It all began in 1979 when leftist rebels in Nicaragua overthrew Anastasio Somoza, a supporter of the United States. The government that took over were called the Sandinistas, and they criticized U.S. imperialism in their country. The Sandinistas aided other rebels in El Salvador, bought Soviet weapons, and allowed Cubans to work in Nircaragua’s hospitals. This resulted in Reagan

In order to release all of the American hostages, more negotiations were made in November. The Israelis planned to ship 500 HAWK anti-aircraft missiles to Iran in exchange for the hostages. General Colin Powell tried to obtain the missiles, but realized that the arrangement would call for Congressional notification because its overall value was over fourteen million dollars. McFarlane responded that the President had decided to go through with the sale anyway. Later that November, Israel received a shipment of eighteen missiles. These missiles were not approved by the Iranians, and further shipments were delayed. For the next few months, the Israelis and Iranians continued with the negotiations. A plan was allegedly approved by Reagan in January of 1986. This plan would use an American intermediary instead of one from Israel, that would sell arms to Iran in exchange for the hostages. The profits would then be channeled to the contras. One thousand TOW missiles were shipped to Iran in February. Various other weapons and parts were shipped out from May to November. Colonel Oliver North, aide to the U.S. National Security Advisor John Poindexter, diverted the proceeds to provide arms for the Contras (Wikipedia, 1). Attorney General Edwin Meese discovered the diversion of money in November of 1986 (Shogan, 1). The first public accusations of the weapons-for-hostages deal came up at the same time. The secret operation was discovered only after an airlift of guns was shot down over Nicaragua (Wikipedia, 2). Reagan stated that the goal of these operations was to improve relations with Iran, not to have the U.S. hostages held in the Middle East by terrorists released. However, he later recognized that the arrangement had turned into an arms-for-hostages swap (Shogan, 1). Former federal judge Lawrence E. Walsh, an independent special prosecutor, was chosen to look into the activities of those involved in the arms sale or contra aid or both. A review board was selected by Reagan that was headed by former Republican John Tower (Shogan,1). A Presidential Commission implicated Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council Staff, Caspar Weinberger, former Defense Secretary, and Poindexter. Reagan claimed he had not been informed of the operation, and the commission could not determine the extent of Reagan’s involvement because many documents had been destroyed. President Reagan was reprimanded on February 26, 1986 by the Tower Commission for not controlling his national security staff (Wikipedia, 2). They criticized his passive management style, and on March 4th, 1987, Reagan accepted that judgment without serious disagreement (Shogan, 1).

Televised hearings were handled by select Congressional committees from May to August. Evidence showed that the Central Intelligence Agency may have been involved with drug trafficking to raise money for t

Some topics in this essay:
National Guard, United America, United March, Reagan Bush’s, Reagan’s Life, George Bush, Intelligence Agency, Ronald Reagan’s, Poindexter North, John Poindexter, national security, wikipedia 1, shogan 1, norton 566, reverend benjamin weir, caspar weinberger, central intelligence, reagan’s life, intelligence agency, reverend benjamin, wikipedia 2, central intelligence agency, dollar deficit reagan’s, national security council, national security advisor,