Here is the link to an opinion column in today's Washington Post written by David Abshire, who served in the Reagan White House during the investigation of Iran-Contra ~ his opinion was that Reagan did not know about the diversion of arms for money for the Contras:
washingtonpost.com
Frankly, I don't care whether Reagan knew about funding for the Contras, in fact, I wish he did. I am glad we gave money to the Contras. I'm sorry that people were killed, but that does seem to happen in revolutions. The Sandinistas killed a lot of people, too. Similarly, I am glad we funded the Afghanis who were fighting the Soviet Union.
The Iran-Contra affair was so convoluted, and poorly managed, that I am sure you can pick and choose among incidents and express shock and horror. But, overall, our support for the Contras helped prevent the establishment of a Castro-style government in Nicaragua, which is a good thing. If the Sandinistas had actually been what Carter thought they were, I don't think Iran-Contra would have happened. And I am not convinced that it was illegal, I've read the Boland Amendment, and I don't see how it violates the letter of the Boland Amendment, although it probably violates the spirit. I am a lawyer, I go by the letter of the law.
I think it's significant that what North, et al., were convicted of was lying to Congress, not violating the Boland Amendment. And yes, I voted for Ollie when he ran for Senate. I know he's got a veracity problem, but the thought of watching Dan Rather, et al. say "Senator North," was too good to pass up. And he was the Republican candidate against Chuck Robb. I was a delegate to the nominating convention, and I did vote for Jim Miller as senatorial candidate, but when North got the nomination, I voted for him in the general election. I even have a copy of North's book, autographed by him to me. |
