The Kerry Record: The Iran-Contra Affair
John Kerry played a key role in uncovering one of the most important scandals in modern history: the Iran-Contra Affair. Kerry opened the initial Senatorial probe of the affair that led directly to the revelation of Republican lawlessness involving the illegal sales of weapons to Iran and the illegal diversion of funds to the Nicaraguan Contras.
Kerry was first elected to the Senate in 1984. Parenthetically, to anyone who questions Kerry's strengths as a politician, it is noteworthy that Kerry won his first term in the Senate in the face of Reagan's landslide, which even carried Massachusetts. Kerry immediately made known his interest in foreign policy, and was able to secure an assignment to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a rarity for a freshman Senator.
Kerry was one of the few members of the Senate at the time to express any concern about the Reagan Administration's bellicose policies in Central America. Kerry immediately wanted to bring his prosecutorial skills to bear in conducting an investigation of Reagan's covert operations in the region. Kerry viewed Reagan's policies in Central America as a reprise of Vietnam: unquestioning support for unpopular local dictatorships driven by fanatical anti-Communism. Moreover, although various statutes enacted by the Democratic House of Representatives restricted the use of U.S. funds for military purposes in Central America, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Reagan Administration was intent upon moving in the direction of military intervention in support of the Nicaraguan Contras and in opposition to the El Salvadoran rebels. Reagan, however, was at the height of his popularity and Kerry found little support in Washington for his efforts to challenge the drift towards war in Central America.
Kerry found an unexpected ally in opening up an investigation of potential misconduct by the Contras: right-wing Senator Jesse Helms, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry's staff had come into possession of information that several Contra leaders were involved in cocaine trafficking (Kerry's record in investigating official complicity in drug dealing is the subject of a future blog), and Kerry was able to persuade Helms that no matter how much he disliked the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, drug dealers were worse. Helms authorized Kerry to initiate an investigation. Kerry's skill at working with Helms bodes well for his abilities as a future President in steering legislation through a Republican Congress.
At first, Kerry's investigation of the Contras brought him little more than ridicule. The Washington press corps wrote off Kerry as "silly," a publicity-hungry naive liberal who was being duped by the Communists. Kerry, however, pressed on, issuing numerous subpoenas and taking testimony from several CIA officials, grilling them about their knowledge of illegal U.S. military aid to the Contras.
While official Washington sneered, Kerry's investigation drew a different kind of attention in another quarter. In fact, virtually all of the allegations that Kerry was investigating were true, and no one was more acutely aware of that than the largely unknown Lieutenant Colonel who was running the covert Contra supply operation directly out of the White House -- Oliver North. North's diaries of the time reflect a veritable obsession with Kerry, as North watched a parade of intelligence officials commit perjury before Kerry's Committee, falsely denying knowledge of the covert arms shipments to the Contras.
North enlisted his right-wing allies to launch an attack directly against Kerry. Rev. Moon's Washington Times ran a story, planted by North, accusing Kerry's staffers of having attempted to suborn perjury. At North's insistence, the FBI opened an investigation of Kerry and his staff.
However, North's covert enterprise unraveled on October 5, 1986 when a plane owned by a CIA front operation, Southern Air Transport, was shot down in Nicaragua. The pilot and sole survivor, Eugene Hasenfus, admitted that he had been smuggling arms to the Contras.
Kerry's response to the Hasenfus shoot-down was characteristically bold. Kerry promptly summoned Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, a notorious neo-conservative ideologue and architect of the Reagan Administration Central America policy, to testify before his Committee. In response to Kerry's interrogation, Abrams repeatedly gave false testimony denying any knowledge of North's illegal funding of the Contras.
The last piece of the Iran-Contra Affair fell into place a few weeks later when a Lebanese newspaper revealed the covert arms sales to Iran, the principal source of the funds for North's arms shipments to the Contras. Unfortunately, when Congress undertook a formal investigation of the affair, Kerry, the Senator who had done the most to uncover the scandal, was considered too controversial for appointment to the investigating committee. Having been passed over for participation on the Iran-Contra Select Committee, Kerry instead launched the money laundering investigation that would lead to the demise of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI; see earlier blog).
The legacy of the Iran-Contra Affair was a mixed one. On the one hand, as a direct result of Kerry's investigation, North's illegal attempts to fund the Contras collapsed and support for military intervention in Central America evaporated. Kerry did achieve his goal of avoiding a repeat of Vietnam. Nevertheless, the formal Congressional hearings achieved little. While several criminal convictions were obtained in the case -- including a conviction of Abrams for lying to Kerry's Committee -- President George H.W. Bush granted pardons to virtually all of the defendants as one of his last acts in office.
There was nothing mixed, however, about Kerry's legacy. As a new Senator, Kerry showed extraordinary courage in taking on a popular President and in pursuing his investigation in the face of great pressure to stop. Kerry gave important testimony in the perjury prosecutions of several officials in order to establish the materiality of their false testimony denying knowledge of North's illegal operation before his Committee.
