July 8, 1987 http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.... Watch the full testimony: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/08/iran-contra-hearings-day-24-olive...
The affair was composed of arms sales to Iran, and funding of Contra militants in Nicaragua. Direct funding of the Nicaraguan rebels had been made illegal through the Boland Amendment, the name given to three U.S. legislative amendments between 1982 and 1984, all aimed at limiting US government assistance to the rebel Contras in Nicaragua. The affair emerged when a Lebanese newspaper reported that the U.S. sold arms to Iran through Israel in exchange for the release of hostages by Hezbollah. Letters sent by Oliver North to John Poindexter support this. The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. has said that the reason weapons were eventually sold directly to Iran was to establish links with elements of the military in the country.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Middle East was faced with frequent hostage-taking incidents by hostile organizations. In 1979, Iranian students took hostage 52 employees of the United States embassy in Iran. On January 20, 1981, the day Ronald Reagan became President, the hostages were freed following the Algiers Accords. Hostage taking continued following the imprisonment of members of Al-Dawa, an exiled Iraqi political party turned militant organization, for their part in a series of truck bombs in Kuwait in 1983. Hezbollah, an ally of Al-Dawa, took 30 Western hostages between 1982 and 1992, many of whom were American.
Michael Ledeen, a consultant of National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, requested assistance from Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for help in the sale of arms to Iran. At the time, Iran was in the midst of the IranIraq War and could find few Western nations willing to supply it with weapons. The idea behind the plan was for Israel to ship weapons through an intermediary (identified as Manucher Ghorbanifar) to a moderate, politically influential Iranian group opposed to the Ayatollah Khomeni; after the transaction, the U.S. would reimburse Israel with the same weapons, while receiving monetary benefits. The Israeli government required that the sale of arms meet high level approval from the United States government, and when Robert McFarlane convinced them that the U.S. government approved the sale, Israel obliged by agreeing to sell the arms.
In 1985, President Reagan entered Bethesda Naval Hospital for colon cancer surgery. While the President was recovering in the hospital, McFarlane met with him and told him that Representatives from Israel had contacted the National Security Agency to pass on confidential information from what Reagan later described as "moderate" Iranians opposed to the Ayatollah. According to Reagan, these Iranians sought to establish a quiet relationship with the United States, before establishing formal relationships upon the death of the Ayatollah. In Reagan's account, McFarlane told Reagan that the Iranians, to demonstrate their seriousness, offered to persuade the Hezbollah terrorists to release the seven U.S. hostages. McFarlane met with the Israeli intermediaries; Reagan claims that he allowed this because he believed that establishing relations with a strategically located country, and preventing the Soviet Union from doing the same, was a beneficial move. Although Reagan claims that the arms sales were to a "moderate" faction of Iranians, the Walsh Iran/Contra Report states that the arms sales were "to Iran" itself, which was under the control of the Ayatollah.
Following the Israeli-U.S. meeting, Israel requested permission from the U.S. to sell a small number of TOW antitank missiles (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) to the moderate Iranians, saying that it would demonstrate that the group actually had high-level connections to the U.S. government. Reagan initially rejected the plan, until Israel sent information to the U.S. showing that the moderate Iranians were opposed to terrorism and had fought against it. Now having a reason to trust the moderates, Reagan approved the transaction, which was meant to be between Israel and the moderates in Iran, with the U.S. reimbursing Israel. In his 1990 autobiography An American Life, Reagan states that he was deeply committed to securing the release of the hostages; it was this compassion that motivated his support for the arms initiatives. The president requested that the moderate Iranians do everything in their capability to free the hostages held by Hezbollah.
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Iran-Contra Hearings Day 24: Oliver North Testimony Part 13: Security System (1987)by thefilmarchive12,790 views
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This sh*t didn't really happen you guys. Grow up. Americans are The Greatest People in The Greatest Nation ever. The rest of the world should just shut up
and service us. We make them better by association. People in the third world dig up mud and beat water with sticks. They are all going to hell.
MrShmetel 1 year ago
Oliver North should never have been vacated.
svensvenok 1 year ago
Oliver North is a TRUE American hero.
1PAcouchpotato 1 year ago
Oh no! High-ranking American officials tried to secure the release of American hostages being held by radical Islamists AND tried to help overthrow a militant Communist regime? Outrageous! Conspiracy! Conspiracy! Conspiracy! Oliver North has his own TELEVISION program??? Outrageous! Scandalous! Preposterous!......what a laugh you liberals are......
mattman3rd 1 year ago
yes CONSPIRACIES do happen. Iran contra was a prime example. The US military, the media and corrupt politicians CONSPIRED together. This conspiracy involved multiple nations and those involved are rich and famous now. Mr. North has his own show on FOX NEWS for F*** sake!
TheParadigmShift 1 year ago