Word: iran-contra
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Your cover story conveyed the spirit of that most unusual week in which Lieut. Colonel Oliver North appeared at the Iran-contra hearings ((NATION, July 20)). Along with many others, I was converted to North's side by the end of the first day. I realize I may be overlooking the issues, but for me it was a relief to cheer for this charismatic all-American Marine in his struggle against a fickle, vacillating, unpredictable Congress...
...understand why people criticize the Congressmen who made impassioned statements during the Iran-contra hearings. Would Edmund Burke or James Madison have sat meekly by in similar circumstances? Only in the course of investigations into a Watergate or an Iranscam do Americans have the opportunity to hear their lawmakers expound their political philosophies...
...vote in a particular way, and that was on the issue of aid to the contras. When aid was indeed denied, I had the exhilarating sense that I had effectively contributed to our democratic system. My faith in this process has been shaken by the revelations of the Iran-contra affair. Despite the sincerity and eloquence of Lieut. Colonel Oliver North, I agree with Indiana Representative Lee Hamilton's assessment that our own democratic principles have been subverted in the effort to secure a democracy in Nicaragua...
...execute it. The original Kuwaiti request, which came late last year, was considered and endorsed by the State Department and the Pentagon. Following a National Security Planning Group meeting in early March, President Reagan approved the plan. But many involved say that top officials were too distracted by the Iran-contra controversy to examine its implications fully. Ironically, the scandal provided an impetus to the reflagging proposal. Moderate Arab states reacted angrily last fall to news that the U.S. had secretly dealt with Iran. Kuwait then requested Soviet protection for its tankers. Administration officials concede that granting assistance to Kuwait...
That was, of course, a reference to one of the more memorable lines uttered during the Iran-contra hearings: Attorney Brendan Sullivan's notable "I am not a potted plant" response when Senator Daniel Inouye grew impatient with the lawyer's frequent objections and suggested that his client, Oliver North, should be the one to speak up. The fact that the President would remind his audiences even obliquely of the scandal that has seriously impaired his effectiveness signaled his rising optimism. Although the Wisconsin demonstrations had been carefully stage-managed, they reinforced Reagan's recovery from the doldrums inflicted...