Word: contra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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WASHINGTON--President Reagan declared today the United States must give Nicaragua's Contra rebels "what they need to survive" and said prospects for peace in Centra America depend on keeping pressure on the leftist Sandinista government...
...House should vote to extend Contra aid and the Senate should follow suit the next day, Hamilton said, "the effect would be a continuation of the war and an escalation of the war, with results we could neither predict nor control. It would also mean the...peace process would come to a halt...
...dare performance at a Des Moines debate, Bush appeared to have whipped his wimp image. But the Vice President may need all the moxie he can muster, since he suddenly found himself bushwhacked over an issue he hoped had been forgotten: his role in the Iran-contra scandal. The fusillade of what-did-he-really-know charges came mainly from the press, but it was Alexander Haig who put them in sharp political focus when he asked during the debate, "If you can't answer your friends, what in heaven's name is going to happen next November...
That captures the inherent weakness of Bush's position. Unlike anyone else in the Iran-contra affair, the Vice President is bucking for a promotion. His problems are not based on legal culpability, although he will provide sworn testimony to the staff of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh early this week. The issues in Bush's case are judgment and veracity. If he was as close to the President as he claims, why did he not recognize the warning signs (evident in the notes of his own meetings) of what was clearly an arms-for-hostages deal? As the proud author...
...more potent, though, is the controversy over Bush's Iran-contra role. It provides a rare window on how the Vice President performs when he is close to the Oval Office. Before the debate, a few Bush strategists were arguing with little success that the Vice President should offer a public apology. The , failure of any Republican to press the issue during the Friday night debate renewed hopes that he might ride out the storm. But if Bush is the nominee, it is an issue the Democrats are sure to revive in the fall...