Iran-Contra Explained: The Wall of Crazy Scandal
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- The Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s is an incredibly complex and difficult chapter in recent American history. It's been eclipsed by more recent scandals, and many people shy away from learning about it simply because it's so complicated. In this video I'll explain and deconstruct how and why the administration of Ronald Reagan, and rogue elements within it like Oliver North and John Poindexter, came to swap heavy weaponry with the terrorist sponsoring government of Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages, and how money from these deals came to be diverted to a secret and illegal war in Central America. This is an amazing story with a huge cast of characters, but it deserves to be understood.
Major sources for this video include the books Landslide: The Unmaking of the President 1984-1988 by Jane Mayer and Doyle McManus; The Iran-Contra Scandal: The Declassified History by Peter Kornbluh and Malcolm Byrne; Shadow by Bob Woodward; and numerous other documents and articles.
My website: www.seanmunger.com
My Ko-fi: Ko-fi.com/seanmunger
My new blog: gardenofmemory.net/
Chapters:
00:00-05:37: Intro & Road Map
05:37-13:53: The Background
13:53-20:40: The Cycle of Terrorism
20:40-26:40: The Reagan White House
26:40-36:59: Nicaragua & The Contras
36:59-48:29: The First Arms Deals
48:29-58:48: The Big Swindle
58:48-1:07:26: The Diversion
1:07:26-1:18:18: Everything Falls Apart
1:18:18-1:26:44: The Aftermath
1:26:44-1:33:14: Why Iran-Contra Matters
1:33:14-1:43:48: The Long Tail
1:43:48-1:46:11: Conclusion
I got a trespassing ticket when I was a teen during this time and ended up with a harsher punishment than Ollie North.
It’s honestly astounding that after 3 missile deals and only 1 hostage released, not one person went “well this was a load of bull crap”
any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.
At that point it was propably too late as the weapons dealer brought threats of dead hostages into this and they thought there was no way back...
Also they got two guys freed so they might have seen some way to to get somebody else out of this.
What surprises me is that during the Tehran trip, those clowns North and McFarlane weren't taken hostage themselves. 😂
The cynic in me says that that’s (at least in part) because North was self-dealing just like Ghorbanifar. Like, “Even if this isn’t gonna free the hostages, we’re still raising money for our pet civil war project, and that’s what really matters.”
Exactly, they were marks, and ghorbanifar knew it.
The thing that bugs me regarding Iran Contra is that we are so quick to apply the doctorine of command responsibility to other people, but in the case of Reagan and Iran-Contra nobody is willing to say "You either knew and allowed it, which is bad. Or you didn't know which is worse."
my thoughts exactly. either case is terrible but so many are easy to forgive beloved Reagan but ridicule any other president.
It reminds me of what my Polish great-grandfather always said when anybody criticized Winston Churchill: "He was a great man, who did many good things and many bad things. But thanks to him and this country (the UK), I am still here, alive and free. I am too grateful for all of that to criticize him, and it's against my conscience to do that."
He never had any problems to criticize any other politician (he was an Conservative MP 1964-1974, given CBE in 1980 and in House of Lords 1984-1991), but never, ever said anything bad about Churchill.
I mean technically yes because if the PRESIDENT doesn't get crucial information concerning national security (granted it is legitimate and not used as an excuse by three letter agencies), I'd question if they consider them being informed as a threat to national security? Like isn't that the whole thing about these agencies and the general official branding of the US government and all its branches?
So like either way you can view it in its concrete realism concerning the core values of democracy is just plain fishy concerning Reagan.
I served non the US Air Force from 1980-1992 and was stationed at Langley Air Force base in Hampton Virginia. I was assigned to the Avionics group in support of the EC-135 aircraft of the 6th ACCS (Airborne Command and Control Squadron). During that time there was an occasion where I did cross paths with the Iran-Contra incident.
There was a time when personnel from the Avionics group were asked to support a Boeing 707 aircraft that was from Iran and had to stop for maintenance en route to Iran. I wasn’t needed for this support, but was told by others in the group that I had to see this Iranian aircraft. So I hooped into the panel truck and rode across the tarmac to see what they were talking about.
