Iran-Contra affair Essay Example for Free

Iran-Contra affair Essay The United States became a child of the enlightenment with the birth of its diplomacy in the modern world with an exceptionalist self perception. Its diplomacy was reinforced with a moral force owing to its messianic tendencies during its initial visions. The goals of the nation were unambiguously articulated in the early works of the States and the Republic. These writings formed the foundation of United States identity, making it stands out among the other nations of the world. By the principles upon which the nation was founded, high levels of integrity were to be observed among its citizens and officials. As such, transparency and accountability were meant to be the guiding principles of all public office holders. The role of the leaders was to act in the interest of the subjects and the interest of the nation. According to Ryan, the fundamental to democratic theory is the idea that the legitimacy of a government is founded on the consent of the governed. Practically, this was not extended to all the governed, but to the citizens, to those who had stakes in society. Even then, issues concerning policy must be agreed upon by the citizens through their representatives. The strength of the basic principles upon which the United States were founded has been tested ever since the birth of the nation. There have been significant constructions that have remained potent forces throughout the United States policy making in the twentieth century. The development of collective memories and ideological assumptions that form the reference points in United States diplomacy is among these forces. Again, the basis of a sphere of influence approach to policy making and the way in which the various universal ambitions are influenced by practical necessity or the incapability to further the sphere unchallenged also remained a potent force in United States policy making. It therefore comes as a surprise that the very principles that form the basis of the American strength are blatantly abused by the very individuals and officials meant to protect them. The Iran-Contra Affair is an example of this gross violation of the American principles. Background The relationship between the United States and Iran has not been good since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. As such, the relations have been anything but poor. It therefore comes as a surprise if claims begin to circulate to the effect that the two countries are having some form of arms deal. A Lebanese weekly, on November 3, 1986, reported that the United States had made a secret arms sale to Iran. Reports that followed suggested that the aim of the sales was to secure the release of American citizens that had been taken captive in Lebanon. The reports were difficult to believe as the Reagan administrations policy on arms sale especially to the Government of Khomeini of Iran was only rivaled by a few on strictness. Initially, the United States government denied the reports. However, the truth of the claims was revealed later in the month just as had been stated by the weekly. The United States had indeed sold weapons to Iran so as to secure the release of American hostages in Lebanon. As much as the weapons were sold to Iran, the number of American hostages in Lebanon remained the same. Three hostages were released and three more were taken captive during the period of the sales. The fact of the sale was proved even further when the Attorney General announced on November 25 that the proceeds from the Iran arms sale will be channeled to the Nicaraguan resistance. This happed at a time when the United States military aid to the Contras was prohibited. Iran and Nicaragua were thus brought together in a credibility crisis that posed serious questions about the adherence of Reagans administration to the constitutional process of the government. During the 1980s, Iran and Nicaragua had posed serious challenges to the United States foreign policy. The propriety and legality of the actions taken by the staff of the National Security Council and other government officers with regard to the sale of the arms and the secret assistance to the Contras raised deep concerns among the members of the Public and Congress. The United States assistance to the Contras was not a new issue as the Congress and the President had engaged in serious debate concerning the proper course of United States policy with Congress resolving to bar support of Contra military operation for almost two years. Senior government officials had also reiterated the administrations willingness to abide by the law. The United States foreign policy and the democratic rule of law came to be faced by such serious implications by the Iran-Contra Affair that the 100th Congress rooted to undertake its own investigation of the Affair. Origin The Iran-Contra Affair can be traced in two unrelated revolutions in Iran and Nicaragua. In 1979, the government of General Debayle in Nicaragua was overthrown and replaced by a government controlled by Sandinista leftists. During the same year in Iran, the pro-Western government of Pahlavi was overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists let by Ayatollah Khomeini. The Khomeini government allegedly became a supporter of terrorism against the citizens of United States. Following the revolution in Nicaragua, the United States policy towards the Sandinista government was such as to encourage it to keep its pledges of pluralism and democracy. However, this government became increasingly autocratic and anti-American. Nicaraguan government begun aiding a leftist insurgency in El Salvador, turned toward the communist countries of Cuba and Soviet Union for political, military and economic assistance. The United States, by December 1981, had started to support the Nicaraguan Contras. The CIA was the United states government agency that assisted the Contras, arming, feeding and clothing them in accordance with presidential decisions and funds appropriated by Congress. However, the contras failed to win widespread support or military victories despite this support. As much as the United States president continued to favor support of Contras, the majority of the public were opposed to it. Those who did not support Contras feared that the involvement of the United States with the Contras might lead it to a similar situation experienced in Vietnam. Its supporters on the other hand feared that the Soviets would have a dangerous hold in Central America without United states involvement. In 1983, Congress prohibited aid to contra for the purpose of overthrowing the Sandinista government. In 1984, it further limited aid to the Contras. The Congress later cut off all funds to the Contras following a disclosure that the CIA was involved in mining of the Nicaragua harbor without notifying Congress. The president however still felt strongly for the Contras and was therefore focused on keeping them alive . With this regard, he ordered his staff to device a way of keeping the Contras together which led to the NSC becoming operational entity that saw the secret running of the contra assistance effort, and later the Iran initiative. Having been denied funding from by the Congress, the president turned to private sources and third world countries. The president, together with the NSC secretly raised money from other countries to support the Contras. The Flaws Iran-Contra has two illusions at its heart. The first was that Iran would be easy to handle; and the second was that the Nicaraguan contras would save the United