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CHAPTER XII
9/11 and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The Bush administration accuses people of having links to Al Qaeda.
This is the national security doctrine behind the anti-terrorist
legislation and Homeland Security. It is not only part of the
Administration’s disinformation campaign, it is also used to arrest
thousands of people on trumped up charges.
Ironically, several key members of the Bush Administration who were
the architects of the anti-terrorist agenda, played a key role in
supporting and financing Al Qaeda.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who casually accused Baghdad and
other foreign governments of “harboring” Al Qaeda, played an
indirect role, during the Reagan administration, in supporting and
financing Al Qaeda.
Both Colin Powell and his Deputy Richard Armitage, were implicated,
having operated behind the scenes, in the Iran-Contra scandal during
the Reagan Administration, which involved the illegal sale of
weapons to Iran to finance the Nicaraguan Contra paramilitary army:
[Coronel Oliver] North set up a team
including [Richard] Secord; Noel Koch [Armitage’s deputy], then
assistant secretary at the Pentagon responsible for special
operations; George Cave, a former CIA station chief in Tehran,
and Colin Powell, military assistant to US Defense Secretary
Caspar Weinberger.1
Although Colin Powell was not directly
involved in the arms transfer negotiations, which had been entrusted
to Coronel Oliver North, he was, according to press reports, among
“at least five men within the Pentagon who knew arms were being
transferred to the CIA”.2
Lieutenant General Powell was directly instrumental in giving the
“green light” to lower-level officials in blatant violation of
congressional procedures. According to the New York Times, Colin
Powell took the decision (at the level of military procurement), to
allow the delivery of weapons to Iran:
Hurriedly, one of the men closest to
Secretary of Defense Weinberger, Maj. Gen. Colin Powell,
bypassed the written “focal point system’’ procedures and
ordered the Defense Logistics Agency [responsible for
procurement] to turn over the first of 2,008 TOW missiles to the
CIA, which acted as cutout for delivery to Iran.3
Richard Armitage, who was Deputy
Secretary of State during George W. Bush’s first term (2001-2004)
played a key role in launching the “war on terrorism” in the
immediate wake of 9/11, leading to the invasion of Afghanistan in
October 2001. (See Chapter 4.)
During the Reagan Administration, Armitage held the position of
Assistant Secretary of Defense. He was in charge of coordinating
covert military operations including the Iran-Contra operation. He
was in close liaison with Coronel Oliver North. His deputy and chief
anti-terrorist official Noel Koch was part of the team set up by
Oliver North. Following the delivery of the TOW anti-tank missiles
to Iran, the proceeds of these sales were deposited in numbered bank
accounts and the money was used to finance the Nicaraguan Contra.4
A classified Israeli report provided to the Iran-Contra panels of
the Congressional inquiry confirmed that Armitage “was in the
picture on the Iranian issue.’’5
With a Pentagon position that placed him over the military’s covert
operations branch, Armitage was a party to the secret arms dealing
from the outset. He also was associated with former national
security aide Oliver L. North in a White House counterterrorism
group, another area that would also have been a likely focus of
congressional inquiry.6
Financing the Islamic Brigades
The Iran-Contra procedure was similar to that used in Afghanistan,
where covert financial assistance had been channeled to the militant
“Islamic brigades”. Barely mentioned by the press reports, part of
the proceeds of the weapons sales to Iran had been channeled to
finance the Mujahideen:
The Washington Post reported that
profits from the Iran arms sales were deposited in one
CIA-managed account into which the US and Saudi Arabia had
placed $250 million apiece. That money was disbursed not only to
the Contras in Central America but to the rebels fighting Soviet
troops in Afghanistan.7
The Irangate Cover-up
In the wake of the Iran-Contra disclosure, Reagan’s National
Security Adviser Rear Admiral John Pointdexter, later indicted on
conspiracy charges and for lying to Congress, was replaced by Frank
Carlucci. Major General Colin Powell was appointed deputy to Frank
Carlucci, occupying a senior position on Reagan’s National Security
team:
Both [Carlucci and Powell] came to
the White House after the Iran-Contra revelations and the NSC
[National Security Council] house-cleaning that followed [the
Irangate scandal].8
This “housecleaning” operation was a
cover-up, as Colin Powell was fully aware of the Iran-Contra affair.
While several Irangate officials including John Pointdexter and
Oliver North were accused of criminal wrongdoing, several of the
main actors in the CIA and the Pentagon, namely Armitage and Casey,
were never indicted, neither was Lieutenant General Colin Powell who
had authorized the procurement of TOW missiles from the Defense
Logistics Agency and their delivery to Iran.
Moreover, while weapons were being sold covertly to Iran, Washington
was also supplying weapons through official channels to Baghdad. In
other words, Washington was arming both sides in the Iran-Iraq war.
And Donald Rumsfeld, as Special Envoy to the Middle East under
President Reagan, was put in charge of negotiating US weapons sales
to Baghdad.
Notes
1. The Guardian, 10 December 1986.
2. The Record, 29 December 1986.
3. The New York Times, 16 February 1987.
4. UPI, 27 November 1987.
5. The New York Times, 26 May 1989:
6. Washington Post, 26 May 1989. See also US News and World
Report, 15 December 1986.
7. US News & World Report, 15 December 1986.
8. The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, 16 June 1987.
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