I was astounded to see this dilapidated Boeing 707 that actual had duct tape splattered in multiple places, over the wings and fuselage, apparently to cover holes in the aircraft skin. The Iranian Air Force guys jumped out of the aircraft to greet us vigorously. They were very pleased to see us and I was invited inside where there served me a cup of hot tea. One of the Iranian airman seemed to be excited and proud of their aircraft and took me to see what was behind the curtain separating the cabin area from the main fuselage. He pulled back the curtain very briefly and a caught a glimpse of their cargo. The entire plane was loaded with white finned missiles, each about 5-6 feet in length just piled on top of each other.
I was shocked and couldn’t believe that these Iranians were flying a poorly maintained aircraft from wherever they had started to Virginia carrying a large amount of missiles that were not very well secured, and then to fly across the Atlantic back to Iran.
It wasn’t until years later when details of the Iran-Contra affair began to surface that I realized I had seen one of the shipments of missiles for Iran first hand.
This is really interesting! Thank you so much!
Thank you Sean, great job covering of Iran-Contra
Whoa. I bet your mind was blown when you put those pieces together!
Reagan must be reclassified as one of the very low life of all times!
Holy crap. That's a wild moment
I remember visiting Washington D.C. on a family trip while the Iran Contra hearings were going on. One day for lunch we had "Ollie Burgers" which had shredded onions, shredded lettuce, shredded tomatoes, shredded cheese, etc, etc.
Obviously a joke on Oliver North's shredding of critical documents hiding the details of the Iran Contra transactions....
Having a cousin who is dating Oliver North's granddaughter is something else. Not only is the family definitely still in some form of generational trauma, but the man insists and demands he be called Colonel. Even by his kids and grandkids. Oof.
I used to hang out with his son. Really good human! I agree he was definitely traumatized by the ordeal. He knew it would severely limit his future and he would be haunted by his father’s decisions forever.
Either you oversold how complicated the Iran Contra is, and difficult to understand, or you did a great job of explaining it all. Thanks for this!
Yes!!
The segment on the internal workings of the Reagan white house was really enlightening. I was an 80s kid, born in the 70s. I remember my parents fuming over this stuff in the news. I think it's very ironic that republicans venerate Reagan so much, when he was such an inept president. His only strength, I think, was his understanding of the importance of image, which makes sense given his background in the film industry.
Same here. He made people FEEL good about being Americans. Facts stopped mattering, and the image of the always right, always just American became bulletproof in enough peoples minds.
@@freakyzed8467this is very similar to what the greatest Roman emperors did. Most who were successful made very minor changes, let the senate do its job, and played the role of stable emperor well.
I’m only in my late 50s, but in my mind, this was the beginning of the age of image. Granted, Kennedy was the first president to take advantage of television, but Reagan was a product of television, where image is king.
What’s also ironic is he’s the one who started the whole gun control conversation & the EPA was formed under his administration as well but it’s labeled as a liberal agenda.
Reagan was only spokesmodel for capitalism. In the 40s and 50s he appeared in ads for Chesterfields and Arrow shirts. In the 80s he shilled for Wall Street banks and mega-corporations.😊
as someone born post-reagan, i appreciate your diligence and skill in presenting this story. Its so important to learn about and yet wasnt even mentioned in school, so im really glad you've filled in this gap for me and so many others.The video itself was also well-made and a great accompaniment. Thanks!
As I was a teen / twentish during this era, your summary was fantastic.
This should be a class in middle -, high -, and university.
Having gone through high school within the last decade, we did learn about the Iran Contra, but it was only very briefly, and never in detail.
All that was ever really covered was that there were seven hostages and that we were working against the Sandinistans to stop the spread of socialism/communism.
No coverage of the weapons exchanges, no mention of the non-appropriated funds, no mention of North or any of the significant details whatsoever.
Not surprising when there's also zero-mention of the USS Liberty in the American curriculum.
For someone who tried to portray himself as such a strong man, Reagan was surprisingly flaccid in his decision making and ability to take control of a situation.
He was diagnosed with Alzheimer later.. this disease changes your behaviour long before it gets to such levels that it is diagnosed as what it is.
Yup! I used to admire him. They’re legends and there is the REALITY behind the legend. It’s always the case.
I believe he was suffering from early onset Alzheimer's for at least half his Presidency. He shouldn't have run a second term. But his successor George H.W. Bush was infinitely worse. Probably better to have someone with cognitive decline than someone actively evil like Bush was.