In the Iran-Contra Affair, we can see the precursor of the recklessness and lawlessness that have characterized the foreign policy of the current Bush Administration. As has so often been the case on the major issues of our time, it was John Kerry who was there standing up for what was right.
Kerry was first elected to the Senate in 1984. Parenthetically, to anyone who questions Kerry's strengths as a politician, it is noteworthy that Kerry won his first term in the Senate in the face of Reagan's landslide, which even carried Massachusetts. Kerry immediately made known his interest in foreign policy, and was able to secure an assignment to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a rarity for a freshman Senator.
Kerry was one of the few members of the Senate at the time to express any concern about the Reagan Administration's bellicose policies in Central America. Kerry immediately wanted to bring his prosecutorial skills to bear in conducting an investigation of Reagan's covert operations in the region. Kerry viewed Reagan's policies in Central America as a reprise of Vietnam: unquestioning support for unpopular local dictatorships driven by fanatical anti-Communism. Moreover, although various statutes enacted by the Democratic House of Representatives restricted the use of U.S. funds for military purposes in Central America, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Reagan Administration was intent upon moving in the direction of military intervention in support of the Nicaraguan Contras and in opposition to the El Salvadoran rebels. Reagan, however, was at the height of his popularity and Kerry found little support in Washington for his efforts to challenge the drift towards war in Central America.
Kerry found an unexpected ally in opening up an investigation of potential misconduct by the Contras: right-wing Senator Jesse Helms, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry's staff had come into possession of information that several Contra leaders were involved in cocaine trafficking (Kerry's record in investigating official complicity in drug dealing is the subject of a future blog), and Kerry was able to persuade Helms that no matter how much he disliked the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, drug dealers were worse. Helms authorized Kerry to initiate an investigation. Kerry's skill at working with Helms bodes well for his abilities as a future President in steering legislation through a Republican Congress.
At first, Kerry's investigation of the Contras brought him little more than ridicule. The Washington press corps wrote off Kerry as "silly," a publicity-hungry naive liberal who was being duped by the Communists. Kerry, however, pressed on, issuing numerous subpoenas and taking testimony from several CIA officials, grilling them about their knowledge of illegal U.S. military aid to the Contras.
While official Washington sneered, Kerry's investigation drew a different kind of attention in another quarter. In fact, virtually all of the allegations that Kerry was investigating were true, and no one was more acutely aware of that than the largely unknown Lieutenant Colonel who was running the covert Contra supply operation directly out of the White House -- Oliver North. North's diaries of the time reflect a veritable obsession with Kerry, as North watched a parade of intelligence officials commit perjury before Kerry's Committee, falsely denying knowledge of the covert arms shipments to the Contras.
North enlisted his right-wing allies to launch an attack directly against Kerry. Rev. Moon's Washington Times ran a story, planted by North, accusing Kerry's staffers of having attempted to suborn perjury. At North's insistence, the FBI opened an investigation of Kerry and his staff.
However, North's covert enterprise unraveled on October 5, 1986 when a plane owned by a CIA front operation, Southern Air Transport, was shot down in Nicaragua. The pilot and sole survivor, Eugene Hasenfus, admitted that he had been smuggling arms to the Contras.
Kerry's response to the Hasenfus shoot-down was characteristically bold. Kerry promptly summoned Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams, a notorious neo-conservative ideologue and architect of the Reagan Administration Central America policy, to testify before his Committee. In response to Kerry's interrogation, Abrams repeatedly gave false testimony denying any knowledge of North's illegal funding of the Contras.
The last piece of the Iran-Contra Affair fell into place a few weeks later when a Lebanese newspaper revealed the covert arms sales to Iran, the principal source of the funds for North's arms shipments to the Contras. Unfortunately, when Congress undertook a formal investigation of the affair, Kerry, the Senator who had done the most to uncover the scandal, was considered too controversial for appointment to the investigating committee. Having been passed over for participation on the Iran-Contra Select Committee, Kerry instead launched the money laundering investigation that would lead to the demise of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI; see earlier blog).
The legacy of the Iran-Contra Affair was a mixed one. On the one hand, as a direct result of Kerry's investigation, North's illegal attempts to fund the Contras collapsed and support for military intervention in Central America evaporated. Kerry did achieve his goal of avoiding a repeat of Vietnam. Nevertheless, the formal Congressional hearings achieved little. While several criminal convictions were obtained in the case -- including a conviction of Abrams for lying to Kerry's Committee -- President George H.W. Bush granted pardons to virtually all of the defendants as one of his last acts in office.
There was nothing mixed, however, about Kerry's legacy. As a new Senator, Kerry showed extraordinary courage in taking on a popular President and in pursuing his investigation in the face of great pressure to stop. Kerry gave important testimony in the perjury prosecutions of several officials in order to establish the materiality of their false testimony denying knowledge of North's illegal operation before his Committee.
In the Iran-Contra Affair, we can see the precursor of the recklessness and lawlessness that have characterized the foreign policy of the current Bush Administration. As has so often been the case on the major issues of our time, it was John Kerry who was there standing up for what was right.
posted by democratic core at 9:10 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home