Talk:Boland amendment

The US didn't provide arms to the Contras through Israel. Arms were sold to the Iranians, through Israel, and then the money from the sale of those weapons went to the Contras.--Epicurius 16:35, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

Yes, that's how I remember it. Ted Kennedy was involved in the legislation too, I think. And it was all related to the dispute over whether the Contras were morally or ethically better than the Sandinistas of Nicaragua or the "death squads" of El Salvador. Since a friend of mine actually filmed a documentary on the topic, I may be a bit biased. I'm one of those pro-freedom, anti-murder partisans you're always reading about. --Ed Poor 16:44, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

Thers is actually nothing wrong with this language,

The discovery that the United States, through Israel, provided arms to the Contras triggered the Iran-Contra Affair.

whereas the reverted version "provided funds" is simply not true. RobS 16:48, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

Either way seems fine to me. I think the point is that the Reagan administration tried to get around the law and got caught. We should also point out somewhere that Ollie North and company had a good reason for this evasion. Lee Shapiro's documentary, "Nicaragua Was Our Home" makes a good case for US intervention on the Contra side. --Ed Poor 16:53, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

That is a matter subject to interpretation; to claim the US sold the weapons to Iran than is deny Israeli sovereignty and claim Israel is just a puppet regime of the US. RobS 17:00, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

FYI, my recollection is that the Contras never received the funds.--Aschlafly 17:03, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

Well, the problem I had with the language is that the US didn't "provide arms" to the Contras, for the most part. They provided funds (to the extent that the funds got to the Contras. Mr. Schlafly is right that a lot of the money didn't go to the Contras). Here's the Walsh report...the document by the Independent Counsel laying out his findings.[1]--Epicurius 17:14, 3 April 2007 (EDT)

There's a discussion on my talk page right now about this; from memory, I thought it was private arms dealers Khashoggi & Ghorbanifar involved on the Israeli/Iranian end, with Gen Secord then involved in procuring Contra's needs on the Central American end; but now somebody alleges Secord bought from the Pentagon directly. Needs to be looked into closer. RobS 17:19, 3 April 2007 (EDT)