Reagan taught the entire population hiw to plead the fifth. As a young girl, I remember thinking - if Reagan is playing about his memory, eventually he will have memory problems. Sure enough later found out he had Alzheimers
@@mrScififan2They are also human and hindsight is always 20/20. Even revered historical figures experience the human condition the same as the rest of us.
Poindexter showed up again after 9-11 with his Total Information Awareness program. His name was fresh enough in people's minds that there was significant public reaction and the program was quietly "withdrawn." The revelations of Edward Snowden show that it didn't end; it expanded. Thank you, Sean, for your comprehensive and understandable breakdown of Iran-Contra. Looking forward to more from you. Someone said in the comments that this should be taught in school. I agree.
It was, I remember our history teacher doing a fairly brief lesson on it (early 00's).
It's a shame how American history is basically the Disney Pocahontas film, RIGHTEOUS REVOLUTION!, America Ends Piracy! (maybe), Manifest Destiny (but positively), Civil War (America Ends Slavery /jk) Spanish-American War, America ends WW1!, America Ends Nazi Racism! Socialist USSR Bad!
Now it's today!(completely ignoring most of what happened in the last 80 years)
I was in the US Navy during all of this. I remember reading about it. This was very interesting to me at the time since I was deployed to the Persian Gulf. My ship had been involved in bombing Beirut and was Dodging Iranian mines and Iraqi Exocets. I remember not caring if North sold weapons to Iran if the Hostages had really been released. As for the Contras, I had been donating to anti-communist causes that included them as well as Renamo in Mozambique. Now looking back I am bewildered by the Non-Threat that the Communists really were. Sad but young people have the energy to fix things but not the wisdom. Old people have the wisdom but not the energy. I know that it is more complicated but that is how I feel.
"If you see Regan as a Hero... Or if you see him as a Villian..." After watching this and a video on the Collider incident, I see him as an idiot who clearly didn't know what he was doing.
As a Nicaraguan I found this video very interesting.
I find it hard to believe, and extremely infuriating, the damage a few individuals acting on their own inflicted upon my country.
I hope US citizens do a better job at selecting their leaders and keeping them accountable. You are lucky to live in a democracy, that's a privilege, so please use it wisely. It's not fair for us to have to pay the price of the shady actions of your government.
The warm idea of democracy is Fool's Gold when juxtaposed with the actions of the elected leaders at every level.
Hee hee hee. ". . . US citizens do a better rob at electing their leaders and keeping them accountable. ". That's a good one. Never touch them. Nixon was a bottom feeding slime ball who cut a deal with Gerald and ducked out the door leaving the appearance of honor. So no, no accountability and there will be none now.
Oh man, my reptile brain slipped a good one in. Job not rob.
I was a just finishing High School when all this occurred, but never followed the bread crumbs of what seemed like isolated events to see how it all connected and where it led. This video was an eye opener, and very educational.
One thing is certain though, and that is that the fact that conservatives believe the Reagan era to be the zenith of American politics is laughable.
And NOBODY was held accountable.
As somebody who grew up in a news-obsessed family, I definitely remember this. I got a pretty decent fifth-grade level explanation from my mom and I've read a little bit about it since, but I never knew this much detail. Fantastic video.
The Shah was thought of as a friend of the US not just Jimmy Carter. Carter just happened to be US president at the time of the revolution. There weren’t any factions in the US government that were anti Shah
Of course he was a friend of the US. The US buried Iranian democracy and installed the Shah.
Years ago I saw a PBS documentary (think it was Frontline) about a hippie who was pastor of a church in Poindexter’s hometown. As I remember, the hippie was offended that Poindexter got off scot free so as a joke he took down the sign on the street named after him but no one noticed. So he called the police department and said he was holding the Poindexter street sign at ransom. Eventually the hippie pastor was arrested for the whole ordeal and did some jail time for it. It was an amusing story and the documentary was very good story telling and I’ve since looked for it but haven’t been able to find it.
I absolutely love 20th century history. I dont have many friends. I wish I could discuss history with someone. I'm so glad I found your videos. I let them run in the background whilst I cook/clean/eat etc. Its brilliant.
i feel like i’m in an alternate universe where Greg Turkington never fell in love with cinema, and never had to deal with Tim Heidecker’s neuroses-instead choosing a life of intellectual pursuit and spreading knowledge. that’s to say i’m really enjoying this! thank you Sean Munger!
