PERRspectives: Ted Cruz is Getting the Iran-Contra Band Back Together

PERRspectives: Ted Cruz is Getting the Iran-Contra Band Back Together

"Iran-Contra, as you'll recall, almost laid waste to the Reagan presidency. Desperate to free U.S. hostages held by Iranian proxies in Lebanon, President Reagan provided weapons Tehran badly needed in its long war with Saddam Hussein (who, of course, was backed by the United States). In a clumsy and illegal attempt to skirt U.S. law, the proceeds of those sales were then funneled to the Contras fighting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. And as the media appear not to recall, it was Michael Ledeen who established Iranian arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar as the middleman to Tehran and Elliott Abrams who then lied to Congress about the Reagan administration's scheme to unlawfully aid the Contras."