Word: iran-contra
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...wake of the Iran-contra fiasco, the President moved last week to head off congressional efforts to restrict his power to conduct covert activities. In a formal announcement made in the Oval Office on Friday, Reagan promised that he would notify Congress of such initiatives within 48 hours, barring the "most exceptional circumstances...
...Hizballah, or 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...
Worse yet, there was no way to avoid harsh bottom-line judgments of what Reagan had actually done, or failed to do, in the Iran-contra fiasco...
...President's self-inflicted Iran-contra wounds will not heal quickly. He will try to put the events behind him later this month by giving his own post- hearings perspective in a brief televised speech. But more blows seem likely. The final report of the Senate and House select committees, due in early October, is certain to be highly critical...
...than reaching agreement with the Soviet Union on a sweeping reduction in intermediate-range nuclear missiles. This would raise the remote possibility of a cutback in strategic missiles, whose numbers have continued to grow, albeit at a slower rate, under past treaties. However he may be diminished by his Iran-contra adventure, Ronald Reagan is unlikely to go down in history as a mere potted plant. In his final 16 months as President, he may yet carve out a more elevated niche...