"a single Iran-Contra narrative spanning the entire 12 years of the Reagan and Bush-41 admins"

[Hannah Bell]

The conventional view of the Iran-Contra scandal is that it covered the period 1985-86, when President Ronald Reagan became concerned about the fate of American hostages in Lebanon and agreed to secretly sell weapons to Iran’s Islamist government to gain its help in freeing the captives...

The Iran-Contra scandal was exposed in fall of 1986 after the shooting down of a North supply plane over Nicaragua and revelations in Lebanon of Reagan’s arms sales to Iran. A White House staff shake-up, including North’s firing, and some wrist-slaps from Congress for Reagan’s alleged inattention to details resolved the scandal, at least that was how Official Washington saw it.

The few dissenters who wouldn’t accept that tidy conclusion – such as Iran-Contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh – were mocked and marginalized by the news media, including the Washington Post (which ran an article concluding that Walsh’s consistency in pursuing the scandal was “so un-Washington” and that he would depart as “a perceived loser”).

But an accumulating body of evidence suggests that the traditional view of Iran-Contra was mistaken, that this conventional understanding of the scandal was like starting a novel in the middle and assuming you’re reading the opening chapter.

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2010/063010.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Smirk." - RepubliCronies (R)

[Forkboy]

2. Good piece....K&R

[mmonk]

3. It's the story of one party that doesn't investigate or impeach

and another that will impeach for non job related issues at the drop of a hat.

[MajorChode]

4. That wasn't the only reich-wing undermining of Carter's presidency

Before Ford left office, then CIA director George H.W. Bush created Team B, and filled it with neocons who subsequently produced a very much flawed and greatly overinflated assessment of the USSR's military plans and capabilities. When Carter started to draw down the cold war military (because of Team A's accurate assessment of Soviet military capabilities), Team B seditiously leaked their reports to the press shortly before Carter's reelection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_b

[Enthusiast]

5. That doesn't surprise me in the least.

This was the start of the long downward treasonous slide.

[Enthusiast]

6. K&R. Thank you for the excellent article.

I was there. It made me sick. This was treason. The malfeasance continues today.