Hey guys, today we’re reviewing the Iran Contra affair. I give it one bag of popcorn and a mini TOW missile. Come back next week when I’ll be covering the watergate scandal.
Sam Hyde would still be on t.v.
I'm blown away that content like this is given away for free. As a secondary school student with a passion for history, this is amazing to watch. Much love from the UK
It really is, the fact that we have access to this quality, through only his sheer generosity, makes me remember why we built the Internet.
One point worth noting, Oliver North, John Poindexter (and friends) were employees of the National Security *Council,* not the National Security Agency. Poindexter held the title of National Security Advisor, but that title is totally unrelated to the agency with the same acronym.
I never realized just what a huge mess this was. Thank you for providing such a great explanation.
I didn't realize Carter was responsible for freeing the hostages in the end! I feel like his presidency gets a lot of unfair hate.
Thanks for this deep dive! I've never fully understood it, despite researching wanting to.
As a Canadian in my 20s at the time it actually happened, I can honestly say that other than a soup of names, I had no clue what was going on. Your background was so extensive I was able to follow the entire story! Wow, well done for a complicated story!
Bingo. The news here in the USA failed to take it seriously too. The whole system was tilted towards Republicans anyways, from radio (no real news, RW slant) to local tv (same).
"I don't expect everyone to view it all at once"
Challenge Accepted!
Thanks for the refresher. It was totally all over TV when I was a kid.
I found your channel from a name drop by Joe Scott and I've been working my through your library. Thank you for making these, I don't always pay suuuuper close attention to every word you say, but with my ADHD i always want something to listen to in the background and I hate having to find a new video every 20 minutes. These long form history video's are fabulous for playing in the background while I'm doing other things, and I am learning all sorts of things about different events that are just old enough that maybe i didn't live through them (or was a small child at the time), but recent enough that they weren't covered in any of my history classes.
There are dozens of people involved in this besides Gorba who acted as "shady arms dealers", Jamshid Hashemi, Adnan Khashoggi, Amiram Nir, Avraham Bar-Am, David Kimche, Marc Rich, Al Schwimmer, Mike Harari, not to mention Reagan officials and NSC members beyond North, Poindexter, Singlaub, such as Michael Ledeen, Howard Teicher, Abrams, and even Colin Powell.
.
Iran's military was totally dependent on US and Western-made equipment in 1980. Its air force - the largest US-made foreign fleet of warplanes and helicopters in the world - was 100% American. That fleet was quite up-to-date and advanced. It was maintained at an average of 70% operational through 8 years of war with Iraq. Now how many tens of billions of dollars' worth of US-made weapons and spares were required to make the continuation of that war possible?
Sorry for all the edits, but I just couldn't leave Nimrodi or Albert Hakim off the list.
My parents are from Iran and I visited in 88. Its still fascinating how these people explored grey areas and exploited countries. Very machiavellian. High level thuggery.
Great video! Thank you
Iran-Contra and especially The INSLAW Affair are both some of the most fascinating aspects of that era.
"Project Democracy" is the most stereotypical American name for a US mission I've ever heard. I love it. :) Thanks for this brilliant video by the by. :)
This is easily the best summary I’ve ever heard or ever read. I would definitely purchase a transcript if it has sources. I would only state that drug trafficking was a massive component of the Contra side and I also recommend everyone check out the studies of the October surprise and decide if an ocean of coincidences is only that and nothing else. Awesome work on this, it is the only thing in existence that summarizes it clearly and thoroughly in an unbiased way
I second the request for a transcript!
After finding out that Nixon may or may not have extended the Vietnam war to get elected and the plans put before Kennedy for Cuba, I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened despite “no findings”
I was a combat engineer in El Salvador and Nicaragua in 86’ & 87’. Very tricky situation as a 20 yo kid guiding grown men on combat tactics and not knowing what was really going on.
At the point of whether or not Raegan knew: he either knew and did nothing to impede it, which is bad enough, but if he didn't know anything-that's even worse. He can't have it both ways. It's either dangerously incompetent, unfit for duty, asleep at the will or war criminal, uncontrolled and uncontrollable level of presidential overreach. That all of this was able to be done by ~10 people within the White House is horrifying. Talk about the right hand not knowing what the left hand was doing.
