	id AA20441; Sat, 19 Nov 94 06:21:50 CST
Subject: Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 2 Num. 88


              Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 2  Num. 88
             ======================================
                    ("Quid coniuratio est?")
 
 
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I received the following from a CN reader who wishes to remain 
anonymous. What I plan to do is post the entire document over a 
period of time, most likely in weekly installments. Here is part 2.
 
 +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +  +
 
CONSPIRACY: 
THE INVISIBLE SECOND RUNG OF GOVERNMENT 
 
An Investigation and Discussion of that Part of the United       
 States Government Which We Did Not Elect, Which Is Not
  Accountable, Which Is Unconstitutional, Which Is Engaged In
   Unlawful and Unconstitutional Activity, and Then Hides Behind
the National Security Act of 1947
 
 
PART I :
CITATION AND SUMMARY OF SOURCES
 
(continued)
 
7.  Draper, Theodore, A Very Thin Line, New York, New York, Hill 
and Wang, 1991.  Draper is an award-winning author and historian. 
Summary:  Documents the Iran-Contra Scandal.  Black government, 
or secret government, illegally and unconstitutionally selling 
arms and deciding foreign policy.  It was government by junta or 
cabal, a conspiratorial government within a government.  The NSC 
staff replaced Congressional appropriation with third party 
money, using private persons posing as agents of the U.S. 
government, selling U.S. arms paid for by U.S. taxpayers to a 
terrorist country, and pocketing the profit.
 
Secord and North fraudulently exercised "responsibility to make 
foreign policy of the United States of American in lieu of the 
Congress, the Secretary of State, the President of the United 
States, [and] members of the National Security Council...." 
[emphasis added]  As one political reporter commented, the 
Iran/Contra scandal "raised questions about the administration's 
competence in the handling of recent foreign policy problems, 
including a disinformation campaign against Libya that backfired, 
a summit in Iceland that produced confusion and damaged chances 
of an arms control agreement, and now Iran."  This hypocrisy 
damaged the U.S.  "Throughout the world, the duplicity of 
preaching one policy and doing the opposite had made the United 
States an object of scorn."
 
What started out as an arms-for-hostages deal degenerated into an 
arms-for-profit deal, with Secord and Ghorbanifar pocketing 
millions. Of course, since hostages was the method of payment by 
Iran for the much-coveted U.S. arms, it was in Iran's interest to 
obtain more hostages with which to bargain, which is exactly what 
happened in the midst of all these arms-for-hostages deals by 
North.
 
Once it had degenerated into an arms-for-profit deal, and as 
public discovery became imminent, a CIA agent emphasized the 
importance of getting hostages released in order to "put the best 
light on this."
 
"Since accountability is a basic principle of the American 
political system, [plausible] deniability cannot be applied to 
the highest elected American officials in the executive branch 
and Congress without nullifying accountability."  Yet, covert 
operations use plausible deniability as a matter of course.  "The 
assumption is that the government is doing something which it 
cannot afford to do openly or admit afterward.  By their very 
nature covert operations make it possible to put the good name or 
best interests of the country in such jeopardy that the only way 
to escape from the cost of failure or exposure is the ability to 
deny that they ever happened or to put the blame on someone else."
 
The only way to retain a democracy while simultaneously running 
black operations is by making the highest political authority 
responsible for permitting them and maintaining control over 
them.  "Unauthorized and uncontrolled covert operations put the 
covert operators in a position to jeopardize the entire 
government, or even to take its place.  Such covert operations 
become indistinguishable from government by junta or cabal."  
Such was the case with the Iran-Contra Scandal.
 
Part of North's congressional testimony "was an expression of the 
quasi-conspiratorial and junta-like sense which North and those 
closest to him had of themselves.  They were privileged because 
they had values and perspectives which set them apart from almost 
all others in the government.  They played by their own rules and 
were not accountable to [anyone]."
 
The author states that even he, a seasoned historian and author, 
was not prepared for what he found while investigating the 
scandal, as it threatened the very foundations of our country and 
Constitution.  Institutionally, the beginnings of the scandal 
were with the National Security Act of  1947.  Since then, the 
more the executive branch of government has grown, the more it 
has duplicated the rest of government, thereby bypassing the 
system of checks and balances.  "There was no one between North 
and Poindexter and no one between Poindexter and President 
Reagan.  On these pinpoints stood the entire structure of 
government in the Iran and contra affairs."  There is a mystique 
associated with receiving a call from the White House that makes 
a request.  "The secret of their power was that they could get 
things done by acting in the president's name....In effect, 
North's secret weapon was that he could pick up the phone and 
call from the White House."
 
During initial investigations, "congressional oversight 
committees were systematically duped and deceived" by other 
elements within the U.S. government.  Unless the committee knew 
enough to ask just the right question, they did not get accurate 
information.
 
