The irancontra affairs by theodore draperjun 1, 1992. The irancontra affair, also referred to as irangate, contragate or the irancontra scandal, was a political scandal in the united states that came to light in november 1986. Mar 06, 2020 irancontra focuses on the period from fall 1983, when congress first put limits on official u. The united states was the largest seller of arms to iran under mohammad reza pahlavi. Behind the iran contra affair west hollywood premiere on june 24, 1988 at the dga theatre in west hollywood, california. The irancontra affair american experience official. It presents a tale of politics, drugs, hostages, weapons, assassinations, covert operations and the ultimate plan to suspend the u. President reagan exonerated in irangate scandal the tower commission finds that the president had not been told enough about the affair to cover. The irancontra affair popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the irancontra scandal. Reproduces on microfiche over 20,000 pages of documentation, much of it highlyclassified, pertaining to the irancontra affair,1983 1988.
Under the boland amendment, further funding of the contras by the. In the end, norths conviction was overturned on a technicality, and. Behind the irancontra affair 1988 examines reagans alleged deal with iran that delayed the release of american hostages until after his inauguration. It began in 1985, when president ronald reagans administration supplied weapons to irana. That clash continues under the presidency of george w. The two policies intersected when profits from the arms sales to iran were used to. These operations were the provision of assistance to the military activities of the. Mar 27, 2014 the iran contra affair, also referred to as irangate, contragate or the iran contra scandal, was a political scandal in the united states that came to light in november 1986. Mcfarlane sought reagans approval, in spite of the embargo against selling arms to iran. Ciara sarao born in february 6, 1911 in tampico, illinois.
Behind the iran contra affair is the third featurelength documentary produced by the empowerment project. If youre behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains. In what became known as the iran contra affair, funds from arms sales to iran were diverted through. This documentary of the iran contra affair consolidates the evidence and conspiracy theories of the incident after the week congressional hearings proved inadequate, acting merely as damage control and failing to show any sincere effort to get to the real truth of the matter.
Reagan makes his address to the nation on the investigation of the iran arms and contra aid controversy. Just click the edit page button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the trivia submission guide. The presidents power to hide secret details about the russia investigation. In 1986, the arms for hostages deal turned into a major scandal in washington and beyond. In the irancontra affair, the reagan administration secretly sold weapons to iran to effect the release of american hostages held in lebanon. In the end, norths conviction was overturned on a technicality, and president bush issued six.
Behind the iran contra affair 1988 this documentary of the iran contra affair consolidates the evidence and conspiracy theories of the incident after the week congressional hearings. North played a key role in creating and then covering up the iran contra operations, but his conviction was later thrown out because of immunized testimony. He said afterwards that us had put vietnam behind them as us had won and protests were nonexistent, bush proclaimed. The irancontra affair of 19841987 was not one affair but two separate covert foreign policy. Coverup was the first film to reveal the october surprise hostage deal the reaganbush campaigndeal with iran to delay the release of the 52 american hostages until after the 1980 election, and is the only film which presents a comprehensive overview of the most important stories suppressed during the iran contra hearings. The triumph of conservatism 19801992 flashcards quizlet. Covered are the allegations of secret governments, drugs, cia involvement, assassinations and even a plan to suspend the constitution. The iran contra affair leila alidoost exposing the affair cont. Government operations were publicly exposed, potentially implicating reagan administration officials in illegal activities. Attorney general edwin meese iii requests that an independent counsel be appointed to investigate the irancontra affairs. Knowledge of drug trafficking and the contras the national security archive obtained the handwritten notebooks of oliver north, the national security council aide who helped run the contra war and other reagan administration covert operations, through a freedom of information act lawsuit filed in 1989. The plan was for israel to ship weapons to iran, for the united states to.
Irancontra affair legal definition of irancontra affair. Why the russia investigation could be more like irancontra than watergate. Behind the irancontra affair loses force as the movie makers run out of. At the same time, reagan was looking for a way to circumvent congress and assist. President ronald reagan shortly after the iran contra scandal engulfed his administration in november 1986. Get premium, high resolution news photos at getty images. The iran contra affair, also referred to as irangate, contragate or the iran contra scandal, was a political scandal in the united states that came to light in november 1986.
Behind the iran contra affair a tangled tale of politics, drugs, hostages, weapons, assassinations, covert operations and the ultimate plan to suspend the constitution of the united states. Articles such as this one were acquired and published with the primary aim of expanding the information on with greater speed and efficiency than has traditionally been possible. Irancontra summary executive summary in october and november 1986, two secret u. The october surprise conspiracy theory refers to an alleged plot to influence the outcome of the 1980 united states presidential election, contested between democratic incumbent president jimmy carter and his republican opponent, former california governor ronald reagan one of the leading national issues during 1980 was the release of 66 americans being held hostage in iran since november 4.
