$Unique_ID{bob01005} $Pretitle{} $Title{Iran-Contra Affair: The Report Preface: Origins of this Report} $Subtitle{} $Author{Various} $Affiliation{} $Subject{committees report arms iran affair government administration congress investigation iran-contra} $Date{1987} $Log{} Title: Iran-Contra Affair: The Report Author: Various Date: 1987 Preface: Origins of this Report Overview of The Iran-Contra Affair: The Report The complete report of the Congressional Committees investigating the Iran-Contra Affair consists of three parts: The Report; The Minority Report; and Supplemental and Additional Views. The Report includes the findings, conclusions and recommendations that came out of these investigations. On November 3, 1986, Al-Shiraa, a Lebanese weekly, reported that the United States had secretly sold arms to Iran. Subsequent reports claimed that the purpose of the sales was to win the release of American hostages in Lebanon. These reports seemed unbelievable: Few principles of U.S. policy were stated more forcefully by the Reagan Administration than refusing to traffic with terrorists or sell arms to the Government of the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. Although the Administration initially denied the reports, by mid-November it was clear that the accounts were true. The United States had sold arms to Iran and had hoped thereby to gain the release of American hostages in Lebanon. However, even though the Iranians received the arms, just as many Americans remained hostage as before. Three had been freed, but three more had been taken during the period of the sales. There was still another revelation to come: on November 25 the Attorney General announced that proceeds from the Iran arms sales had been "diverted" to the Nicaraguan resistance at a time when U.S. military aid to the Contras was prohibited. Iran and Nicaragua - twin thorns of U.S. foreign policy in the 1980's - were thus linked in a credibility crisis that raised serious questions about the adherence of the Administration to the Constitutional processes of Government. The public and Members of Congress expressed deep concern over the propriety and legality of actions by the staff of the National Security Council (NSC) and other officers of the Government regarding both the arms sales and the secret assistance to the Contras. The issue of U.S. support for the Contras was not new. The President and Congress had engaged in vigorous debate over the proper course of U.S. policy, and Congress had barred U.S. support of Contra military operations for almost 2 years. Subsequently, senior Administration officials had assured Committees of Congress repeatedly that the Administration was abiding by the law. The Iran-Contra Affair, as it came to be known, carried such serious implications for U.S. foreign policy, and for the rule of law in a democracy, that the 100th Congress determined to undertake its own investigation of the Affair. The inquiry formally began on January 6, 1987, when the Senate, by 5. Res. 23, established the Select Committee on Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Nicaraguan Opposition. The next day, the House, by H. Res. 12, established the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with I ran. The two Chambers charged their respective Committees with investigating four major areas: arms sales to Iran, the possible diversion of funds to aid the Contras, violations of Federal law, and the involvement of the NSC staff in the conduct of foreign policy. The two Committees took the unprecedented step of merging their investigations and hearings and sharing all the information they obtained. The staffs of the two Committees worked together in reviewing more than 300,000 documents and interviewing or examining more than 500 witnesses. The Committees held 40 days of joint public hearings and several executive sessions. The two Committees then decided to combine their findings in a joint Report. The conclusions in this Report are based on a record marred by inconsistent testimony and failure on the part of several witnesses to recall key matters and events. Moreover, a key witness - Director of Central Intelligence William J. Casey - died, and members of the NSC staff shredded relevant contemporaneous documents in the fall of 1986. Consequently, objective evidence that could have resolved the inconsistencies and overcome the failures of memory was denied to the Committees - and to history. Under the American system, Government is accountable to the people. A public bipartisan investigation such as this one helps to ensure that the principle of accountability is enforced for all officials and policies. It strengthens the national commitment to the democratic values that have guided the United States for two centuries. The President cooperated with the investigation. He did not assert executive privilege; he instructed all relevant agencies to produce their documents and witnesses; and he made extracts available from his personal diaries, although he rejected the Committees' request to refer to those entries in this Report on the ground that he did not wish to establish a precedent for future Presidents. The Committees also received unprecedented cooperation from a sovereign nation, the State of Israel. Although not willing to allow its officials to be examined, the Government of Israel assembled and furnished the Committees with extensive materials and information, including information affecting its national security. The Committees' investigation of the Iran-Contra Affair is not the first, following as it does the findings of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the President's Special Review Board (known as the Tower Board); nor will it be the last, for the investigation of the Independent Counsel assigned to this matter continues. But the Committees hope this Report will make a contribution by helping to explain what happened in the Iran-Contra Affair, and by helping to restore the public's confidence in this Nation's Constitutional system of Government.