Historically, Congress has abdicated responsibility for its 
covert operations oversight responsibilities.  This, combined 
with executive officials wanting to insulate the president in 
case the black operation were to come to light, meant these 
officials could make decisions and take actions in the 
president's name without his taking responsibility.  "Protecting 
a superior who wanted something done without being caught at it 
was an old Washington custom."  With no one wanting 
responsibility, covert operations became out of control.
 
When the cover-up was created, ignorance became innocence.  "Yet 
this line of defense raised an even more awkward question.  How 
could a single lieutenant colonel on the NSC staff successfully 
manipulate an entire area of U.S. foreign policy as he saw fit 
without anyone in the enormous bureaucracy of American government 
knowing or doing anything about it?  What did this extraordinary 
anomaly tell about the existing structure of the government and 
the unacceptable risks of covert operations?"
 
Historically, as the U.S. global power has grown, so has 
presidential ambition with regard to foreign policy.  
Historically, presidents have appointed weak secretaries of state 
who could be bent to the president's will and/or, in a practical 
sense, replaced them with his personal national security advisor 
in order to rid themselves of constitutional restraints.
 
Nixon, Reagan and Bush have refused to acknowledge the War Powers 
Resolution, the Hughes-Ryan Amendment, and the Intelligence 
Oversight Act, Congress' attempts to force the executive branch 
to observe constitutional restraint.  Even then, the oversight 
committee can only know what the black agencies or the executive 
branch choose to tell them.  If the black agencies or "executive 
branch chose to conceal or misrepresent, there was little the 
committees could do about it."
 
Because of constitutional law, each administration has attempted 
to violate the law without seeming to violate it or without 
getting caught.  In the case of Iran-Contra, these officials 
wheedled money out of third parties (foreign countries and 
private U.S. citizens) "to do what it could not do with 
congressionally appropriated funds, [which] put a fundamental 
constitutional principle at risk," namely the separation of 
powers.  "By finding a substitute source of money, the 
administration in effect found a substitute for Congress."
 
Another example of the Reagan administration seeking a loophole 
was to seek legal opinions not from the president's counsel, nor 
the State Department's legal advisor, nor the Department of 
Defense' counsel, nor the CIA's general counsel, nor the NSC's 
staff counsel, but instead from an obscure, young lawyer who had 
passed the bar "on his fifth try, had never practiced law, had 
been employed in a legal capacity for the first time by the IOB, 
and had never before written a legal opinion on a legislative 
act."
 
Because of each countries' desire to "hold itself formally aloof 
from the deal, it was transacted by these freewheeling middlemen 
who were interested in profiting from it."  Simultaneously, the 
price Iran, Israel, and the U.S. paid for using these middlemen 
was that they "opened themselves up to double-dealing and mutual 
suspicions."  Because the middlemen held themselves out to be 
representing their respective countries, but in fact were not, 
they were under no constraints from their respective countries.  
Further, for the same reasons, the countries were not obligated 
to carry through with whatever agreements the middlemen made with 
each other.  Secord and Ghorbanifar were acting as "'cutouts,' a 
setup which so confused patriotic duty with private profit in 
conditions of secrecy that it was bound to get into trouble."
 
The secret arms for hostages deals also left America subject to 
blackmail.  "A covert operation which cannot be defended openly, 
if necessary, is always in danger of becoming a political 
scandal.  By sanctimoniously preaching to the world that Iran was 
a terrorist state to which no other state should sell arms, and 
then not only selling arms but also engaging in discussions 
aiming at no less than a strategic tie, the Americans cut off 
their line of retreat."  The Iran/Contra scandal gave the 
Israelis, Iranians, and all individual participants an 
opportunity to blackmail the U.S.
 
The secrecy, deniability, and compartmentation of covert 
operations protects the participants from proper criticism and 
supervision.
 
Iran/Contra was "symptomatic of a far deeper disorder in the 
American body politic...constitutional perversion."  The 
participants reflect a school of thought that calls into question 
the constitutional foundations of our country, namely, whether 
the president has the right to be sole determinator of foreign 
policy.  Poindexter said, "the constitutional authority of 
Congress to appropriate moneys should not be used 'to restrict 
what the President can do in foreign policy.'"  North said, "[The 
president] is the person charged with making and carrying out the 
foreign policy of this country [italics added]."
 
This school of thought is what led them to believe that they 
could do whatever they wanted as long as the president approved.
 
Poindexter knew if he had used appropriated monies from Congress, 
he would have had to use a system of strict accountability.  But, 
if unappropriated monies were used (third party monies) then no 
accounting system was required.   This is not the first, nor 
probably the last, time that this issue has come up.
 
