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Iran-Contra Affair Case Study

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Background:
In 1979 the Sandinistas seized power through a revolution in Nicaragua. With the fear of spearing socialism in Latin America, the Reagan Administration back contras who sought to overthrow the regime. Power also changed in 1979 Iran when a radical Islamic movement overthrew the US backed government.

Iran-Contra Affair:
The Iran-Contra Affair was one of the most complicated political scandals in US history. At the time, Iran had been in a lengthy war with Iraq and was in desperate need of materials. The Reagan Administration secretly arranged an “arms-for-hostage” type deal in which Israel would sell arms from the US to Iran, and in exchange for the arms, Iran was to influence to release of American hostages in Lebanon. Since the operation was not aligned with policy or an “official” governmental covert operation, there was no policy coordination with the Israelis. In addition, the secrecy of the operation did not allow the CIA’s DDS&T to assess the capabilities of the weapons provided, and what the Iranian’s intent were with those weapons. I could …show more content…
The NSC Staff’s efforts “to assist the contras in the wake of Congress’s withdrawal of funding took many forms” (Walsh, 1994). Not only was this a major political scandal, but American law and policy were greatly violated. The Boland Amendment (passed between 1982 – 1984) forbid the US governments assistance to the Contras in Nicaragua. Despite the fact that Reagan had promised voters he would never negotiate with terrorists, the sale of Arms to Iran were also banned, and any funds provided to contras above the limit set by Congress were forbidden, negotiations were still made. Following the affair, investigations began to

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