States from Communism. Both the illusions were destroyed in ways that showed how fragile the policies were and this occurred within a month of each other. At the beginning of the October 1986, a supply aircraft carrying weapons to the contras was shot down by the Sandinistas. On November 3, a Lebanese weekly magazine carried the story of United States dealings with Iran. With this revelation, it did not appear ordinary that the United States government was involved in either operation. However, the truth of the matter was that the United States was directly involved in both the events. It cannot be denied that the common characteristic of the Iran and Contra policies were deception, secrecy and contempt of the law. There existed a small clique of senior officials who believed that they were the only individuals who knew what was right. They conceived knowledge of their actions by other individuals in the government as a threat to their objectives. The American people, the Congress and the Secretary of State were not enlightened on the actions of these people. The official documents were destroyed when there was a threat to expose their plans. Cabinet officials, elected representatives in congress and the public were told lies. Key facts were also hidden to the president. The United States constitution is particular on the process by which laws and policy are to be made and executed. The essence of the American democracy is the constitutional process, which is also the foundation of its strength. Experience and common sense have shown that flawed process leads to bad results. The departure of Reagans administration from democratic process established the conditions for policy failure which resulted in contradictions that undermined United States credibility. United States went after two contradictory foreign policies simultaneously, a public and a secret one. The public policy was opposed to making any concessions for the release of hostages for fear of such concessions encouraging more hostage taking. At the same time, the United states was secretly trading weapons to secure the release of the hostages. The public policy was meant to ban the shipment of arms to Iran and to exhort other governments to observe this embargo. At the same time, the United States was secretly selling sophisticated missiles to Iran. The public policy was also meant to improve relations with Iraq. The United States was on the other hand shared intelligence on Iraq with Iran secretly. The public policy was also to encourage all governments to punish terrorism and to support the refusal of Kuwait to set free the Dawa prisoners convicted of terrorist acts. Senior officials at the same time secretly endorsed a Second-Hakim plan to allow Iran to secure the release of the prisoners. The letter and spirit of the Boland Amendment that barred military and paramilitary assistance to the contras was to be observed by the public policy. The NSC staff was secretly directed and funded the military efforts of contra. The administration was also meant to consult with the Congressional oversight committee with regard to covert activities in a â€Å"a new spirit of frankness and cooperation† . The CIA and the White House were on the other hand secretly withheld all information about the Iran initiative and contra support network from the committees. Covert operations were to be conducted mainly through the CIA or other organs of the intelligence community authorized by the president. However, even though the NSC was not authorized, its staff secretly became operational and employed private, non-accountable agents to account in covert activities. All these contradictions in policy resulted in policy failure. Iran was armed by the United States, together with its most radical elements. However, the United States neither attained a new relationship with Iran nor reduced the number of American hostages in Lebanon. The sale of the arms did not result in the moderation of Iranian policies. Iran up to the present moment still sponsors actions that are directed against the United States in the Persian Gulf. The United states made itself vulnerable to blackmail by adversaries who were likely to reveal the secret arms sale. The credibility of the United States with allies and friends was undermined by its position of opposing arms sale to Iran while doing the same herself in secret. An illicit funding was sought by the United States for the contras through profits from secret arms sale with the considerable amount ending up in the personal bank accounts of the private individuals who executed the sales. The Iran-Contra Affair also indicates a serious flaw in policymaking process. The highest level of the United States government was marked by confusion and disarray. Under total misapprehension, McFarlane set on a dangerous trip to Tehran . He assumed that the Iranians had promised to secure the release of the American hostages before the delivery of arms while on the contrary, they had only promised to seek the release of the hostages after the arms had arrived. Initially, the president told the Tower Board that he had approved the first Israeli shipments. He then denied then finally said that he did not know whether he had approved the arms shipment as his top advisors were not in agreement on the issue. He also claimed that he did not recall signing a Finding approving the shipment to Iran. However, Poindexters testimony was on the contrary. The American public was incorrectly assured by the president that the NSC staff was adhering to the law and that there was no connection between the government of the United States and the Hasenfus airplane. His staff was on the other hand conducting a covert operation to support the Contras. Another striking feature of the Iran-Contra Affair was that it was marked by pervasive dishonesty and excessive secrecy. The Congress and the American people were constantly and repeatedly told lies about the contra covert action and Iran arms sales. North admitted to altering and destroying official documents. Conclusion Any public official must work on behalf of the state and thus, any action must be directed towards furthering the ideals of the state. As such, the public must be informed of the whatever is going on. Democracy dictates that the representatives of the people must be involved in the decision making process. The nations foreign policy makers act on behalf of the state. Even then, the citizens must be made known the implications and goals of certain actions that are being taken by the state. The Iran-Contra affair, in the contrary, operated against this principle. The affair would have fallen under the broad foreign policy, which was however not the case as it was carried out in secret. As much as policy makers have an interest in maintaining and advancing their domestic political positions, they must also seek to advance the interest of the state internationally. However, the Reagan administration locked policy makers out of the affair which may have led to its failure. The fact is that the administration well knew the consequences of their action and went ahead to carry it out secretly. The administration knew it would lose favor among the citizens if they went ahead and carried out the operations even after Congress was opposed to it. Given the desire for political survival, the administration pretended to be concerned with the domestic impact of the various options that it had. Behind the scenes, it went ahead with its initial plans with no regard for the congress and the public. This in itself was a mockery of democracy.