I think we could fairly, confidently segue right thru to today with that theory, take your pick of which it was then, we see the same problems now. And also, let's theorize on: selected or elected - then and now.
I was born in 1988 so the Clinton thing is primarily the first presidential scandal I’ve experienced but This was a good deep dive of something I heard but knew nothing about. Gone and over but won’t be forgotten by atleast one more person.
Reagan knew if you made it too complicated, no one would be able to hold him accountable.
You mean Regan? 😂 I’m just jk. I remember a tidbit of this history in the pearson books of highschool. I came from nicaragua directly related to the affair issues by my father who was unfortunately conscripted. He survived that and had me. I dont even think he understands how complex this affair was. And im not about to bring it up 😂 Ronald Reagan is like a political God to him. 😂 maybe they shockshelled him into. But he is happy living in this country compared to the hellhole and earthquakes around that time.
Man oh man, I wish I would’ve had you as my history teacher in college. This video is absolutely fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to make and publish it!
Thanks so much! 🙏
I feel the same way about my high school history teacher. He seemed to be more interested in being a hockey coach.
One of my high school history teachers was the nephew of Weinberger and left to go work for him when Reagan was elected
This is one I'll need to watch again. I vaguely remember some names and events, but this puts them in order.
This is the ultimate US scandal. As a young adult I did a ton of research on it, it will be very interesting to see your professional academic take.
This was such an eye opener video to watch… But I think one important thing you’ve missed is how the drug trafficking theme came into play in this whole mess…. Would ve been nice to see how that whole operation came about…. 😊 awesome! Thank you!
It was as simple as when your plane full of guns were unloaded, you got reloaded with coke or weed. The flight back was safe, for the government was in on it, and most flights back landed on military bases.
That would've been another 2 hours added... Great advise though.
13:36 I think this needs an update as people came forward and confirmed that in fact the Regan campaign did collude with Khomeini to hold the hostages longer.
You should review the roles of Abrams, Rumsfeld and Cheney because of their “unified executive” theory that had ripple effects into Bush I and II administrations and the long term damage it has done to horizontal and vertical accountabilities.
one of the best history channels on yt. deserves a lot more subs
My high school US history curriculum left me with a huge blind spot between the end of the Vietnam War and the modern day that I’ve been trying to fill in. I assume they intentionally glossed over events that were recent enough to expect everyone to already know the details of, but by 2017 they had failed to update it so the final unit ended up as little more than name-dropping events that occurred years before I was born. I can’t remember if they bothered to mention the arms for hostages part when the scandal was a single bullet point under Reagan’s presidency, but they definitely didn’t mention the Nicaraguan angle even though it seems like the more scandalous part to me. You might be able to spin a shady ransom as saving American citizens and come off as looking like a well-intentioned idiot for getting swindled, but doing it for profit and then using those profits to fund terrorists makes the whole thing look a lot less sympathetic.
I watched this in the background in a single sitting and I still found it very easy to follow, so thank you for taking the time to break all of this down so clearly
You're not alone, most of us in school in the 70s to 80s for middle school and high school in the USA were never taught about Vietnam or any of that stuff. Nevermind
after the Vietnam War, how about barely teaching current history later on? It's scandalous. I never heard about what had gone on in Chile in the 70s until well into
the later 80s or 1990s, mainly by way of the rock band The Clash mentioning Victor Jara and the tortured down there, etc. I knew about the Sandinistas
only because in jr. high I read papers and watched a lot of TV news. Unlike most of my classmates.
Of course Ben Barnes had to disclose his role and testimony on the October Surprise Conspiracy weeks after you published.
Thank you for noticing this! Most people think I just missed it, but the convincing evidence hit the press just after I finished the video.
@@SeanMunger It was ever thus. You invest hundreds of hours researching and writing your presentation, a relevant detail will come to light minutes after you publish like it was waiting to put egg on your face.
Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video. It's probably one of the most important pieces of historical events in American history.
This got a single paragraph in my high school US history book.
Such a great presentation. I knew the generalities of the Iran-Contra Scandal. I remember watching Oliver North's testimony as a child and with no idea what was going on, but being annoyed that the adults in my life were so preoccupied with something so dull. I digress. As a fiend for History's details and the analyses thereof, it seemed like your video ended entirely too soon. Lol
Dunno how I ended up here listening to this while scrubbing the bathroom but it was super informative and engaging! Fabulous job! 👍
I'm not normally one to hit that thumbs up button, but my god do you ever deserve this one. Excellent content!
