The Iran-Contra Scandal

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Introduction

The Iran-Contra Scandal occurred on the (insert specific dates) in the midst of the cold war. Oliver North, a member of the National Security Council of the United States, was accused of diverting money from weapon sales in Iran to support the Contras in Central America. Provide context of central America, how this was exposed, what happened to north, specific trial stuff, talk about the cold war/tensions… state thesis at end of sentence, state arguments, conclude.

Main Argument 1

The intent of the Boland Amendment was to prohibit the use of United States funds to support the Contra-revolutionaries in Nicaragua. The precise wording of the Boland Amendment is:

During the fiscal year 1985, no funds available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities may be obligated or expended for the purpose or which would have the effect of supporting, directly or indirectly, military or paramilitary operations in Nicaragua by any nation, group, organization, movement or individual.

This wording is ambiguous and does not explicitly state that the National Security Council (NSC) cannot fund the Contras. The Amendment also does not define or identify all agencies involved in intelligence activities and does not identify the National Security Council as an intelligence agency. Therefore, the amendment applies only to agencies of the United States involved in intelligence activities. Thus, the main purpose of the Boland Amendment was to prevent direct CIA interference with the situation in Nicaragua and not the interference of the NSC. Because Oliver North was a member of the NSC, the Boland Amendment never applied to him...

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...sed April 14, 2011. http://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/documents/d-nic-25.pdf.

"Rep. Hamilton on Patriotism." Brown University. Accessed April 13, 2011. doi:http://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/v-on21.php.

Scharfen, J.R. Information: the 1984 Boland Amendments. NI02544. Accessed April 13, 2011. http://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/documents/d-nic-21.pdf.

Trager, Oliver. The Iran-Contra Arms Scandal: Foreign Policy Disaster. New York, NY: Facts on File Publications, 1988.

Walsh, Lawrence E. Iran-Contra: the Final Report. New York: Times Books, 1994.

Webb, Gary. Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1998.

Wroe, Ann. "Lawful Orders." In Lives, Lies and the Iran-Contra Affair, 129. London: I.B. Tauris &, 1991.

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