"The question of the appropriations power of Congress over 
foreign policy is only a special case of other, more far-reaching 
questions....Do we have an authoritarian president in foreign but 
a democratic president in domestic policy?"  The Iran/Contra 
scandal was not an exception.  It was "brought on by a long 
process of presidential aggrandizement, congressional 
fecklessness, and judicial connivance," which has endangered the 
Constitution.
 
In a letter from Madison to Jefferson, he wrote, "The management 
of foreign relations appears to be the most susceptible of abuse 
of all the trusts committed to a Government, because they can be 
concealed or disclosed, or disclosed in such parts and at such 
times as will best suit particular views; and because the body of 
the people are less capable of judging, and are more under the 
influence of prejudices, on that branch of their affairs, than of 
any other.  Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of 
liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, 
real or pretended, from abroad."
 
The Constitution makes no distinction between domestic policy and 
foreign policy.  "The Constitution clearly does not charge the 
president with 'making' foreign policy....it charges Congress 
with making and the president with executing both [foreign and 
domestic policies]....In foreign affairs, the Constitution limits 
the president the most in his ability to declare war.  Yet it has 
done little to prevent presidents from making war so long as they 
do it without declaring it or pretend that they are waging 
something else.  If Congress does not choose to be faithful to 
the Constitution and make itself responsible for declaring war, 
presidents can do almost anything they please."
 
Pearl Harbor "was, in fact, the last time a U.S. president 
permitted Congress to declare war before engaging U.S. armed 
forces in major hostilities....After World War II, the greater 
the power of the United States in the world, the greater have 
become the pretensions of the presidents to monopoly over that 
power."  We have clearly gone a long way toward accepting "a kind 
of constitutional dictator in foreign policy" wherein the 
safeguards of a system of constitutional checks and balances is 
missing.
 
Professor Kate Stith in her study, "Congress' Power of the 
Purse," says, "Federal agencies may not resort to 
nonappropriation financing because their activities are 
authorized only to the extent of their appropriations."  Besides 
which, nonappropriated funding "puts wealthy donors or foreign 
countries in a position to conduct, determine, or make American 
foreign policy...."
 
Senator Moynihan, following the Iran/Contra scandal, proposed 
legislation making nonappropriated funding a felony.  After 
passing both the Senate and the House, Bush vetoed it, which 
makes a repeat of the Iran/Contra scandal, "in which Bush had 
played such a prominent part," a very real possibility.  As 
Justice Louis D. Brandeis said, the purpose of the separation of 
powers was "not to avoid friction, but...to save the people from 
autocracy."
 
Although constitutional disputes are frequent, "not every 
dispute...endangers [the Constitution].  This one, however, is 
qualitatively different."  Because there is no reason to believe 
"the three branches of government have risen to their 
responsibilities," then the lesson has not been learned and "we 
can expect similar trouble...."
 
[As one investigator and researcher, Dave Emory, stated, "If 
these are the Republican right who are supposed to stand for 
family values, it must be the Gambino family."]
 
Each of the participants is listed below with a summary of their 
participation.
 
 
Reagan:
 
