Iran-contra Affair

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they came to power by defeating United States’ resistance, thus they were regarded with hostility. The United States was then left with the question of what to do next. The Reagan administration saw the Sandinistas not as nationalists, but as representatives of a communist conspiracy that must be stopped. “ Lurking in the background of these affairs, then, was the ghost of McCarthyism…”(Draper 568). The White House took the 1950’s idea of McCarthyism to take every method short of a full-scale war to overthrow the Sandinista regime.
The War Against the Sandinistas
The United States Central Intelligence Agency armed and trained an anti-Sandinista Guerrilla force based in the neighboring countries of Honduras and Costa Rica called the “Contras.” (Corn) These Contras began a series of terrorist raids in Nicaragua, and the death toll mounted. A large amount of opposition and protests by European powers soon followed. Congress then banned any further US financial or military assistance ...

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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 dealings and the ongoing shipment to the Contras. They decided to overcharge the Iranians in order to provide funds to the Contras. This made it almost inevitable that something would go wrong, and it did. The arms deal was soon found out and it was made the ...

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