Your videos are fantastic. I can only imagine how long these take to make. Thanks for doing what you’re doing.
i love when professors just upload a lecture for free, thank you
I love how you did a “where are they now” segment towards the end. Even the plane that went down was turned into a pub. At the time this was happening, I didn’t get into it. I have no good excuses. I have a feeling I will be watching this again. Fawn Hall stuffing papers in her boots and down her blouse is quite the visual. Thank you for the work you do. I’m hooked ❤
I mean this as a compliment; you make fantastic videos for an academic. I'm really enjoying your work. Thank you.
It's crazy how familiar all of this sounds nearly 40 years later
What an incredibly compelling story! One thing I can't understand is how everyone kept going along with Ghorbanifar for so long. I guess North and co would look the other way since they were happy as long as they got money for the Contras, but that doesn't explain why everyone else didn't cut him out sooner.
This was my first video on this Chanel and I wanna say you earned a new subscriber, you’re an amazing speaker and i would’ve loved to have you as one of my college professors but I’m glad to have found you now!! Chanel’s like yours are what make this platform so awesome, thank you for the effort and time you put into this so that we could enjoy!
Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed and learned something!
I second this notion!✌️
Thanks for the video essay, I really enjoyed it!
There is another perspective, regarding the seriousness of the Iran -Contra affair, a different Rorsach response but one outside of US partisan divisions and perhaps less obvious from even a dispassionate US historical/legal perspective: the global perspective on US imperial power.
Arming the contras in Nicaragua was only one of a series of covert campaigns of violence against democratically elected governments in South America and elsewhere. In fact years before the revolution in Iran which replaced the Shah, he in turn was confirmed as unelected ruler in 1953 by a US and British backed coup against a democratically elected government which so happened to want to nationalise the Iranian oil industry (to go just a little further back than you do in your run through of historical context).
If Iran-contra was an affront to accountability in US democracy, it was a domestic incarnation begat of consistent attacks on foreign democracies in order to serve US economic and ideological interests. It wasnt just the Eastern Bloc who would often gaslight their own citizens by using the word 'Democratic' when naming aggressively undemocratic institutions. As such, it's part of a much much more significant and broadly ruinous theme in US political history than the Monica Lewinsky episode or the January 6th riots.
The best most detailed explanation I've encountered.
My grandfather was very introverted and only rarely did he connect with other people, especially in his early adolescence. However he did have one childhood friend, that was the man we knew as “Uncle John.”
Uncle John was, to put into practical words, a good lookin’ son of a gun. Blonde hair, blue eyes, sharp jawline and a smile that would attract the hot single moms in your area.
Uncle John would visit my grandfather often in the early 70’s, a bit after my mother was born. They would talk alone, sitting on two wooden chairs on the porch while eating ice cream. (Grandma didn’t allow alcohol anywhere near the house, he preferred ice cream was Rocky Road)
My mother had asked one time, “Where you coming from, Uncle John?” He would give a subtle yet vague answer, “Just comin’ up from town down south.” After he would part ways, my grandfather enlightened my mother with the reality of Uncle Johns’ whereabouts.
Uncle John was a Contra, “La Contrarrevolución.” Uncle John was also a CIA special agent, with a PHD in criminology. He would come up from Nicaragua after an armed conflict and head back home to the redwoods of California.
This explains why I feel so intimidated with us history from '45 to Reagan. It gets murky quick.
Thank you for this video.🇺🇸💯💙🤟
Dr Sean is truly an orator. Very solid presentation, with so much clarity. I have learnt so much from this. Do not over rely on your confidants
Small comment - North worked for the National Security Council (NSC), a staff office, not the National Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Defense.
Wasn't expecting to sit down and watch a 2 hour video on iran-Contra, but I'm glad I did. This is probably the best, most understandable explanation of it out there. Keep it up!
I'm 42 and remember very well that this was a HUGE DEAL when I was a kid. Kind of cool to finally find out what all the hub bub was about. Very well done video. Thank you.
From time to time the algorithm suggests something worthwhile. Im glad I stumbled across this channel. Liked & subscribed.