-Ronald Reagan was President of the United States.  In 1984 
Reagan, without Congressional approval, gave approval to the CIA 
to mine Nicaraguan harbors.  It was an act of war that violated 
international law and U.S. law.  The Nicaraguan government sued 
the U.S. and won in the International Court of Justice.  The U.S. 
refused to recognize that court's jurisdiction and refused to pay 
the damages.
-Knew and agreed upon specific arms-for-hostages plans.
-Once public discovery was imminent, Reagan was in favor of a 
continued cover-up, and adamantly refused to tell the American 
people the truth.
-Once public discovery was imminent, requested Schultz and 
Weinberger to lie by saying they supported Reagan's policy, that 
they had been aware of the Iran/Contra operation, that they had 
been consulted, and that they had approved of it.
-Told McFarlane to keep contra funding a secret.
-Rewarded Saudi Arabia for funding the contras by giving visiting 
King Fahd an unusual reception with numerous special privileges.
-"Was kept currently informed of the problems associated with the 
contras and, when needed, stepped in to help out."
-Supported, authorized, and signed Sporkin's illegal Finding.
-Was motivated not just by the concern for the hostages' welfare, 
but by the fact that their fate threatened his presidency.
-Refused to take advise from Shultz and Weinberger to not engage 
in the illegal and unconstitutional arms for hostages deal, 
thereby making the decision to do it entirely the president's.
-Admitted complete responsibility for illegally selling weapons 
to Iran.
-Secreted the third Finding away from Shultz and other members of 
the NSC staff.
-His staff issued instructions to cut Shultz out of the loop.
-Supported, authorized, and signed the third Finding which 
fraudulently referred to the CIA and not the NSC staff as 
carrying out the operation.
-Denied to U.S. citizens that there was any U.S. government 
involvement with Secord's plane that was shot down over Nicaragua.
-Approved of numerous meetings and arms sales negotiations with 
representatives of terrorist countries.
-Planned cover-up to American people when public discovery was 
imminent; he felt that something had to be said "because I'm 
being held out to dry," but simultaneously did not want to get 
into specifics for fear the specifics would betray the fact that 
his activities were not in alignment with policy or law; planned 
to justify not getting into specifics by hiding behind the skirts 
of the danger it would represent to the hostages.
-Decided to make a public statement wherein "he intended to 
insist that there had been no ransom and nothing illegal, but 
that he could not divulge everything in order not to endanger the 
participants."
-Authorized, approved, and signed presidential Finding that broke 
laws and instructed the CIA to withhold information from Congress.
-Was caught lying to the public, later admitted to it, but 
adamantly refused to admit that his policy on Iran/Contra was 
wrong.  "And so I think that what we did was right, and we're 
going to continue on this path."  His blatant defiance of media 
and public opinion created a crisis of confidence in government.
-"Permit[ted] North to be made a potential criminal in public and 
hail[ed] him as an American hero in private."  (Reagan told North 
privately, "You are an American hero.")  "[North's] commander in 
chief in turn did not seem to see anything contradictory in 
letting an American hero be pilloried."
-Later Reagan admitted that he was involved in the decisions to 
support the contras.  He said, "It was my idea to begin with."  
He also admitted, "It was a covert action that was taken at my 
behest."
-Knew about the misappropriation of funds.
-"Met with and thanked donors [to the contra cause] in the White 
House."
 
 
Bush:
 
-George Bush was Vice-president under Reagan.
-Knew details of Iran/contra scandal.
-Lied to U.S. citizens by claiming ignorance.
-Was present at Reagan's briefings, was present at the top-level 
meetings, and was briefed "at considerable length and in intimate 
detail about the background and status of the dealings with Iran."
-Sent North a Thanksgiving message which said, "Your dedication 
and tireless work with the hostage thing and with Central America 
really gives me cause for great pride in you and thanks."
-Later admitted that he "went along with it."
 
 
Poindexter:
 
-John M. Poindexter was a Vice Admiral in the U.S. Navy and a 
Deputy National Security Advisor, then later National Security 
Advisor to Reagan, a position that does not have to go through 
Congressional confirmation, nor has to testify before 
congressional intelligence committees.
-Had "mania for compartmentation" and "was obsessive about 
secrecy," two qualities which made the Iran/Contra scandal 
possible.
-Knew and agreed upon specific arms-for-hostages plans.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan 
