Changes

==Iran==

==Iran==

After the delivery of shoulder launched TOW missiles to Iran, an assistant to Attorney General Ed Meese found a memorandum written by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North documenting diversion of the proceeds of the sale to aid the Contras. After the discovery of the memorandum, President [[Ronald Reagan]] met with both houses of Congress to disclose their findings; he then asked for the appointment of an independent counsel.<ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 530''</ref>

After the delivery of shoulder launched TOW missiles to Iran, an assistant to Attorney General Ed Meese found a memorandum written by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North documenting diversion of the proceeds of the sale to aid the Contras. After the discovery of the memorandum, President [[Ronald Reagan]] met with both houses of Congress to disclose their findings; he then asked for the appointment of an independent counsel.<ref>''An American Life, The Autobiography of Ronald Reagan, pg. 530''</ref>

==Independent counsel investigation==

==Independent counsel investigation==

In the opinion of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who investigated the affair, under the Arms Export Control Act <ref>http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode22/usc_sup_01_22_10_39_20_II.html</ref> such sales to foreign powers not deemed under the term of the act friendly are illegal.<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm</ref> Payments to the Contras from the proceeds of private sales, while not illegal, in the opinion of critics were considered highly unethical. Later such arrangements were made explicitly illegal by the [[Boland amendment]] to the Federal Appropriation Bill. The independent counsel's opinion alleged that the Reagan administration set about misleading congressional inquiries and may have withheld some documents. There is also the issue of whether the work that John Poindexter, [[Oliver North]] and other Reagan Administration officials performed in organizing and implementing the project violated the Boland Amendment.

In the opinion of independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh, who investigated the affair, under the Arms Export Control Act <ref>http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode22/usc_sup_01_22_10_39_20_II.html</ref> such sales to foreign powers not deemed under the term of the act friendly are illegal.<ref>http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/execsum.htm</ref> Payments to the Contras from the proceeds of private sales, while not illegal, in the opinion of critics were considered highly unethical. Later such arrangements were made explicitly illegal by the [[Boland amendment]] to the Federal Appropriation Bill. The independent counsel's opinion alleged that the Reagan administration set about misleading congressional inquiries and may have withheld some documents. There is also the issue of whether the work that John Poindexter, [[Oliver North]] and other Reagan Administration officials performed in organizing and implementing the project violated the Boland Amendment.