What we saw in the iran contra hearings, was the exposure of the beginnings of a national security state which believes it has the right to override the constitution of the united states in the name of security. Large volumes of documents relating to the scandal were destroyed or withheld from investigators by reagan administration officials. The irancontra affair was a clandestine action not approved of by the united states congress. The irancontra affair american experience official. Behind the iran contra affair 1988 what you saw in the iran contra hearings was the exposure of the beginnings of a national security state which believes it has the right to override the constitution of the united states in the name of national security. Materials in the collection cover divisive debates within the reagan administration over terrorism and hostage rescue operations and provide a detailed road map to enable researchers to reconstruct key covert policy decisions related to. Cover up behind the irancontra affair is a thorough investigation into information suppressed during the iran contra hearings in 1987 where it was found that senior officials in the united states government secretly facilitated the sale of arms to iran. Iran contra affair president ronald reagan in 1985, during the second term of the reagan administration, the u. Behind the iran contra affair 1988 live leak by lasrever what you saw in the iran contra hearings was the exposure of the beginnings of a national security state which believes it has the right to override the constitution of the united states in the name of national security. The iran contra conspiracy and cover up by lawrence e.
What are quality books about the irancontra affair. This documentary video looks inside the iran contra affair. Duane ramsdell dewey clarridge april 16, 1932 april 9, 2016 was an american senior operations officer for the central intelligence agency cia and supervisor for more than 30 years. Inside the iran contra cover up by robert parry washington in crucial ways, watergate, the signature scandal of the 1970s, and iran contra, the signature scandal of the. Fourteen people were charged with either operational or cover up crimes. Clarridge was the chief of the latin american division from 1981 to 1987 and a key figure in the iran contra affair. Terms in this set 30 the iran contra affair involved.
Lives, lies and the iran contra affair by ann wroeaug 15, 1992 firewall. North, oliver oliver north testifying at the iran contra. Screening of cover up behind the irancontra affair. Behind the irancontra affair 1988 barbara trent on allmovie this documentary of the iran contra affair. The reagan administration decided to cover up iran contra. Congress or violated the stated public policy of the government.
The iran contra affair demonstrated the true nature of democracy in the united states. This was not only exposure to iran contra, but it also showed the reagan administration breaking the policy of never negotiating with terrorists and kidnappers. The shadow government of assassins, arms dealers, drug smugglers, former cia operatives and top us military personnel who were running foreign policy unaccountable to the public, revealing the reaganbush administrations plan to. Watch now for free featured browse more titles movies. How was the irancontra affair similar to the watergate. Recently declassified pentagon documents reveal a strange, not to say illicit, 1980s operation called tipped kettle, in which weapons stolen by israel from the plo in lebanon were transferred to the contras and to antiamerican elements in iran. Behind the iran contra affair west hollywood premiere on june 24, 1988 at the dga theatre in west hollywood, california. The video revealed that rex84 was a plan to detain aliens from latin. A total of 270 people died including 11 residents of the scottish town. The rex84 plan has a remarkable resemblance to the current round up of socalled unlawful combatants. Caso iran contra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the iran contra scandal, or simply iran contra, was a political scandal in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration.
On december 21, 1988, pan am flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb that detonated in the baggage compartment as the plane made its climb out from london passing over lockerbie, scotland en route to new york. Iran contra affair 1983 1988 the iran contra affair began as an internal u. Many citizens believed that there was in imbalance of power in the government and to america, president reagan had too much power. In 1984, the boland amendment passed, which said that the cia and department of defense could not give militaristic aid specifically in nicaragua. But if fiers is correct, topranking cia officials not only knew about the operation and did nothing to stop it. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the. Three weeks later, a lebanese newspaper reported the visit of north and mcfarlene to teheran. Irancontra summary executive summary in october and november 1986, two secret u. The irancontra affair the irancontra affair was an underground operation within the cia that was interwoven between two foreign policy issues that were unlikely to connect had the players in the ordeal not utilized one to benefit the other. Why the russia investigation could be more like iran contra than watergate.
The irancontra conspiracy and cover up walsh, lawrence e. The film reveals a shadow government of former cia operatives, drug smugglers, top us military personnel and others, revealing evidence of. Get premium, high resolution news photos at getty images. See the article in its original context from august 26, 1988. Behind the irancontra affair 1988 cast and crew examines reagans alleged deal with iran that delayed the release of american hostages until after his inauguration. President ronald reagan holds up a copy of the tower commission report on the iran contra affair, while posing for.
Many of these acquisitions are derived from the official bodiesinvestigating the iran contra affair, including the senate intelligence committee, the tower commission, the joint select. The iran contra affairs by theodore draperjun 1, 1992. Americans during the time of the iran contra affair felt as though their right to know about government affairs was violated. The marine lieutenant colonel at the center of the iran contra affair, oliver north, was using profits from the sale of arms to iran to finance the nicaraguan contras the iran contra affair involved the illegal sales of arms to the contra rebels in iran. Many nationalist and neoconservatives would see the entire iran contra affair not as a cover up but a good use of political power, an end that justifies the means. Covered are the allegations of secret governments, drugs, cia involvement, assassinations and even a plan to suspend the constitution. They would both see the cover up as a necessary way to preserve the political and economical structure inside and outside america and a necessary way to maintain, in their opinion. Discuss whatever else may be said of ronald reagan, he quickly showed that the reports of the death of the presidency were greatly exaggerated, no president has used the office of the executive in a more regal, imperial and ordained manner than ronald reagan. Behind the iran contra affair loses force as the movie makers run out of evidence.
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