this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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United States | News & Politics

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

North wasn't the "Fall Guy." That makes him sound like a scapegoat, which he wasn't, he was the guy managing the entire operation.

Also, it wasn't part of an operation to get the Iranian hostages released. They had been released back in 1980, as soon as Reagan had been inaugurated. The Iran-Contra Conspiracy happened later, but the wound from that humiliating episode was still stinging in the American psyche. The fact that North was selling weapons to our bitterest enemy at the time is only one of the things that made this such an egregious violation.

Iran-Contra was about providing weapons, training, and support to the conservative soldiers fighting the establishment of a Russian-supported regime in Central America.