The 1980s saw great political and military action throughout the world. However, one particular event that took place began in the early 1980s which was the Iran-Contra Affair. The Iran-Contra scandal is said to be the result of President Ronald Reagan’s attempt to accomplish two things. The first being his desire to see that the Americans which were being held as hostages by Iran, to be freed and the second was that he wanted to provide assistance to the contras in Nicaragua by going around congress. As obvious and as famous as the previously mentioned appears to be, the key states or countries involved are a matter of investigation. The heavy hitters in the Iran-Contra scandal aside from the United States, were Nicaragua, Iran, and Israel, which possess the question; how did several countries from various places around the world become so entangled in one of the world’s most memorable, multinational, scandals of all time? Nicaragua When focusing on Nicaragua one will need to pay close attention to the rebel group called the Sandinistas who took over Nicaragua’s previous dictator, Anastasio Somoza in 1979, in which the United States Congress decided it would be best to provide them with aid that lasted till 1981.1 Nicaragua’s geographic location made it a big concern for President Reagan based on his philosophy that surrounded the Reagan Doctrine. At that point, President Reagan ended the aid deal and adamantly advised that support be sent to those who were trying to over throw the new socialized, Sandinista leadership.2 Furthermore, the Nicaraguan’s were dealing with some of the worst warfare ever, by the mass killings that took place, which were at the mercy of death squads.3 This gruesome realization allowed President Reaga... ... middle of paper ... ...onal Committee Investigating Iran Contra . THE IRAN-CONTRA REPORT. Vers. Web. Accessed April 9, 2014. (11, 1987): http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/PS157/assignment%20files%20public/congressional%20report%20key%20sections.htm Dodds, Joana and Ben Wilson. "THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR: UNATTAINABLE OBJECTIVES1." Middle East Review of International Affairs (Online) 13, no. 2 (06, 2009): 72-94. http://search.proquest.com/docview/220899524?accountid=8289. Hoover, Judith D. "Ronald Reagan's Failure to Secure Contra-Aid: A Post-Vietnam Shift in Foreign Policy Rhetoric." Presidential Studies Quarterly 24, no. 3 (Summer, 1994): 531. http://search.proquest.com/docview/215684406?accountid=8289. Pach, Chester. "The Reagan Doctrine: Principle, Pragmatism, and Policy." Presidential Studies Quarterly 36, no. 1 (03, 2006): 75-88. http://search.proquest.com/docview/215684612?accountid=8289.
As we move into the reelection year, the authors accuse Nancy of ensuring that Reagan hasn’t campaigned for eight months, following a “Rose Garden strategy.” But Reagan has no credible opponent for the 1984 nomination, and Walter Mondale, who will be his Democratic opponent in the general election, has not yet been nominated. So there is no need for a strategy, Rose Garden or otherwise. Of course we get the full chapter and verse on Reagan’s poor performance in his first debate with Mondale; at least we also get the report on the second debate. From there the narrative jumps to the Iran-Contra affair. A few high points — like the Berlin Wall speech in 1987 — are indeed included, but without any perspective on Reagan’s strategy, perseverance with the Soviets on arms control, or success in revitalizing the U.S. economy. Nothing is said about Reagan’s four second-term summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Except for a few comments that Reagan deplored Communism, this is a policy-free book, and a book
Viksnins, George J. "Reaganomics After Twenty Years." Georgetown.edu. Georgetown University, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
The Civil War in El Salvador lasted from 1980 to 1992, and the El SAlvadoran government was doing their best to minimize the threat of their opposition. Their main opposition, The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional; otherwise known as the FMLN, was a guerrilla group that was organized to fight the corruption in the country. 175). One of the main goals of the organization was to create a new society that is not degrading its citizens and promotes equality. Throughout El Salvador’s history, one organization to the next would run the country through repressive actions and social injustice. One of the main reasons that the FMLN fought the acting government were due to these social restraints on the lower- class citizens in El Salvador.
U.S. Congress. Senate. Committee on Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with the respect of intelligence activities. “Covert Action in Chile 1963-1973.” 94th Cong., 1st sess., S. Rep. 1975.
