Word: scammed
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Newspaper Uncovers Stereo Scam...
Before the arms scam erupted, the contras were already besieged by charges of corruption, human-rights abuses and military ineptitude. Congressional support was anything but assured after Democrats won control of the Senate in the November elections. Moreover, Washington's Central American allies have long been skittish about the U.S. policy. Days before the Iran-contra link emerged, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams warned, "The Central Americans are scared to death. They're scared about our staying power." Now Washington's friends are all the more concerned that they may get stuck supporting the contras without U.S. help...
...most startling of all, Reagan and Meese were asking the nation to believe something that seemed flat- out incredible: that Ollie North, a furtive, 43-year-old member of the NSC staff who operated out of an office across the street from the White House, had arranged the contra scam without the knowledge of the State Department, the Defense Department, the CIA, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the White House chief of staff or anyone in authority except his boss, Poindexter, who did nothing to stop...
...judgment can be, and in Reagan's case regularly have been, forgiven. But this disaster throws a pitiless light on the way the President does his job, confirming the worst fears of both his friends and his critics. Simultaneously stumbling into the Iran fiasco and allowing a bizarre scam to fund the contras to take place had an impact powerful enough to scar Teflon precisely because the events seemed to reveal personal characteristics that were both fundamental and worrisome...
...meantime, congressional committees are rushing to schedule hearings, many of which will focus on the possible involvement of other Government officials or agencies in the Iran-contras scam. First up: the Senate Intelligence Committee, which was scheduled to hold hearings Monday to investigate what might have been known by Casey and the CIA, which keeps close tabs on the contras and set up a Swiss bank account to receive money paid by Iran for U.S. arms. Says Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat: "I don't see how the money could be transferred, the logistics could be handled...