I've already stayed up past by intended bedtime because the content & presentation make it so interesting & digestible. I will have to depart now, for the land of nod, and come back when I have more time to watch the rest of this video. So much detail that it desrves full attention.
Thanks so much! 🙏
How the flying f#ck does not a single criminal serve a single day in jail for helping to sell MISSILES to a hostile foreign government?!
If you wouldve added the other parts of this event, this could easily been a 4 or 5 hour video. Thank you for uploading this and taking time to educate us.
I’ve waited for this story to be told since I heard about it in middle school. I was raised in the 80’s but my parents were military so I escaped the drug destruction that destroyed many of my Uncles, cousins and community. The irony that I was D.A.R.E leader isn’t lost on me. Anywhoo…Fantastic job. Thank you very much for doing this. Sidebar are we truly a land of idiots? Shia, Sunni, Ayatollah. It wasn’t hard to follow in the slightest. I listened to it all in one setting. The October surprise fake? I don’t know if I can acquiesce that one. But nothing to bicker over. Very cool of you to tackle this dense topic.
As a Millennial from Germany, my first encounter with the whole Contra affair was a catchy song in American Dad. 😅
What baffles me the most is how crazy it sounds today that all these guys thought that supporting a right-wing guerilla force in Central America was worth potentially unsettling the status quo of the political playing field in the Middle East.
In their mind it was well worth it. Central America is right next to the USA, so it was extremely important for them to maintain control over that region. Iran on the other hand is on the other side of the planet, who cares what happens there? The worst tyat could happen is if they capture some hostages. Until 11/09/2001. Reagan and co. thought the USSR and other communist countries to be much more aggressive than they actually were, while at the same time they underestimated the sheer determination and fanatism of islamic radical movements in the middle east.
I've been reading alot of Hunter S Thompson lately, and during the 80's years he wrote extensively about Iran-Contra. It was hard to keep up with so many characters ,since I was born slightly before the new millennia, but this video made it alot easier to understand who everyone is. Thank you for putting together such a clear and concise explanation of such a juicy spy-thriller esque scandal.
The pin-board-and-string method really can help with stories complicated like this.
Very nice, thanks for avoiding conspiracies. However it is time to do an update. With Peter Baker's admission that Reagan did in fact delay the release of the hostages for political gain needs to be addressed.
This was more than I was expecting. The detail of this video is amazing! I don’t mind the long run time, you did a great job! It was obvious these men in Reagan’s cabinet lacked street smarts. Usually you get robbed or taken advantage of in life and you learn that lesson early. I guess these guys lived a pampered lifestyle and never experienced bad faith dealings.
You had me at “chapters because it’s complicated”.
Thank you so much for your patient and foresighted organization.
I was mildly aware of what happened during this conflict but ALL the minutiae you put in and in a way that really helped me visualize the geography of it was done SO well! Thank you so much for this!!! 😅
Time well spent. You explained the plot and details that I had not known....and I was 44 in 1986.
I was born in 83, so growing up Iran-Contra was not much more than a name / the inspiration for the name of the NES game Contra. As a student of 19th & 20th century history now, I really appreciate your detailed yet digestible look at the incident. It definitely is a key piece of American foreign policy history and a weird predictor of the America World Police / Lost Cause mentality the country has fallen into. Lots of cynical characters in the halls of power!
I can't tell you enough how brilliantly made this video is. The Iran-Contra controversy is one I love reading about, so seeing such a concise, structured video made on it is like a dream come true! :D Subbed!
My dad was the head engineer for Southern Air Transport. He still lives next MIA. I knew Buzz Sawyer, and other major players. My dad did the check flight on the C-123 that was shot down.
i cant "thumbs up" this and other videos by Sean enough. Although i was not born yet during this era, i love reading up and hearing stories that led up to world changing events, just to know what we can learn from mistakes and bring forward thoughts to my kids so they know what happened and what could be avoided. Love from Singapore
Thank you so much! 🙏
This is such a great video! I’m always interested in learning more history, and the Iran-Contra affair never seems to come across my radar, probably because of how monstrously complex is it!
Thanks for breaking it down into a digestible video!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Could you do a video like this on the ATF Gunwalking Scandal, known as Operation Wide Receiver and Operation Fast and Furious? That was crazy, both for it's total incompetence and the Attourney General being held in contempt of Congress. A lot of people would probably enjoy that.
