Do people that support Obama really understand the destructive history of socialism, communism and fascism? Can they objectively state what Obama has done to prop-up free-market capitalism and the virtue of profit and wealth-building?
Iran-contra affair, in U.S. history, secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran. The Iran-contra affair was the product of two separate initiatives during the administration of President Ronald Reagan. The first was a commitment to aid the contras who were conducting a guerrilla war against the Sandinista government of Nicaragua. The second was to placate “moderates” within the Iranian government in order to secure the release of American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon and to influence Iranian foreign policy in a pro-Western direction.
Despite the strong opposition of the Reagan administration, the Democratic-controlled Congress enacted legislation, known as the Boland amendments, that prohibited the Defense Dept., the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), or any other government agency from providing military aid to the contras from Dec., 1983, to Sept., 1985. The Reagan administration circumvented these limitations by using the National Security Council (NSC), which was not explicitly covered by the law, to supervise covert military aid to the contras. Under Robert McFarlane (1983–85) and John Poindexter (1985–86) the NSC raised private and foreign funds for the contras. This operation was directed by NSC staffer Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North. McFarlane and North were also the central figures in the plan to secretly ship arms to Iran despite a U.S. trade and arms embargo.
In early Nov., 1986, the scandal broke when reports in Lebanese newspapers forced the Reagan administration to disclose the arms deals. Poindexter resigned before the end of the month; North was fired. Select congressional committees held joint hearings, and in Dec., 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was named as special prosecutor to investigate the affair. Higher administration officials, particularly Reagan, Vice President Bush, and William J. Casey (former director of the CIA, who died in May, 1987), were implicated in some testimony, but the extent of their involvement remained unclear. North said he believed Reagan was largely aware of the secret arrangement, and the independent prosecutor's report (1994) said that Reagan and Bush had some knowledge of the affair or its coverup. Reagan and Bush both claimed to have been uninformed about the details of the affair, and no evidence was found to link them to any crime. A presidential commission was critical of the NSC, while congressional hearings uncovered a web of official deception, mismanagement, and illegality.
A number of criminal convictions resulted, including those of McFarlane, North, and Poindexter, but North's and Poindexter's were vacated on appeal because of immunity agreements with the Senate concerning their testimony. Former State Dept. and CIA officials pleaded guilty in 1991 to withholding information about the contra aid from Congress, and Caspar Weinberger, defense secretary under Reagan, was charged (1992) with the same offense. In 1992 then-president Bush pardoned Weinberger and other officials who had been indicted or convicted for withholding information on or obstructing investigation of the affair. The Iran-contra affair raised serious questions about the nature and scope of congressional oversight of foreign affairs and the limits of the executive branch.
See B. Woodward, Veil (1987); T. Draper, A Very Thin Line (1991).
The morning after the House passed the health care reform bill 220-215, CNN interviews one of the Congressmen who voted for the bill, Anh "Joseph" Cao from Louisiana - the only Republican to vote "yes" for the bill. Cao claims it was "a decision of conscience... to support the health care reform bill... it was the right decision for the people of my district."
DALLAS - Dallas FBI agents arrested a Jordanian citizen Thursday afternoon for attempting to bomb a skyscraper in Downtown Dallas.
According to the bureau, 19-year-old Mosam Maher Husein Smadi was arrested and charged for attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
Smadi had been under continuous FBI surveillance and was arrested after he allegedly placed and tried to detonate an inactive car bomb near Fountain Place, a 60-story glass office tower located at 1445 Ross Avenue, the FBI said.
Hear more details about the terror plot. Click to play the first clip in the video player.
According to a press release, Smadi is in the United States illegally and had been living and working in Italy, Texas.
"He has repeatedly espoused his desire to commit violent Jihad and has been the focus of an undercover FBI investigation," the release states.
FOX 4's Sophia Reza visited the place where Smadi worked. Click on the second clip in the video player to hear more about his life in Texas.
Undercover agents posing as members of an al-Qaida sleeper cell were introduced to him and they said he made clear his intention to serve as a soldier for Osama Bin Ladin and al-Qaida. He told them he came to the country specifically to commit violent Jihad "for the sake of God."
The agents meeting with Smadi said they tried to discourage him from violence on several occasions, the release states.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, Smadi said in his native Arabic language, "Oh my brothers! O how I love, my brothers, to perform Jihad with you in the same rank, in the same field, against the enemy. I have chosen to be a Mujahid with my self, blood, soul and body. [That is] more precious to me than this world and its money, women and amusements. By God, I shall support Osama, Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi, al-Rantisi and all who performed Jihad in this world."
In June, Smadi allegedly met with the undercover agents to discuss possible targets, which included the National Guard Armory, a Dallas airport and an unidentified bank near the airport. In July he reportedly told the agents he had changed his mind about the initial targets and instead identified the Wells Fargo bank located inside the Fountain Place skyscraper, according to the affidavit.
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.
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