Oppose the Deal With Iran? What About Iran-Contra?

By Scott Galindez, Reader Supported News

16 July 15

istening to Jeb Bush and the rest of the Republican field of candidates for president speak out against President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, I wonder: perhaps Jeb should be told about what his daddy did when he was vice president; perhaps Senator Ted Cruz should be told about what his hero Ronald Reagan did for Iran.

Many believe, as I do, that the Reagan administration, with Vice President George H.W. Bush, formerly director of the CIA, promised Iran weapons if they held American hostages until after the 1980 election. It is not in dispute that the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran, only the motive is in dispute – but would even that be in dispute in today’s 24/7 media environment?

Listen to these reporters’ questions and then imagine what today’s internet and cable news media would have done with this story:

So let’s compare: Selling weapons to our number one enemy at the time (remember, Reagan was signing treaties with the Soviet Union; after all, they had a new leader who created an opening for negotiations, unlike … wait, Iran had a new leader who took office when the negotiations started) ... Compare that to easing economic sanctions in exchange for putting the skids on Iran’s nuclear program.

Let’s also remember that the funds from the arms sales to Iran were funneled into a covert program to illegally arm the Contras in Nicaragua, who were explicitly banned from receiving support by Congress. Now remember, the supreme ruler in Iran when Reagan and Bush sold weapons to Iran was the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called the US government the Great Satan. His successor, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is more of pragmatist.

Also consider that President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist elected in 2013, was the opening Obama needed to start negotiations. Of course, Rouhani would not have been able to make a deal without the backing of the Ayatollah.

Senator Ted Cruz talks in his stump speeches about the hostages being released by Iran hours after Reagan was sworn in as president. What he doesn’t tell his supporters is why. He paints a picture of Reagan as a strong leader whom Iran feared. The truth is that Reagan was the leader who negotiated with terrorists to delay and finally obtain their release.

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said the deal equals a “death sentence for the state of Israel.” Really Lindsey? I guess you thought it was better that we sold weapons to Iran than to delay the development of a nuclear weapon there. And let’s also remember that Israel refuses to allow its nuclear weapons program to be monitored.

Former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum warned that the deal “legitimized” the Iranian regime. Is it really a bad thing that the pragmatic President Hassan Rouhani’s government be legitimized by the West?

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee vowed that, if elected, he would “keep all options on the table, including military force, to topple the terrorist Iranian regime and defeat the evil forces of radical Islam.” Okay, Huck …we get it, you will look for war with Muslims. We will keep that in mind.

Florida senator Marco Rubio said: “President Obama has consistently negotiated from a position of weakness, giving concession after concession to a regime that has American blood on its hands, holds Americans hostage, and has consistently violated every agreement it ever signed. I expect that a significant majority in Congress will share my skepticism of this agreement and vote it down.” Rubio is kind of young so maybe he doesn’t remember the Iran-Contra affair.

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker tweeted that President Obama’s “nuclear agreement with Iran will be remembered as one of America’s worst diplomatic failures.” Don’t worry, Scott, it seems like I’m the only one talking about Iran-Contra ... Americans have short memories.

The son of the vice president during Iran-Contra, Jeb Bush, argued that the deal’s leniency in key areas actually “paves Iran’s path to a bomb.” The truth is if Iran lives up to its commitments in the deal they can not advance their nuclear weapons program in the next 15 years, which would provide a framework for longer-term negotiations.

All of the Democrats in the race for president embraced the deal. Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton said: “Based on what I know now, this is an important step in putting the lid on Iran’s nuclear program,”

Senator Bernie Sanders said the deal was “a victory for diplomacy over saber-rattling and could keep the United States from being drawn into another never-ending war in the Middle East.”

Former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley said “diplomacy is the best path to a nuclear-free Iran.”

“This is an important moment in terms of the future of American foreign policy,” former Virginia senator Jim Webb said.

Former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee said he salutes Obama and Kerry, the primary negotiators for the U.S., for what Chafee called a “historic breakthrough.”

“Strong, patient diplomacy should continue to be the model for resolving conflicts,” he said.

I hope to ask the candidates how they compare Obama negotiating with Iran to Reagan negotiating with Iran and selling them weapons when they were taking Americans hostage. Sadly, I will be the only one asking those questions.

Scott Galindez attended Syracuse University, where he first became politically active. The writings of El Salvador's slain archbishop Oscar Romero and the on-campus South Africa divestment movement converted him from a Reagan supporter to an activist for Peace and Justice. Over the years he has been influenced by the likes of Philip Berrigan, William Thomas, Mitch Snyder, Don White, Lisa Fithian, and Paul Wellstone. Scott met Marc Ash while organizing counterinaugural events after George W. Bush's first stolen election. Scott will be spending a year covering the presidential election from Iowa.

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