The [[Iran-Contra Affair]] was a political scandal in the [[United States]] that came to light between 1985 and 1987, involving the secret sale of arms to [[Iran]] by the [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] administration in exchange for American hostages held in [[Lebanon]], with the profits illegally diverted to fund the [[Contras]] in [[Nicaragua]] in violation of congressional prohibitions. The scandal exposed the agency's direct management of the Contra war and the National Security Council's transformation into an operational intelligence agency based inside the White House.[^1][^5] ## Congressional Prohibitions Between 1982 and 1986, Congress passed a series of amendments (known as the Boland Amendments) prohibiting the [[Central Intelligence Agency]], the National Security Council, or any other U.S. government agency from providing military aid to the Contras. The Reagan administration circumvented these prohibitions through a network of private operatives and foreign governments.[^5] ## Key Figures ### Oliver North and the Enterprise [[Oliver North]], a Lieutenant Colonel in the [[United States Marine Corps]] serving on the National Security Council staff, ran an illegal Contra resupply operation from the White House. He was alleged to have received drug profits from [[Monzer Al-Kassar]], a Syrian kingpin and arms dealer, which were then used to purchase arms for the Contras. The [[United States]] Tower Commission probe into Iran-gate specifically revealed that Al-Kassar had been paid $1.2 million by North's co-conspirator, General [[Richard Secord]], to facilitate the movement of weapons from [[Israel]] to the Contras.[^1][^6] North's "Enterprise" used [[Ilopango Airbase]] in [[El Salvador]] to funnel weapons to the Contras and reportedly brought [[cocaine]] back on return flights.[^7] ### Arms-for-Hostages Middlemen [[Adnan Khashoggi]], an international arms merchant, and [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], an Iranian arms dealer, served as crucial middlemen in the arms-for-hostages exchange. Khashoggi was found to have borrowed money for these arms purchases from the now-bankrupt [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]], with financial backing from Saudi and U.S. sources. [[Ari Ben-Menashe]], a self-proclaimed Israeli military intelligence officer, played a role in exposing the scandal by tipping off an obscure Lebanese magazine. [[Barbara Honegger]], a former Reagan White House aide, alleged in her book *October Surprise* that [[Monzer Al-Kassar]]'s heroin smuggling network in [[Italy]] was utilized to launder [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] arms stocks, diverting them to Iran with the assistance of corrupt Italian intelligence officials linked to the secretive fascist Masonic lodge, P2.[^1] ### Indictments and Pardons [[Dewey Clarridge]], former chief of the CIA's Latin American Division, was indicted on seven counts of perjury. [[Joseph Fernandez|Joseph Fernández]], CIA station chief in [[Costa Rica]], was indicted on four counts. [[Alan Fiers]], who took over the Contra project in 1984, pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress. All were pardoned by former CIA director [[George H.W. Bush]].[^5] ## Connection to Drug Trafficking The [[John Kerry|Kerry]] Committee investigation found evidence of drug trafficking within the Contra supply network, but the Iran-Contra investigating committee refused to examine those connections. Kerry investigation director [[Jack Blum]] told [[Gary Webb]]: "We were even dumped on by the Iran-Contra Committee. They wouldn't touch this issue with a ten-foot pole."[^5] During Oliver North's congressional testimony in July 1987, two men from Baltimore jumped up in the audience with a banner reading "Ask about the cocaine smuggling" and shouted questions about drug dealing before being dragged out by police.[^5] ## The Shootdown That Broke the Scandal The scandal broke open when [[Barry Seal]]'s drug-hauling airplane, a Fairchild C-123K called The Fat Lady, was shot down over Nicaragua by a Sandinista soldier with a SAM-7 missile in 1986. [[Eugene Hasenfus]], a former [[Air America]] cargo handler, survived the shootdown. The plane had been based at [[Mena, Arkansas]] before Seal sold it and it began flying weapons-hauling missions for North and the [[FDN]]. Congressional records show North was being regularly briefed by the CIA on Seal's joint CIA-DEA sting operation against the Sandinistas and allegedly leaked the information to the press shortly before a critical vote on Contra aid.[^8] ## The Octopus Connection The Iran-Contra Affair was a significant component of [[Danny Casolaro]]'s broader "[[The Octopus]]" investigation. Casolaro believed that this scandal was deeply interconnected with the [[PROMIS Software Scandal]] and the [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]] scandal. He obtained documents related to Iran-Contra arms deals, including photocopies of checks drawn on [[Bank of Credit and Commerce International|BCCI]] accounts for [[Adnan Khashoggi]] and [[Manucher Ghorbanifar]], from his confidante [[Bob Bickel]]. Bickel, in turn, had acquired these documents from [[October Surprise]] source [[Richard Brenneke]]. The name of [[Ian Stuart Spiro]] also appeared in [[Oliver North]]'s personal notebooks documenting the Iran-Contra Affair, and Spiro's death was subsequently linked to a spy network and the affair itself.[^1] --- ## Footnotes [^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. [^5]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Prologue: "It was like they didn't want to know" [^6]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 4: "I never sent cash" [^7]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Cast of Characters [^8]: Gary Webb, *Dark Alliance*, Chapter 6: "They were doing their patriotic duty"