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Iran Contra Affair is the name commonly given to a secret arrangement that sold arms to Iran in exchange for funds that were given to Contra rebels in Nicaragua under U.S. President Reagan in the 1980s. The Iran Contra Affair had its roots in the President's commitment to help the contra rebels, who Reagan saw as "the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers" (cited in Wolf). Unfortunately for Regan, Congress, under control of the Democrats disagreed, and passed the Boland agreement that prohibited any government agency from giving military aid to the contras. At the same time, Reagan was faced with the problem of American hostages held in Lebanon by pro-Iranian groups.
The Reagan administration tried to solve both problems with one act: the sale of arms to Iran (which was suppose to result in the release of hostages), with funds going to help the contras. Limitations of the Boland Act were circumvented by using the National Security Act (NSC) to take charge of the operations. From 1983-1986, and under the direction of National Security Advisers Robert McFarlane and John Poindexter, the operation raised funds for the contras.
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and Secretary of State George Shultz had opposed the deal (Infoplease), while CIA director William Casey supported the arms-for-hostages proposal (Wolf).
In 1986, a Lebanese newspaper broke news of the sale of weapons to Iran, and President Reagan denied that he traded arms for hostages. Later, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council advised that the funds had gone to fund the contras with the knowledge of National Security Adviser John Poindexter, and (he assumed) President Reagan (Wolf).
There was enormous fallout from the scandal: President Reagan was discredited, Poindexter resigned, and Oliver North was fired. Further, speculation about the involvement of vice President George Bush occurred, and there was an eight-year investigation by Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh. In all, fourteen people were charged in the affair, North's conviction was overturned on a technicality, and President Reagan issued six pardons, including ones for McFarlane and Weinberger (Wolf).
References
Infoplease.com. Iran-contra affair. Source: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. 07 June 2004. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0825447.html
Wolf, Julie. The Iran-Contra Affair. PBS Online. 07 June 2004. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reagan/peopleevents/pande08.html
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