Word: contra
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...private individuals assisting in such activities; that all covert actions be subject to annual review. The House Intelligence unit is working on a similar agreement. But Oklahoma Democrat David Boren, chairman of the Senate committee, conceded that the new accord was not an "absolute, airtight insurance policy" against Iran-contra-style capers...
...Party of God, terrorists who revere Khomeini. Acting under such names as the Islamic Jihad and the Revolutionary Justice Organization, the Hizballah is suspected of holding most of the 24 foreign hostages, including nine Americans and Anglican Envoy Terry Waite, who are missing in Lebanon. As the Iran-contra hearings showed, Reagan's arms sales to Iran were designed primarily to pry Americans from Hizballah's grasp. The deals apparently did secure the release of three Americans -- though four more were subsequently kidnaped -- just as French contacts with Iran appeared to win freedom for five Frenchmen last year...
...only group left out of the flurry was one that could be most dramatically affected. The political and military leaders of the contras happened to be in Washington to start the process of seeking a new round of U.S. aid, when they were blindsided by the peace talks. But the issue of contra aid, which will run out at the end of September unless renewed, was very much on everyone's mind. Indeed, the White House had launched its effort as a blend of diplomacy and political gamesmanship designed to influence Congress if the peace process falters...
Although Secretary of State Shultz proclaimed that the Reagan-Wright plan was "not a ploy," there was reason for skepticism. The Administration has a history of announcing peace initiatives whenever contra funding is up for renewal. Late in 1984 a memo from John Poindexter, then Deputy National Security Adviser, to his boss, Robert McFarlane, set out a deceptive scheme: "Continue active negotiations but agree on no treaty and act to work out some way to support the contras either directly or indirectly. Withhold true objectives from staffs...
Nevertheless, Speaker Wright felt the time was ripe on all sides for a sincere diplomatic push: the Administration knew it could have trouble winning more contra aid; Congress was looking for ways to avoid a bruising clash; the rebels appeared to be making little headway on the battlefield; and the Sandinistas were experiencing severe economic problems and the prospect of waning Soviet support...