contras.
-Once public discovery was imminent, he was in favor of a 
continued cover-up and adamantly refused to tell the American 
people the truth.
-Outright lied to officials in attendance at a government 
meeting, which included President Reagan, Vice-President Bush, 
the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the CIA 
Director, the Attorney General, the Chief of Staff, and the 
Deputy National Security Adviser.
-Later, when he found it convenient to do so, he illegally 
destroyed the presidential Finding to avoid public discovery and 
political embarrassment.
-Secreted the presidential Finding from other members of the NSC 
staff, including the CIA Director, the Secretary of State, the 
Attorney General, and the Secretary of Defense.
-Admitted to keeping critical information from Congress.
-Admitted telling Congress an "untruth."
-Secreted information away from the State Department.
-Claimed that the reason he had not shown the first Finding to 
the NSC staff was because of his accidental oversight.  Later, 
after an entire month to show the second Finding to the NSC 
staff, he engaged in the same "accidental oversight" a second 
time.
-Engaged in misappropriation of funds.
-Deliberately kept information from the president in order to 
provide deniability.
-Allied himself, not with constitutional law, not with the 
government, but with the president as an individual.  "This 
presumptuousness was not a mere identification of Poindexter with 
the president on this issue; it also came from a deeper sense 
that both of them belonged to a privileged inner circle that made 
it possible for anyone in it to know what any other wanted and to 
act for him."
-Deliberately kept information from the CIA Director to avoid 
disclosure because the Director was liable to be questioned by 
Congressional committees.
-Neglected his duties as North's superior by not relieving North 
of some of his responsibilities when it was apparent that North 
was suffering from sleep deprivation (usually only 3 hours per 
night), growing fatigue, and depression.
-Avoided facing Congressional committee questioning, "as might 
have been expected from a superior officer, and deliberately 
pushed North out in front."
-Deliberately avoided giving North guidance with regard to 
testifying to the congressional committee by taking a well-timed 
leave from work.
-Congratulated and supported North's improper "invasion of the 
State Department's traditional territory by a subordinate member 
of [Poindexter's] staff."
-Expressed displeasure that there had been identifying 
information aboard the plane shot down over Nicaragua and 
emphasized the importance of maintaining deniability.
-Told  North to get rid of his records.
-Once public discovery was imminent, he helped Reagan plan the 
cover-up in terms of  just how much to say to the American public.
-Once public discovery was imminent, requested Schultz and 
Weinberger to lie by saying  that they supported Reagan's policy, 
that they had been aware of the Iran/Contra operation, that they 
had been consulted, and that they had approved of it.
-Because Schultz refused to lie regarding a unanimous front, 
Poindexter changed the public statement from "unanimous support 
for the president's decisions" to "unanimous support for the 
President."  Amazing how one little word changes the image 
presented for the public.
-Lied by saying Israel, not the United States, had sold the arms 
to Iran.
-Advised not getting into specifics for fear the specifics would 
betray the fact that his activities were not in alignment with 
policy or law; planned to justify not getting into specifics by 
hiding behind the skirts of the danger it would represent to the 
hostages.
-Blatantly lied to Congress by saying that the U.S. had no role 
at all in arms shipments to Iran prior to January of 1986, when 
in fact the November 1985 shipment "had been carried out with the 
cooperation of American officials, from North and McFarlane to 
CIA and State Department personnel in Washington and Lisbon."
-Appeared on the TV program Meet the Press and publicly evaded 
and concealed the truth from the American people.
-Put together an official chronology of what happened which he 
planned to use once he was under scrutiny.  This chronology was 
very important because it would be very telling as to how much 
they really believed that what they were doing was truly lawful.  
First, Poindexter put North in charge of writing it.  Second, 
Poindexter ordered North to leave out all mention of 
misappropriation of Iranian funds for the contras.  Third, as 
North did with everything else, he hid and distorted facts in the 
chronology.
-Reported "to the congressional intelligence committees with 
prefabricated evasions and studied falsehoods."
-"The responsibility for what North did was Poindexter's."
-Offered sensitive intelligence information to Iran.
 
