"Stephen Harding" wrote in message
...
Franck wrote:

without vioaling US Law.

lol, incredible

Actually, I think that's pretty close to it in a nutshell.

Isreali Generals were already making identical sales to Iran prior to the
CIA intervening for a cycle. It is not as though Iran got anything they
would no0t have gotten otherwise. The Israeli equipments were comming
directly from Pentagon stores, as part of a $3 billion per year Camp David
accord payout.

Congress was attempting to play a game that would restrict US support
for a right wing (sometimes oppressive) pro-US government (El Salvador)
and attempted undermining of an anti-US government (Nicaragua), while
at the same time, not outright causing, or being seen to cause, the
loss of said pro-US government by efforts of said pro-Soviet/Socialist
one.
You know, typical Cold War stuff.

The court's later found Congress had exceeded her authority.

Congress cut off funding for such US efforts, but in such an indecisive
way
(the legislation is open to a variety of interpretations because of this
attempt to remain politically non-responsible for anything bad that might
come of [in]action), that Olie North and company devised a way to get
funding
independent of Congress, by making a deal with the Iranians for spare
parts
for US weaponry (F-14???).

Same deal Israel was already doing.

As Olie put it, the concept was "kind of neat".

Now was Reagan involved? Probably (although Reagan haters will paint him
as asleep during policy decisions except when they are dastardly evil, in
which case he's a detail man).

The CIA was GHWB's baby. If GHWB had not forgotten the US Marshal's Service
is not the CIA, he might have had two terms.

But this was hardly a pro-Iranian turn of US national policy at that time.

I think Shia killing Shia was US policy in those days.