Reply #3: They knew they were breaking the law prior to Iran-Contra.

[formercia]

The mining of the harbors in Nicaragua program began in the Fall of 1981. It was disguised as an arms interdiction program to prevent the smuggling of arms into El Salvador by mining the waterways inside El Salvadorian waters that the alleged smugglers used. When I found out the true intent of the operation, I notified my superiors at a meeting, in the presence of a group of paramilitary officers (OTS/SAD) that their operation was a violation of International Law and "When Congress finds out about this, they are going to cut our balls off."

They knew they were breaking the law from day one. Management knew they would never get authorization, let alone funding if their true intent were known.