 
McFarlane:
 
-Robert C. McFarlane was the Deputy National Security Adviser to 
Reagan, a position that does not have to go through Congressional 
confirmation, nor has to testify before congressional 
intelligence committees.
-"Behaved as if he were authorized to conduct his own foreign 
policy...."
-Arranged for Saudi Arabia to contribute millions to the contras.
-Arranged for Taiwan to contribute millions to the contras.
-"Put up a perfectly innocent, totally unrepentant front" when 
questioned by Congress.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan 
contras.
-Told Iranians during negotiations to think big, think beyond the 
hostages, think economic aid, think of all the help America could 
give to Iran.
 
 
North:
 
-Ollie North was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps 
and assigned to the National Security Council as the Assistant 
Deputy Director for Political-Military Affairs.  He authorized 
military operations in Nicaragua to aid the contras.
-Planned to sink a Nicaraguan ship.
-Conspired to deceive congress.
-Fraudulently used "a tax exempt foundation devoted to 
humanitarian assistance for the purpose of buying military 
equipment for the contras."
-Collected millions of dollars  from private U.S. citizens for 
the contras.
-Told the private citizens that their contributions for arms were 
tax deductible.
-Lied to anyone who asked (including foreign governments) whether 
what he was doing was legal.
-Had free-floating funds at his command.
-Destroyed the ledger in which he kept track of these free- 
floating funds.
-Took the unconstitutional position that "the activities of 
the...National Security Council staff is part of the office of 
the President, is not a matter for congressional intrusion."
-Boasted that he lied to Congress.
-Boasted that he lied to the CIA.
-Held the unconstitutional position "that the NSC staff was the 
president's personal staff, to do with as he pleased."
-Twisted the Department of State's policy (against using arms for 
hostages) into an excuse to not put the deal down on paper, lying 
that the Department of State did not want it on paper, when in 
fact the Department of State did not want anything to do with the 
entire policy.
-Knew he was hiring liars and cheats to carry out the arms for 
hostages deals, but confessed it was difficult to get honorable 
people involved in these kinds of operations.
-Continued to use Ghorbanifar even after he failed a polygraph.
-Engaged in misappropriation of funds.
-Violated a federal law by accepting a $16,000 gift other than 
salary, and then "tried to paper over that whole thing."
-"Was belligerently unapologetic about his admitted deception of 
the [congressional] committee."
-"I participated in preparation of documents for the Congress 
that were erroneous, misleading, evasive, and wrong...." more 
than once.
-In order to avoid, among other things, political embarrassment, 
North shredded dozens and dozens of documents prior to Justice 
Department lawyers coming in to examine his files.
-Deliberately kept out of the loop in order to avoid dissent in 
the decision-making process was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of 
Staff.  That an obscure lieutenant colonel on the NSC staff knew 
more about the transfer of arms and military intelligence to Iran 
than did the highest-ranking officer in the entire U.S. armed 
forces boggles the mind.
-Posed as the president's confidant, saying he had flown up to 
Camp David to talk with the president, saying the president had 
referred to Saddam Hussein as a (expletive), promising Iran that 
the president's long-term objective was to arrive at full 
diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Iran, and "to assure 
the political sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran."
-"Made up American [foreign] policy as he went along."
-Admitted to making blatant false statements to Iran.  "I lied 
every time I met the Iranians."  Thought that "lies could be made 
the foundation of a 'long-term strategic relationship'" with a 
foreign country.
-Lied to his superior, Poindexter, by misrepresenting what 
agreements the U.S. had actually made with Iran.
-Knew and agreed upon specific arms-for-hostages plans.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan 
contras.
-When asked who was supporting the Iran operation, North 
answered, "On the for side you would have Reagan, Regan, 
Poindexter, Casey, and over here [against] you would put Shultz 
and Weinberger.  And after that, nobody else counts."  [emphasis 
added]  Apparently in North's mind, Congress, other U.S. 
officials, and the U.S. citizenry did not count.
-Told Iranians in the course of negotiations, "Think big.  Think 
beyond the hostages.  Think economic aid."
-Told blatant lies to the Attorney General of the United States.
-North testified, "I remain convinced that what we tried to 
accomplish was worth the risk."  He "was proud of his role to the 
last."
-"When North was asked why he had not tried to find out why 
Poindexter had not discussed [the misappropriation of funds] with 
the president, North answered, 'First of all, I am not in the 
habit of questioning my superiors.  If he deemed it not to be 
necessary to ask the President, I saluted smartly and charged up 
the hill.  That's what lieutenant colonels are supposed to do.  I 
have no problem with that.  I don't believe that what we did even 
under those circumstances is wrong or illegal.  I told you I 
thought it was a good idea to begin with.  I still think it was a 
good idea, counsel.'"  Then Senator Liman asked, "And have you 
wondered why, if it was a good idea, that the President of the 
United States dismissed you because of it?"  North replied, "Let 
me just make one thing very clear, counsel.  This lieutenant 
colonel is not going to challenge a decision of the Commander in 
Chief for whom I still work, and I am proud to work for that 
Commander in Chief, and if the Commander in Chief tells this 
lieutenant colonel to go stand in the corner and sit on his head, 
I will do so.  And if the Commander in Chief decides to dismiss 
me from the NSC staff, this lieutenant colonel will proudly 
salute and say, 'thank you for the opportunity to have served,' 
and go, and I am not going to criticize his decision no matter 
how he relieves me, sir."  But after all North's brave talk of 
being willing to play the martyred scapegoat, when charged 
criminally, in effect, told "to stand in a corner and sit on his 
head," he refused.  At North's criminal trial, his lawyer tried 
to absolve North by putting all the blame on Reagan.
-Requested his secretary, Fawn Hall, to fraudulently alter 
documents.
-Requested his secretary to conceal documents.
-Offered sensitive intelligence information to Iran.
-Instructed ambassadors to help facilitate the shipment of 
weapons, construct air strips for arms shipments, and to bypass 
the normal channels of communication to maintain secrecy, with 
which they complied.
 
 
Secord:
 
-Richard Secord retired from the air force under questionable 
circumstances when he was linked with a former CIA agent who was 
convicted of selling arms to Libya's Qaddafi.  He was thereafter 
denied security clearance.  He organized a shadow CIA-type covert 
operation using former CIA agents and retired military officers.  
He privately profited by millions from selling to Iran U.S. arms 
that had been bought and paid for by U.S. taxpayers.
-Secord and Hakim were the "commercial cutout,...a person or 
company used by the government to carry out its policy in such a 
way that the government itself was not openly linked with the 
operation and could make it seem to be an ordinary commercial 
transaction.  'Cutouts' served 'deniability.'"
-Posed as an agent for the U.S. government.
-One of Secord's airplanes was shot down over Nicaragua with 
three Americans on board.  Only one survived.  Secord's poor 
planning was probably a contributing factor.
-Made up foreign policy as he went along, committing the U.S. to 
a war with the U.S.S.R. if the Soviets were to invade Iran, 
whether the Iranian government wanted U.S. help or not.
-Told his employees they were working for the CIA.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to the Nicaraguan 
contras.
-Promised Iran that America would go in and rebuild Iran's air 
force if the hostages were released.
-Offered sensitive intelligence information to Iran.
 
