Essay Iran-Contra Scandals

Detailed to the NSC from the marines, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was given the responsibility to establish a secret network to arm the Contras. Dozens of former CIA and retired military personnel were recruited to train the Contras and fly weapons into Central America. At first, American capitalists supplied much of the financing, but as the operation became more complex, money came from American allies who saw this as a “gesture to build goodwill in Washington” (Walsh 47). This aid provided a steadily growing death toll in Nicaragua. It is estimated that 20,000 Nicaraguan men, women and children were killed in these attacks. (“1986…”) These attacks’ purposes were to terrorize the people and destroy the country’s economics. I believe the Reagan administration was wrong in doing this, even though they had good intention to stop communism. They only brought unnecessary blood shed.

Arms for Hostages

The Iranian end of the affair started with a series of clashes between the Islamic regime and the US, which lead to the capture of the American Embassy and hostages in Teheran. After “a long and bloody stalemate”(Walsh 311), the Reagan administration backed by National Security Advisor McFarlene decided to trade arms for hostages. But, the catch in the plan was that the same NSC operatives – McFarlene, PoinDexter, and Lt. Col. Oliver North – had the responsibilities of both the Iran