free speech or just offensive -- essays research papers

Free Speech or Just Offensive? A highly debated topic as of late has been the staggering rise of offensive language and topics of the music industry, which have infiltrated through. Should the artists of this music be punished for corrupting the minds of the people who listen to it? Or should the musician's rights be protected by the first amendment? The main problem to be seen is that this music has become extremely popular to the youth. With this popularity comes blow after blow from the media, parents, and organizations putting down the music because they believe it's corrupting the children. All of these criticisms towards music have even made the government step in and put parental advisory warnings on the CD's. This lets the consumer know that the CD they are buying has adult language, violence, or sexual references in the songs. The government has also set an age minimum of seventeen years old to even purchase the offensive CD's. After all of this is said and done, the albums are still selling millions of copies. It is a whole different market today, set on exploiting the rebels "fuck you I won't do what you tell me" attitude of the youth. "Big bucks is the name of the game.† says music critic Harvey Bickle. This implies that these stars that have risen from this music are only doing so to make themselves a quick buck. Whether or not this is true, we still support these stars and will continue to do so. But is there any evidence that the music is hurting anyone? Many reasons offensive music has been blamed can be documented through past incidences. During the Columbine shooting, the media was blaming the music of Marlin Manson because of his dark songs. This idea of music creating violence is not a new one. In 1982 ACDC put out a song called Night Stalker on their album. Later on that year, a killer roamed the countryside while assuming the alias Night Stalker, and was convinced that the lyrics from ACDC's song drove him to do these disgusting acts of murder. Many cases like this have been brought to court, but notably, not one has proved their case against the artist. How could we come to the conclusion that the music caused these mass killings and riots a... ...r a redress of grievances." (Duemler, David 34). This basically means that as an artist or regular person, one may speak or illustrate anything without being punished or revised as long as it is done so in a respectable manner. There is even an entire organization supporting and fighting for the first amendment for artist called the Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA. It is ironic that the amendment that protects the artist is also the amendment that allows people to protest against it. Overall the point is that most of our basic laws come from these amendments, and they are what America was built on, so how can we accuse artists of breaking the law when all they were doing was following it? Although the music industry is becoming more and more controversial, it still does not give anyone the right to ban or prosecute someone’s music, because an artist has the right to a freedom of expression. People who disagree with this, can choose not buy the music or change the station when it's on the radio, but they cannot destroy it or the artist because freedom of speech is what makes this country so great and free.

