Working largely from congressional testimony and private depositions, draper abuse of power reconstructs the iran contra affair, showing how a handful of littleknown officials, in defiance of the law and without the knowledge of any other branch of government, took control of u. The story of the reagan administrations secret war in nicaragua, the illegal arms pipeline, and the contra drug connection by leslie cockburn 7 times cocaine politics. Congressional committees investigating the irancontra affair. On the back cover daniel moynihan is quoted as calling the iran contra affair s the most ominous constitutional crisis in modern history. Malcolm byrne has told this complex story in brilliant fashion. What does william barr have to do with iran contra. Douglas rossinow talked about the irancontra affair. National security constitution yale university press. The iran contra affair inundated national news coverage starting a few weeks before the november 1986 press conference as stories about the contra and iran operations leaked out and lasting through summer 1987. The irancontra conspiracy and coverup by lawrence e. He coedited the archives first book on the irancontra scandal, the.
List of books and articles about irancontra affair online research. I now understand the workings of the so called iran contra affair. The middle east from the irancontra affair to the intifada paperback by. Iran contra a selection of books e books available in trible library. Report of the congressional committees by daniel k. Lives, lies and the iran contra affair by ann wroeaug 15, 1992 firewall. The unmaking of the president, 19841988 mayer, jane, mcmanus, doyle on. This esingle features articles about the irancontra affair, a scandal that was exposed in 1986 and involved the sale of weapons to iran by the united states government in exchange for american hostages. Thats how neyfakh and his team get started on researching for any series, by reading all the books, like ann wroes lives, lies and the iran contra affair and jane mayer and doyle mcmanuss. Podcast fiascos season two tackles irancontra right on. A very thin line the irancontra affairs by theodore draper 690 pages. Reading this help me understand that this comparison is absolutely true. In some ways,it is a story about imperfect men who believed they were smarter than. Report of the congressional committees investigating the iran contra affair by rh disney staff.
The biggest scandal since watergate, it dominated the news starting in late 1986, when word broke about the administrations illegal backing of contra rebels in nicaragua and illicit sales of hightech weapons to the islamic republic of iran. Secrets of an iran contra insider, is the true story of how it happened. The hearings ran from 5 may 1987 to 6 august 1987, and the report was published in november, with a. A book published in 2008 by israeli journalist and terrorism expert ronen bergman asserts that bush was also personally and secretly briefed on. The irancontra affair represents not essentially a procedural or a legal, but apolitical controversy, arising from a government in which irreconcilable ideas are at war. Foreign policy feel real from the iran contra affair to the vietnam war, these books make clear the human impact of american intervention abroad. Coupled with this is an institutional crisis that threatens the constitutional framework of separated powers, and thus the proper functioning of our government as a whole. Malcolm byrne is the deputy director and director of research at the national security archive. Articles such as this one were acquired and published with the primary aim of expanding the information on with greater speed and efficiency than has traditionally been possible. His principal thesisthat the affair was a consequence of fundamental inadequacies in our system for managing relations among the executive, legislative, and judicial branchesis a challenging one. Popular iran contra affair books showing 15 of 5 drift. The committees held joint hearings and issued a joint report. Report congressional committees investigating iran contra. At last, the iran contra affair has a comprehensive history worthy of the scandal which, if the system had worked, should have landed many senior white house officials in the slammer.
The result is a unique guide to the inner workings of national security policy making and the shadowy world of clandestine operationsa singular resource for understanding the iran contra affair and the gravity of the governmental crisis it spawned. The iran contra affairs were covert operations managed by a member of the national security council staff. The irancontra affair never ended washington monthly. What are quality books about the irancontra affair. Secrets of an iran contra insider by al martin what if a criminal cabal a white collar crime syndicate took over the us government. The best books on the irancontra affair 2020 the strategist new. But an important new book provides fascinating details about us ignorance about iran, which contributed to the largely botched effort to free us hostages in lebanon and hindered a possible breakthrough in us iran ties 30 years ago. Iran contra affair cia makes science fiction unexciting pmplt edition by potty, scotty 2008 pamphlet. North writes that reagan knew everything about iran contra s covert operations. The book is hard to follow in spots and is worth reading again. The major elements of the iran contra story were well known long before the 1986 exposures, apart from one fact. Is there a great neutral book about the irancontra affair.
