanna guess what we were doing there?

Username you are an assclown!!!

TP

[-=P=-]

Iran contra was Reagan’s payback for Iran letting US hostages free after American SF's failed to free them.

LoL why do you think Iran freed them as soon as Reagan came into the office, because Reagan was such a hard guy ?


@TriggerPuller


I was directly involved with some of this. I was on Special Operations for a year during the Iran-Iraq war. Anybody wanna guess what we were doing there?

Hmm.. maybe helping Iraq to not getting defeated by Iran ?

[Sir Zach of R.]

Iran contra was Reagan’s payback for Iran letting US hostages free after American SF's failed to free them.

Dammit, there's a major difference between SF and SOF. :bash:

[-=P=-]

Hmm... the Delta Force is a special force that’s why I called it SF or are they a normal force ?

But if you want tell me what the difference between SF and SOF is, I never stop to learn p-)

[Sir Zach of R.]

Hmm... the Delta Force is a special force that’s why I called it SF or are they a normal force ?

But if you want tell me what the difference between SF and SOF is, I never stop to learn p-)

In the US, the only SF is the Green Berets. That why they call them "Special Forces Groups." Delta is partly made up of Green Berets, but still isn't considered an SF Group (read Inside Delta Force, it explains it all.) Delta (and other groups of the USSOCOM) are considered SOF (Special Ops Forces.) I know in Europe and other places of the world that there isn't a distinction between SF and SOF, but when referring to US forces, they should be addressed as SOF (unless stated otherwise.)

I've explained this about 18 times on a British 1/6th modeling forum. :lol:

[TriggerPuller]

[quote="-=P=-"]Iran contra was Reagan’s payback for Iran letting US hostages free after American SF's failed to free them.


[quote] WTF are you talking about? Get your facts straight!

TP

[-=P=-]

@TriggerPuller

Which facts ?

[TriggerPuller]

@TriggerPuller

Which facts ?Nevermind.

TP

[Sir Zach of R.]

@TriggerPuller

Which facts ?

They didn't fail to rescue them, the lack of flyable helicopters prevented Delta from lifting off from Desert 1.

[walford]

The Media Hated Reagan (http://www.aim.org/aim_column/1667_0_3_0_C/)
...Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post said that covering the Iran-Contra affair was as much fun as Watergate. He thought they'd nail another Republican president. The sharks smelled blood in the water. I met Reagan at a White House Christmas party and presented him with a button that AIM had made up showing a shark with a big "X" on it. I gave it to Reagan, he laughed, and he told wife Nancy: "That means 'no.'"

In the end, of course, they didn't nail Reagan on Iran-Contra. The sharks had to feed on lesser prey. Reagan didn't have the details about the arms deals with Iran and the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, the Contras, and National Security Council staff member Oliver North and others took the fall. The Iran part of it was designed to free American hostages in the Middle East. It worked for a while. The Contra part was designed to keep the resistance alive while the liberal Congress, led by Senator John Kerry, tried to destroy it. Reagan, North and the freedom fighters ultimately prevailed. We still have many problems in the Middle East but Central America is free of communism...

...No one knew when Reagan stepped down that his military buildup would ultimately play a role in the demise of the evil empire he railed against."

It is possible, of course, that the media recognize that Reagan's anti-communism produced dividends for the U.S. and the world. I think it's doubtful. Remember that reporters at the time, such as Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post, said journalists regarded left-wing groups in Central America as the "good guys." This included the Nicaraguan Communist Sandinistas, who seized power in 1979 with the help of then-President Jimmy Carter, and the communist guerrillas in neighboring El Salvador. Reagan opposed these groups. His policy of supporting the Nicaraguan freedom fighters, or Contras, resulted in the demise of these and other anti-American terrorists movements in the region...
Many on the Left were openly supporting the Ortega regime, even though it was backed by Castro and the USSR.

Congress forgot that it was up to the President to formulate foreign policy. The pressure that Reagan and the Contras were putting on Ortega's one-party dictatorship was partially responsible for the Nicaraguan people being allowed to vote for their leadership for the first time. The Contras also countered the Nicaraguan support for Marxists who were attempting to install another Soviet satellite in El Salvador.

[Lazy Lob]

Contra rebels fighting to overthrow the leftist and democratically-elected Sandinista government of Nicaragua.

Bugger, and I thought Daniel Ortega was head of the Sandinista rebels who took power by force. Democratically elected? :cantbeli: ... I maybe wrong.

Violeta Chamorro was the first democratically elected leader.

[username]

Shouldn't this be in the history section? Iran Contra happened almost 20 years ago.

Just a thought. I was directly involved with some of this. I was on Special Operations for a year during the Iran-Iraq war. Anybody wanna guess what we were doing there?

Username you are an assclown!!!

TP

Why are your resorting to a personal attack?

[TriggerPuller]

Shouldn't this be in the history section? Iran Contra happened almost 20 years ago.

Just a thought. I was directly involved with some of this. I was on Special Operations for a year during the Iran-Iraq war. Anybody wanna guess what we were doing there?

Username you are an assclown!!!

TP

Why are your resorting to a personal attack?Pg1. "I doubt Reagan even knew what a President was"! You personally attacked my first CINC!!

TP

[walford]

You personally attacked my first CINC!!Reagan is fair game, because he was by far the worst, most incompetent, evil, least effective POTUS there ever was. Why oh why couldn't we have had Carter serve another term? Look how much good he did!

OMG! I just remembered something. I voted for Reagan! Both times! To make it even worse, I'm proud of that fact! No wonder so many here don't like me. I'm a terrible person. Oh, well...I really wanted you all to like me -- really like me.
http://www.allstarz.org/oscars/moments08.jpg

[TriggerPuller]

You personally attacked my first CINC!!Reagan is fair game, because he was by far the worst, most incompetent, evil, least effective POTUS there ever was. Why oh why couldn't we have had Carter serve another term? Look how much good he did!

OMG! I just remembered something. I voted for Reagan! Both times! To make it even worse, I'm proud of that fact! No wonder so many here don't like me. I'm a terrible person. Oh, well...LMAO!

TP

[username]

Shouldn't this be in the history section? Iran Contra happened almost 20 years ago.

Just a thought. I was directly involved with some of this. I was on Special Operations for a year during the Iran-Iraq war. Anybody wanna guess what we were doing there?

Username you are an assclown!!!

TP

Why are your resorting to a personal attack?Pg1. "I doubt Reagan even knew what a President was"! You personally attacked my first CINC!!

TP

ohh well i guess fair's fair