House and Senate. Iran-Contra Committee Members and Staff. 1987
House and Senate. Iran-Contra Committee Members and Staff. 1987. (From
"Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra
Affair," Joel Brinkley and Stephen Engelberg, eds., abridged edition with
the minority view. New York: Times Books, 1988, pages 3-6.)
The Iran-contra hearings in 1987 looked like another cover-up to
anyone who had been reading the newspapers for the past nine months. There
were the obvious insults to our intelligence: premature grants of immunity,
appointing 34-year CIA veteran Thomas Polgar as a key investigator, and
the grandstanding for the cameras. But ultimately it was the narrow focus
of the Committee that made cynics of those who watched the hearings. The
Committee protected the identities of CIA personnel, ignored evidence of
contra drug-running, and sidestepped the issue of domestic propaganda ops
by high officials in the NSC and State Department.
One pathetic example will suffice. The Miami Herald's Alfonso Chardy
wrote a story on July 5, 1987 that linked Oliver North to FEMA planning
from 1982-1984 to suspend the Constitution in the event of a national
crisis. Jack Brooks (D-TX) tried to ask North about this in front of the
cameras, but Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-HI) cut him off by saying that the
question dealt with classified matters! In other words, Congress sides with
the intelligence community, not with the people. And with Fawn Hall and
Ollie's slideshow on the agenda, there's no time for diversions like this.
ISBN 0-8129-1695-6