The iran contra conspiracy and coverup by lawrence e. Chomskys brief account of the us selling arms to iran via israel in order to fund farright paramilitary contras in nicaragua. And just what did president reagan really know about iran contra. This overview of the irancontra affair is intended for use by lasa h. Though he writes earnestly and with the highest integrity, his recounting of the events surrounding iran contra. Secret teams and covert operations in the reagan era paperback by. It happened under president ronald reagans government. When 1,500 missiles were shipped three hostages were released but those three hostages were soon replaced with three. The affair wove together a number of important story lines, from u. I read this book after being told that the ukraine affair that currently plagues the nation is more like a iran contra than it is like watergate or the clinton impeachment. After the irancontra scandal broke in late 1986, no issue or controversy more captivated the nations attention. Click the title for location and availability information. Professor kohs valuable book provides an insightful and thorough analysis of the constitutional implications of the iran contra affair. The reaganera iran contra affair lit up the political skies over washington for well over a year in the late 1980s.
If youre old enough to remember the iran contra affair, this book will either seem incredible or a validation of what you suspected. Shortly after the iranian weapons deals became public, bush tried to distance himself from the iran contra scandal by telling reporters that it was ridiculous to even consider selling arms to. It was in that role that he oversaw a plot to prevent ms. The declassified history by peter kornbluh and malcolm byrne new york. The irancontra affair popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the irancontra scandal. Caso iran contra, popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the iran contra scandal, or simply iran contra, was a political scandal in the united states that occurred during the second term of the reagan administration. It involved the illegal sale of weapons to the khomeini. The scandal involved the united states government selling weapons to iran in exchange for hostages and to fund the nicaraguan contras. In either case, it almost pales in comparison to nixons sabotoge of the viet nam peace agreement so he could get elected and carry on the war for two more bloody years. Walsh was the independent counsel for the iran contra investigation from 1986 to 1993.
One month later, middle eastern journalists broke a story about a secret trip made by members of president ronald reagans administration to iran. Reagans scandal and the unchecked abuse of presidential power 9780700619917. Irancontra affair simple english wikipedia, the free. The iran contra affair was a scandal that happened from august 1985 to march 1987. Rh disney staff and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. The contest between the united states and iran, however, outlasted the sudden collapse of the soviet power from 19891991. Irancontra affair, 19851994 national security archive. The scandal stemmed from reagan administration officials funding of the contras, who were fighting against.
The congressional committees investigating the iran contra affair were committees of the united states house of representatives and of the united states senate formed in january 1987 to investigate the iran contra affair. The scandal that became known as iran contra is a distant memory for most americans and iranians. It provides a starting point for inclass discussion about this and other events. As malcolm byrne demonstrates in his very fine book, the irancontra affair belongs as a key chapter in that longer story.
Discover librarianselected research resources on irancontra affair from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals. The irancontra affair popularized in iran as the mcfarlane affair, the iran contra scandal. List of books and articles about irancontra affair. Report of the congressional committees investigating the iran contra affair by daniel chairman s. On october 5, 1986, nicaraguan government forces shot down an american plane loaded with supplies for the countrys rebel forces, the contras. They had gone there to discuss the sale of missiles in exchange for the release of american hostages held. The iran contra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of president ronald reagan. New irancontra book shows how usiran ties were scuttled. Details the origins of the irancontra scandal, the roles of reagan, bush, cia director casey, and. As malcolm byrne demonstrates in his very fine book, the iran contra affair belongs as a key chapter in that longer story. Oliver laurence north born october 7, 1943 is an american political commentator, television host, military historian, author, and retired united states marine corps lieutenant colonel a veteran of the vietnam war, north was a national security council staff member during the iran contra affair, a political scandal of the late 1980s.
Each of these terms iran contra affairs, covert operations, the national security council and its socalled staffneeds some explanation, because they are not what they may seem. Twenty years later, the irancontra affair continues to resonate on many levels, especially as washington gears up for a new season of political inquiry with the pending inauguration of the 110th congress and the seeming inevitability of hearings into a range of bush administration policies. The best books on the irancontra affair 2020 including a very thin line. Pottker from writing a book on the circuss treatment of animals and. The proceeds were then used to help the rightwing contras who were fighting the socialist sandinista government in nicaragua. The irancontra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of president ronald reagan. Unfortunately, there is no specific document in the book proving that. I was shaking my head all through this book at what a mess this affair was. Washington, dc, september 5, 2014 a new book on the iran contra affair shows that president ronald reagan stood at the epicenter of the scandal both in terms of his willingness to break the law in order to free american hostages in lebanon and his failure to take account of the costs and consequences of his decisions, including the illicit. Drugs, armies, and the cia in central america by peter dale scott 6. Ann wroe is a british historian, whose impressive knowledge of the european middle ages might seem an odd preparation for a book about the most sordid episode of duplicity and opportunism in modern american history, the iran contra affair engineered under the back side of.
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