 
Meese:
 
-Edwin Meese III was White House Counselor and later Attorney 
General under Reagan.
-Recommended loopholes to avoid complying with the legal 
requirements of the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign 
Assistance Act.
-When public discovery was imminent, he advised Reagan to "get 
away from idea people were bypassed, division within U.S. 
government."
-Once public discovery was imminent, requested Schultz and 
Weinberger to lie by saying that they supported Reagan's policy, 
that they had been aware of the Iran/Contra operation, that they 
had been consulted, and that they had approved of it.
-Lied by saying Israel, not the United States, had sold the arms 
to Iran.
-Advised not getting into specifics for fear the specifics would 
betray the fact that his activities were not in alignment with 
policy or law; planned to justify not getting into specifics by 
hiding behind the skirts of the danger it would represent to the 
hostages.
-Was aware that the Iran/Contra operation was an impeachable 
offense.
-Lied "that Poindexter had chosen to resign 'of his own 
volition.'"
-Lied by denying "that Poindexter had approved the diversion."
-Lied that "North had requested his own return to the Marine 
Corps."
 
 
Regan:
 
-Donald T. Regan was Chief of Staff under Reagan.
-When public discovery was imminent, Regan supported cover-up by 
refusing Shultz' request for full and swift disclosure of the 
truth to the American people.
-"Threatened to invoke executive privilege if Congress tried to 
look into the secret contacts with Iran."
 
 
Abrams:
 
-Elliott Abrams was the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter- 
American Affairs under Reagan.
-He was the chief person responsible for damage control following 
Secord's airplane being shot down over Nicaragua, adopting a 
strategy of putting all the responsibility on the contras.
-Told numerous lies to U.S. citizens on national TV.
-Admitted he was careful to not ask a lot of questions as to 
legality regarding the Iran/contra operations, yet it was on the 
basis of such flimsy investigation that he was willing to give 
categorical assurances to the Secretary of State, under oath to 
Congress, to the press, and to U.S. citizenry.
-"Took on a money-raising responsibility for the contras," and 
then "chose an account which he could not monitor and about which 
he admittedly knew nothing."
-Was not able to account to the law regarding the requirement 
that the money be used for humanitarian purposes only.
-Evaded and deceived Congress.
 
 
Casey:
 
-William Casey was the Director of the CIA.  He requested and got 
from National Security Adviser Clark a National Security Decision 
Directive 77 which "provided for strengthening 'the organization, 
planning and coordination of the various aspects of public 
diplomacy,'" public diplomacy being a misnomer for indoctrination 
and propaganda, both foreign and domestic in practice.  
Specifically, op-ed pieces appeared in major U.S. newspapers to 
propagandize issues related to Central America.
-Proposed funds be collected from private U.S. citizens to fund 
contra groups.
-Casey and North organized an extensive system of bribery and 
blackmail by giving a list of names of people in El Salvador, 
Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala who provided support, 
cooperation, and services for the contras in exchange for payoffs.
-Supported Sporkin's illegal presidential Finding.
-Ignorance was highly prized within the CIA.  Casey said relative 
to Iran/Contra, "I haven't asked any questions about it.  I don't 
want to know about it.  I've kept myself ignorant."  The reason 
ignorance was so highly prized was that if the agents within the 
CIA had spoken up earlier or more clearly, they might have 
embarrassed the agency or endangered their careers.
-After Secord's plane was shot down over Nicaragua, Casey told 
North to "clean up" his files, "get rid of things, get rid of 
that book because that book has in it the names of everybody, the 
addresses of everybody.  Just get rid of it and clean things up."
-Gave congress a deceptive report.
-Knew and agreed upon specific arms-for-hostages plans.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan 
contras.
-Advised participants to not get into specifics during press 
conferences for fear the specifics would betray the fact that 
their activities were not in alignment with policy or law; 
planned to justify not getting into specifics by hiding behind 
the skirts of the danger it would represent to the hostages.
-When Shultz refused to lie to the American people, Casey tried 
to get him fired.
-Reported "to the congressional intelligence committees with 
prefabricated evasions and studied falsehoods."
-Told Congress that it was not a good idea for the NSC staff to 
carry out operations, "as if he had had nothing to do with it."
-"Inspired and supported some of North's activities."
-Urged Reagan to not go public with the scandal, citing 
devastating consequences as reasons to not do so, such as "no 
more funds to the contras, Central America poisoned by the 
Sandinistas, Arab outrage over the Israeli role, Iranian wrath at 
having been over-charged for the missiles."
 