I was in high school and college when all this was going on. I remember all the cultural references comedy jokes about van Hall and Ollie North shredding. Ali North's testimony 2 Congress stating " and I thought it was a good idea". I remember the Norman Rockwell Boy Scout persona he presented in the media. I never understood the whole process in so much detail. Great documentary but I openly laughed in parts. This story needs to be made into a movie, not a thriller and not a drama, but a musical comedy. It's like "The Producers" meets James Bond. Maybe a bit like Sr. Strangelove. Needless to say, the ending scene would reveal the narrator sitting in a pub in Costa Rica.
Just a sidenote: The name Hasenfus is quite similar to the german word Hasenfuss, which can be literally translated to rabbit foot or rabbit leg and used to be a common expression for a coward.
Just discovered your channel earlier and now that I’m off work I’m going to kick back and watch your videos until the sun comes up. I just read Hunter S. Thompson’s Generation of Swine and it talks about this a bit. Awesome content.
Thanks! In my opinion, the most fun ones are Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade, Gladiator, and The Meaning of the Titanic.
I don't know how you script these dives from utter confusion to complete understanding. Now, in no way am I underscoring the difficulties your working your way through the ins and outs of the complexities of 2 hours of contextual content. I am saying you make sound damn easy. Thanks ever much
EXCELLENT!! Sean you are my go to for these stories. I've learned a lot watching your videos.
Hey there, Dr. Sean!
Thank you for your content.
I was born while this was going on and was never able to get a satisfactory explanation/walkthrough of it. You've put a bunch of pieces i knew and some I didn't together chronologically in a way people can follow.
Thank you.
Please keep up the work you do.
I really enjoy the way you put this whole story together, as someone born in 92 I never really knew what happened, just vague references in media to it. Thanks for making it, and I look forward to watching more on your channel
Awesome, watched many hours of iran-contra but so many new details in this podcast, thanks.
Over three years of my life and the lives of three close friends were lost in that operational theater and Central America back in the early to mid 80s. To this very day the sorrow and visceral pain born out of those years unrelentingly burns in the marrow of my bones and will to the day of my demise. I was a young guy, who after being asked not to return to college, made a critical yet decisive error and joined the U.S. Navy and subsequently served as a Fleet Marine Force Hospital Corpsman.
I just found your channel and, as someone who studied in armed conflicts, I couldn’t be more happy!!
Thank you for the rundown.
I think the biggest takeaway here is a cautionary tale about oversight
For those who want to know more about the gun and drug smuggling associated with this scandal, I recommend watching, yes, a Tom Cruise movie, "Made in America ". I learned more about the Iran-Contra scandal from this movie than any other source.
I wasn't sure how accurate that movie was, but if it is, Reagan got an American citizen (Barry Seal) murdered by the cartel.
Not very accurate, not very good, I would recommend Dark Alliance by Gary Webb. Secondary is the film Killing The Messenger partially based on the book but as usual with Hollywood, overwrought and overdramatized.
Excellent unwinding of a convoluted story. I’ve read most of Gary Webb and Robert Parry’s work on Iran Contra. Your presentation is simple, concise (considering how convoluted the events were) and super well organized. Thank you. Whoever does your graphics is brilliant. Simple and clever.
Of the many side-bars you had to skip over I’ll point out one: president Bush’s Attorney General was Bill Barr, a doctrinal believer in the righteousness of executive overreach. He oversaw the conclusion of Lawrence Walsh’s investigation, the December 1992 pardons and the general squelching of high level accountability.
It’s been asserted that this is exactly what appealed to President Trump in selecting Barr as his AG.
Thanks for this. I though when this happened there would be a reckoning. Unfortunately there really wasn’t. Poindexter and North were the scapegoats. North has been rehabilitated and is now a darling child of the right.
There is nostalgia in this country for the good old days of one of the greatest president of the modern era. His presidency was responsible for the gutting of the middle-class and we live albeit less with his legacy today. Thanks again.
This was an incredible explainer, watched it straight through and had to rewind a few times. You've got some lucky students Sean!
Lovely historical documentary and deciphering the complex maze of information. Great work Sean !!!
Love your content, Sean. Had no knowledge about that affair prior to watching your video and it is indeed an incredibly interesting and complex part of world history. Keep up the great work!