The irancontra conspiracy and cover up by lawrence e. 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. Elizabeth montgomery, jack brooks, barbara honegger, david macmichael, george bush, sam. What we saw in the irancontra 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. The irancontra affair involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by white house officials in the national security council nsc under president ronald reagan. The irancontra affair popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the iran contra scandal. Many of these acquisitions are derived from the official bodiesinvestigating the irancontra affair, including the senate intelligence committee, the tower commission, the joint select. 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. 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.
In 1985, while iran and iraq were at war, iran made a secret request to buy weapons from the united states. C in the case of nicaragua, the focus was on destabilizing the government and engineering the. The irancontra conspiracy and cover up walsh, lawrence e. President reagan and national security adviser robert mcfarlane. Attorney general edwin meese iii requests that an independent counsel be appointed to investigate the iran contra affairs. Apdennis cook the irancontra scandal, 25 years later. The rex84 plan has a remarkable resemblance to the current roundup of socalled unlawful combatants.
Twenty years later, the iran contra affair continues to resonate on many levels, especially as washington gears up for a new season of political inquiry with the pending inauguration of the 110th congress and the seeming inevitability of hearings into a range of bush administration policies. With elizabeth montgomery, jack brooks, barbara honegger, david macmichael. Behind the irancontra affair 1988 barbara trent on allmovie this documentary of the iran contra affair. Fourteen people were charged with either operational or cover up crimes. 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. Reagans administration was embroiled in scandal when it came to light that the united states had sold weapons to iran and funneled the money to nicaraguan rebels. Many nationalist and neoconservatives would see the entire irancontra affair not as a cover up but a good use of political power, an end that justifies the means. Jun 24, 2001 the irancontra affair has been characterized by u. 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. This documentary video looks inside the iran contra affair. In what became known as the irancontra affair, funds from arms sales to iran were diverted through. The film reveals a shadow government of former cia operatives, drug smugglers, top us military personnel and others, revealing evidence of. How the reagan white house bungled its response to iran.
All of the following refer to the iran contra affair except. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Irancontra may be a roadmap for how trump could emerge. The irancontra affair was a clandestine action not approved of by the united states congress. Iran contra affair legal definition of iran contra affair. African american activism resulted in all of the following except. Newsweek interactive, llc irancontras untold story authors. Start studying the triumph of conservatism 19801992.
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. The video revealed that rex84 was a plan to detain aliens from latin. The iran contra affair operation black eagle, later operation screw worm. Irancontras affair legal definition of irancontras affair. Sep 28, 2017 american made is an irancontra movie that gets high on its own supply the new movie is one that director doug liman has been making for 15 years and tom cruise has been making for almost 35. You will need to download and install the free adobe acrobat reader to view. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to the. Irancontra affair president ronald reagan receiving the tower commission report, following the irancontra affair, february 26, 1987. Cover up behind the irancontra affair is a thorough investigation into information suppressed during the irancontra hearings in 1987 where it was found that senior officials in the united states government secretly facilitated the sale of arms to iran. The irancontra affair 20 years on the national security archive. During his campaign for the white house, reagan had promised to assist. Top nasa images solar system collection ames research center. The irancontra affair the making of a scandal, 1983 1988.
The iran contra scandal, as this video illustrates in the beginning, is probably one of the most ignored events of the 1980s. Behind the irancontra affair dvd coverup exposes several of the most disturbing chapters in the history of u. Iran contra documents show that its chief architects were the late cia director william casey and a veteran of the cias clandestine overseas media operations, walter raymond, jr. The iran contra affair involved a secret foreign policy operation directed by white house officials in the national security council nsc under president ronald reagan. Inside the irancontra cover up by robert parry washington in crucial ways, watergate, the signature scandal of the 1970s, and irancontra, the signature scandal of the. 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. The rex84 plan has a remarkable resemblance to the current round up of socalled unlawful combatants.
This documentary video looks inside the irancontra affair. A a sworn enemy a in hopes of securing the release of american hostages held in lebanon by hezbollah terrorists loyal to the ayatollah khomeini, irans leader. The film takes an obvious conspiracy theory approach, which, although sometimes entertaining, sometime relies too much on documents and information that arent actually seen. President reagan exonerated in irangate scandal the tower commission finds that the president had not been told enough about the affair to cover it up michael. Twenty years later, the irancontra affair continues to resonate on many levels, especially as washington gears up for a new season of political inquiry with the pending inauguration of the 110th congress and the seeming inevitability of hearings into a range of bush administration policies. The irancontra affair leila alidoost exposing the affaircont. 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. Caso irancontra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the irancontra scandal, or simply irancontra, was a political scandal in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration. May, 20 lives, lies and the irancontra affair by ann wroeaug 15, 1992 firewall. The irancontra affair american experience official site. It looks like we dont have any trivia for this title yet. An excerpt from a new book about irancontra demonstrates that nearly every major player in the reagan administration participated in covering up the clandestine affair. Exposing the affair president reagan, along with robert mcfarlane, john poindexter, and oliver north took the money, and used it to support the contras in nicaragua they tried to get around the boland amendment by.