Solaún, Mauricio. U.S. intervention and regime change in Nicaragua. Lincoln, Neb. [u.a.: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2005
In 1979 Jean Kirkpatrick published Dictatorships And Double Standards, an article dealing with U.S. foreign policy under Jimmy Carter, including policy toward the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Kirkpatrick argues that Carter “abhors only right wing autocrats” ((43) and that he ignores the primary goal in foreign policy which should be U.S. interests. In her world view, the end justifies the means and stability should be sought over any sentimental notions about democracy for, or sovereignty of foreign nations. She argues that Latin America is not fertile for democracy and that, in the long run, supporting right wing dictatorships will lead to a better chance at this goal, to be achieved at a later date. In her Machiavellian prescription for Nicaragua she downplays the horrors of Somoza and misrepresents the character of the Sandinista revolution. The violence that occurred under the Reagan administration in the eighties can be seen as the realization of the Kirkpatrick school of thought and the results were extremely negative for Nicaragua.
Immerman, Richard. The CIA in Guatemala the foreign policy of intervention. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1985.
To understand the Nicaragua Contra one must understand the Sandinistas, and who the Sandinistas took power from. Nicaragua has been invaded by the United States eight times starting from American adventurer William Walker’s “filibuster” of Nicaragua . Augusto César Sandino was the first revolutionary who used arm forces to drive United States out of Nicaragua . Somoza had Sandino killed and took control of Nicaragua. The Somozas and his sons oppressively ruled and amassed wealth with the support of United States. Because of the Somozas corrupt rule a rebel force would rise up which called themselves Sandinistas after Augusto César Sandino. Latin American countries urged United States to remove Somozas from power or the Sandinistas would take
Guatemala held democratic elections in 1944 and 1951, they resulted in leftist government groups holding power and rule of the country. Intervention from the United States and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) backed a more conservative military minded regime. A military coup took place in 1954 to over throw the elected government and install the rule of Carlos Castillo Armas. Carlos Armas was a military general before the coup and with the CIA orchestrated operation he was made President from July 8th 1954 until his assassination in 1957. Upon his assassination, similar militant minded presidents rose to power and continued to run the country. Due to the nature of military dictatorship, in 1960, social discontent began to give way to left wing militants made up of the Mayan indigenous people and rural peasantry. This is the match that lit Guatemala’s Civil War, street battles between the two groups tore the country and pressured the autocratic ruler General Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes to fight harder against the civilian insurrection. Similar to the government Abductions th...
Throughout the Cold War the United States considered the installation in Latin America of radical regimes-socialist, Marxist-Leninist, or “leftist” in any way- to be utterly intolerable. Any such development would represent an advance for the communist cause and a vital loss for the West. Acceptance of this outcome could weaken the credibility of the United States as the leader of the west and as a rival for the USSR. In the eyes of Cold Warriors, the consolidation of any left-wing regime in the Western Hemisphere would have dire and perilous implications for U.S. national security and for the global distribution of power. It was therefore crucial to resist this possibility by any means necessary in countries such as Grenada, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
The United States dire fight to end communism caused them to severely overlook the evil of Pinochet. In search around the globe for rising communism President Nixon instructed the CIA to cause the downfall of Allende, despite a 1970 CIA report that stated “‘the US has no vital national interest within Chile,’ and that the world ‘military balance of power would not be significantly altered’ if Allende came to power” (Kornbluh 2003, page 19). Even before Allende became President the fear of having a successful socialist or...
On June 17, 1972, five burglars broke into the offices of the Democratic National Committee located inside the Watergate Hotel in Washington. Frank Wills, a night security guard, discovered that the break-in was occurring. “Several office doorknob cylinders were covered with masking tape to hold the doors open”(McConnell 11). As soon as Wills made this discovery, he telephoned the police. The five burglars, carrying electronic gear and photographic equipment, were arrested on site at 2:30 A.M. They were suspected of illegal wire tapping. This series of arrests sparked the beginning of what came to be known as the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate Scandal caused several events to occur such as a huge investigation, Nixon winning the reelection, and the first and only U.S. president to resign.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library. “The Second American Revolution: Reaganomics.” Reagan Foundation. http://www.reaganfoundation.org/economic-policy.aspx (accessed May 2, 2014).
The "Iran-Contra Affair. " The Encyclopedia of the Cold War: Political, Social, and Military History. Ed. Spencer C. Tucker, b. 1875.
McCuen, Gary E. The Nicaraguan Revolution. Hudson, Wisconsin: Gary E. McCuen Publications, Inc., 1986. Print. The.