The purpose of doing this is to analyze the disease history

Like all little children whenever I saw my weak mother suffering from ill health I had dreams of being a doctor. But adulthood brought some self realization and I knew that this was not the chosen profession for me. I was scared of blood and the sight of it brought nausea and giddiness in me. Dreams of taking a knife or an injection died a natural death.As I had an aptitude for numbers and was confident of my logical thinking, I opted for Mathematics and statistics as my undergraduate major and computer science as minor. For the past five years I have been studying mathematics and statistics in University I have been involved in some projects related to the medical field.In these projects, I used SPSS, MiniTab, SAS to generate meaningful statistical information including the comparison of means and proportions and investigation of relationships between variables using regression. Currently I am involved in a project focusing on historical census records. The purpose of doing this is to analyze the disease history of the family that would enable doctors to adopt preventive measures for future generations.The summer of 2007, when I met a girl from the CH&E department in the course of my work in a Diabetes program reinforced the idea that I should pursue this MSc CH&E program and base my future career on this. That was the first reason for my choice of this program and Dalhousie University.The MSc Program in Community Health and Epidemiology would enhance my knowledge, analytical skills and formal evaluative methods with application to disease prevention, health promotion and assessment of community health service and system needs. After successful completion of this program I would have honed my skills in a broad range of community health and epidemiology research studies, intervention programs and policy development efforts.Faculty members in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology in Dalhousie have backgrounds in a number of disciplines and have con tributed tremendously to Health Research and Health Promotion.The associate professors who are the fulltime faculty here have a reputation that has added to my reasons for the choice of this school. One of my desires is to be under the expert guidance of Associate Professor Judith Guernsey. Her Ph.D. Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, her research interests and activities where there is a heavy focus on the health of rural communities have particularly appealed to me because I feel that this is an indication of true social awareness.My interests are in the areas of addiction and health of women and when I read thatThe research interests of Associate professor Susan Kirkland include Women's Health, Aging, Health Services and Osteoporosis I consider this as a great opportunity to interact with her, and I have heard a lot about her lectures. I look forward to gaining admission in this school and be benefited by her lectures on Advanced Epidemiology. I have also read about th e research activities of George Kephart and I would be fortunate to be exposed to professional caliber of such superior kind.I also look forward to taking the course on Biostatistics which would be handled by Associate Professor Gordon Flowerdew. I would like to further enhance my training in Mathematics and statistics because I have been doing well in these subjects and am confident of rising up to the standards of all these seasoned expertsModern population-based health management is complex, requiring a multiple set of medical, political, technological, mathematical skills of which epidemiological practice and analysis is a core component that is unified with management science to provide efficient and effective health care and health guidance to a population.This task requires the forward looking ability of modern risk management approaches that transform health risk factors, incidence, prevalence and mortality statistics (derived from epidemiological analysis) into management m etrics that not only guide how a health system responds to current population health issues, but also how a health system can be managed to better respond to future potential population health issues.My diligent work in this educational program where I intend to make full use of the opportunity given by the course curriculum would enable me to pursue a longstanding career in the field of community health.The field of epidemiology would allow me to contribute to the medical profession, in a way that would suit my temperament too, because this is in the medical field, but without going through the tough first hands on experience of a doctor or a nurse.My interest and grounding in statistics would come in handy because the program enables the student to critically appraise, evaluate and design community health and epidemiological research studies and programs through the use of appropriate research methodologies and sources of information.After successful completion of this program I w ould be competent enough to effectively communicate my knowledge to the public and other health professionals and this would help my career objectiveMy short term is to get into CH&E program, then get the master’s degree; long term plan is to work as a researcher and analyst in the medical field area. I would also try to become a health protection practitioner, working in different settings and combating outbreaks of disease.

Technology And Cell Phones For Granted - 1769 Words

Nowadays we take technology like internet and cell phones for granted. They allow us to operate more efficiently and provide us with solutions to various issues. There was a time however when cell phones and the internet did not exist and technology was not as evolved. A time when fax machines were new and few in numbers due to its value and only the telephone was the central means of communication. During the 1970’s, many or close to all businesses relied on postal service for financial papers such as stocks, checks, and bonds. Back then most department stores received 85% of their accounts receivable through the mail (Chesterton, 1970). At that time, Richard Nixon was President and the congress had passed motions that would give members of congress a 41% pay raise (3). Meanwhile they only gave postal employees a mere 4% raise. This would be the ultimate reason and trigger of the largest walkout ever on the federal government in U.S history. In those times postal workers were not unionized and also strikes by public employees were illegal. Regardless, just after midnight on March 18th 1970 the members of the National Association of Letter Carriers also known as the NALC went on a wildcat strike. The local Branch 36 had voted previously on March 17th and it resulted in 1,555 to 1,055 to walk out the next day (Chesterton, 1970). James Rademacher, president of the NALC had urged his workers to return to work. Postmaster General Winton Blount didn’t have the power to end theShow MoreRelatedImpact of the Light Bulb and Cell Phone on Society1353 Words   |  6 PagesWhen one reflects on the past century, it is astonishing how much technology has evolved in every sense. From light bulbs that lasted only ten hours, to bulbs that can now last over ten thousand hours. From a simple cellular phone only capable of making phone calls, to today’s smartphones that have effectively changed the way we interact with one another. 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