( 6 reviews )
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Posted: Feb 21 2009
In his book `Firewall,' purportedly the "definitive Iran/Contra book," Walsh decries the "lies and dissembling" by the "political upper crust" in the Reagan Administration to multiple Congressional inquiries into foreign policy. Therefore in my review, I feel it only fair to decry Walsh's disingenuous analysis of historical facts in general and the Constitutional balance of power between the three branches of government specifically, in order to justify his seven year inquisition, which cost taxpayers more than $35 million. This sacred quest that he imagined himself to have been on for the Holy Grail that Walsh calls, ad nauseam, to be the "rule of law," had very little to do with the factual record and in reality was simply a retaliation by Congressional Democrats against Reagan for defeating the incumbent Jimmy Carter in the 1980 presidential election. There can be little doubt that Congressional Democrats felt it particularly poetic when they were able to create a scandal for Reagan from Iran/Contra, since it was the Iranian hostage crisis that is generally accepted to have caused Carter's defeat at the polls. The basis of this conclusion, contrary to Walsh's misrepresentations, is that both the Iran arms deal and the Nicaraguan Contras can be tied directly to policy decisions made during Carter's tenure as president. In 1979 as the Sandinistas overthrew the Anastasio Somoza regime - the Carter Administration made it known that America wasn't going to idly standby while Nicaragua experimented with a Marxist government. Then president, Jimmy Carter, insisted that the Sandinistas retain Somoza's National Guard, the Sandinistas balked and so Carter ordered the CIA to enlist Argentine officers to train the Nicaraguan exiles. These were the same Argentine officers who were running death squads during Argentina's own "dirty war," prior to the debacle with the British over the Falklands. The CIA called the exiles, made-up mostly of Somoza's former National Guard, Contras. Also in 1979, a coup overthrew the Romero dictatorship in El Salvador; the Carter Administration's response was to send millions in aid and riot equipment to the Salvadoran military, who were killing nearly 1,000 peasants and workers per month, send in military trainers and train Salvadoran officers in Panama. The Reagan Administration merely continued an existing policy toward Central America, albeit more successfully. It was the mining of Nicaraguan harbors in 1984, which was condemned in the World Court at The Hague that prompted retaliation by Congressional Democrats against the intelligence community, specifically the CIA and Department of Defense. Although the predominant sentiment in Congress was that continued aid was critical to stop the spread of communism in Central America, then Speaker of the House, Democrat -- Jim Wright, sought to appease the Sandinistas at the expense of the Contras by attempting to usurp foreign policy from Reagan by using the "power of the pocketbook." In a series of contentious and close votes, Congressional Democrats pushed through a highly limited, very ambiguous compromise bill, because they didn't have the votes for a comprehensive ban, titled the Boland Amendments. These amendments were generally considered to be an unconstitutional interference of a president's ability to conduct foreign policy and were limited only to appropriated funds spent by intelligence agencies.
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( 4 of 7 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 24 2007
We at this point in history are required to grow misty eyed at the sudden recent discovery some twenty years later of alleged carefully hand written diaries beautifully bound of the now hallowed Reagan's recollections of times and events he later swore under oath he could not recall. We must remember earlier alleged handwritten diaries said to have been passed poolside at Managua's Intercontinental Hotel prior to a devastatng earthquake, from the scrawny hand of the elder Howard Hughes to an author later revealed as a fraud. Let us rather bravely face the truth about the Reagan dynastic empire, run by papa bush (who claimed to be "out of the loop" while actually weaving it), and father to our present peril. Judge Walsh tells all, and then some, and describes all the subterfuge used to prevent his careful and judicious investigation from bearing any other fruit than an Ollie North career change. As incredible as it may now appear, this book bears the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, supportable in a court of law as verifiable. Read it and watch how far down this darkly machiavellian path we have now proceeded, from this former time a generation ago in which the courts could still have possibly considered objective truth such as this. This thick tome merits a place of honor upon your night reading stand. A more complete report may not be found in one place, but scattered throughout several other books and journals of that time. The criminals received no other punishment for their crimes against humanity and our Constitution than continued residence in the Oval Office. Venceremos. No hay mal que dura un siglo.
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( 3 of 5 found this review helpful ) Posted: Nov 15 2005
The Iran-Contra case is well known as a bipartisan bludgeon. Are the news outlines of it accurate? Was the affair a minor bureaucratic transgression preyed upon by liberal hacks; a deceitful attack on the constitutional separation of powers (checks and balances); or a hyped media event? Presiding (Republican) Judge Lawrence E. Walsh skillfully relates the jurisdictional history of the investigation and trial in `Firewall.' This includes the record of defendants Oliver North and Admiral Poindexter (both convicted), as well as Judge Silberman (known as `our ambassador to Iran' before he overturned the verdicts). Media star Oliver North now makes an bountiful living hawking American `New-Order' patriotism for Australian Rupert Murdock. Admiral Poindexter left the current administration only after he sponsored a prospective internet website speculating (wagering) on terrorism targets. Judge Silberman was recently enlisted for an intelligence committee report (to obscure the 9/11 Commission findings?). Though this may seem ancient history, the principals remain active. Walsh provides the best vehicle to examine their early history. You decide.