 
Central Intelligence Agency:
 
-Knowingly gave operational support to North's Iran/Contra 
operation.
-Knowingly cooperated with Secord's illegal demands.
-Provided planes from their proprietary airline for transport of 
arms.
-CIA's resources were made available to North for two reasons:  
First, because it was an NSC operation; and second, as a result 
of compartmentation (spies learn to not ask questions, 
particularly for any demands coming from the White House).
-Third highest-ranking CIA official gave false testimony to 
Congress.
-CIA agent withheld critical information from Congress regarding 
the CIA's involvement in the Iran/Contra scandal.
-Was deeply implicated in the Iran affair, and Director Casey 
went along with it "because he did not want the CIA to bear the 
formal responsibility for such a 'high-risk operation.'"
-Knew and agreed upon specific arms-for-hostages plans.
-The sole survivor of the plane shot down over Nicaragua publicly 
declared he had been working for the CIA.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan 
contras.
-Requested Defense Department to release arms to the CIA, which 
then released them to Secord's operation.
 
 
Drug Enforcement Administration:
 
-North called upon Drug Enforcement Administration personnel in 
order to carry out his operations, and they complied without 
getting proper authorization.
 
 
Department of State:
 
-North called upon the State Department personnel in order to 
carry out his operations, and they complied without getting 
proper authorization.
 
 
Schultz:
 
-George Schults was the Secretary of State under Reagan.  
-Believed getting money from third countries was an impeachable 
offense.
-Refused to agree to pretense of unanimous approval of 
Iran/Contra operation.  So Poindexter changed the public 
statement from "unani??ZX? the right to defer for so long 
reporting to Congress."
 
 
Department of Defense:
 
-Engaged in ongoing struggle with the CIA as to who was to take 
responsibility for the transfer of arms to Iran, as neither of 
them wanted responsibility.
-North called upon Defense Department personnel in order to carry 
out his operations, and they complied without getting proper 
authorization.
-Released arms to the CIA which then released them to Secord's 
operation.
 
 
Weinberger:
 
-Caspar Weinberger was Secretary of Defense under Reagan.
-"Permitted months to go by without doing much of anything to 
prevent or even protest against what [he] knew to be wrong."
 
 
Earl:
 
-Robert Earl was a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps 
and was North's aide.
-Helped North shred documents.
-Knew details of Iran/Contra operations.
-Concealed documents.
 
 
Fawn Hall:
 
-North's secretary.
-Fraudulently altered documents.
-Concealed documents.
-Shredded documents.
 
 
Singlaub:
 
-John K. Singlaub was a retired Major General in the U.S. Army.
-Obsessed by the communist threat.
-Functioned as military consultant to corporation which shipped 
arms to contras.
-Approached Taiwan and South Korea for funds for the contras.
-Solicited  funds and recruited military advisers for contras.
 
 
Sporkin:
 
-Stanley Sporkin was the CIA General Counsel.
-Drafted a presidential Finding that illegally committed the 
president to postpone reporting to Congress for as long as he 
pleased.
-Prevented the president's Finding from going through the 
Department of Justice.
 
 
Hakim:
 
-Albert Hakim was an Iranian businessman and acquaintance of 
Secord.  He later moved to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen.
-Was business partners with Secord.
 
 
Ghorbanifar:
 
-Manucher Ghorbanifar functioned as middleman in the 
Iran/Israel/U.S. arms deals.
-Prior to Iran/Contra, had cooperated with the CIA, but later 
"the CIA issued a 'burn notice' to other government agencies to 
stay away from him."
-Conceived a plan to sell arms to Iran using Israel as the 
middleman, and bating the U.S. with promises of freeing American 
hostages.
-Plausible deniability enabled him to play one side off against 
the other.
-Was a liar, cheat, and profiteer who made enormous sums of money.
-Failed a polygraph.
-Knew about misappropriation of Iranian funds to Nicaraguan contras.
-Offered to sell influence in Washington to his business partner, 
Khashoggi, by raising money from Saudi Arabia to give to the 
contras.
 
 
Khashoggi:
 
-Adnan Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian entrepreneur and was 
Ghorbanifar's business partner in the Iran/Israel/U.S. arms deals.
-Took out a $22 million life insurance policy on Ghorbanifar when 
Ghorbanifar's unpaid debts kept escalating, which North later 
used to pressure Reagan and Poindexter into approving another 
arms-for-hostages deal.
-Boasted of having successfully lied to the CIA director.
-Boasted of having misled the Americans.
 
 
Congress:
 
-Missed opportunities to investigate the problems before they 
multiplied exponentially.
-Gave mixed signals through its confused and contradictory 
policies.
-Mockery was made of the oversight function of Congress, yet none 
of the members of the oversight committee engaged in any self- 
criticism.
 
                  [...to be continued...]
 
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et 
  pauperem.                    -- Liber Proverbiorum  XXXI: 8-9 

 Brian Francis Redman    bigxc@prairienet.org    "The Big C"
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Justice" = "Just us" = "History is written by the assassins."
--------------------------------------------------------------

