I get what the post is trying to say, BUT people are allowed to change. Just because you had a certain mindset in the past, doesn't mean you have to keep it until the day you die.
That’s actually REALLY oversimplified and misses the greater picture of what he did. Ok buckle up kids- this happens before many of you were born. Ronald Reagan was an actor and a president before Arnie made it cool- and much like Arnie he had a tough guy image. He said that America wasn’t going to deal with terrorists. That was who made that really famous when you see that reference. So- Iran kidnapped a bunch of Americans and we wanted em back- but wouldn’t make the deal. This is where the story splits and some say North is a hero, some a villain.
North made a deal to sell weapons to Iran- these weapons were for use by South American combatants called the Contras. Congress had told the US that we couldn’t fund these South American rebels anymore but the CIA and other defense types thought it was in America’s best interest to use these guys to fight a proxy war. So North saw it as an opportunity to make friendly with Iran and get our hostages back, while TECHNICALLY not directly giving arms to the contras. Depending on who you believe on the matter some say he was a loose cannon and some say he was doing it on behalf or with knowledge of higher ups- possibly even the president.
So North didn’t exactly think Iran should have missiles. He thought that the Contras should- and maybe thought some missiles for some hostages was a fair deal. But saying he wanted Iran to have missiles overlooks the REAL reasons to be maybe weary of the guy....
See- he confessed. No “did he didn’t he...” he straight up confessed to congress for immunity. If he didn’t do it he agreed to take the fall for whoever did and help them escape justice while covering it up. For months after he was fired from the government he had an aid smuggle out incriminating documents so he could destroy them. They didn’t even decide to honor his immunity- they were gonna prosecute but his defense successfully argued (with help from the ACLU) that because the world saw him confess to congress he couldn’t get a fair trail by impartial jury. Let that sink in. They decided not to prosecute a confessed criminal because too many people witnessed his confession.
So hero, not hero... North:
- Confessed to selling classified US weapons to a hostile nation or covered up for someone else.
- went against the stated will of the president, congress, and thereby the US citizens who’s will they represent because he thought he knew better.
-stole classified documents from a government facility
- committed conspiracy
- destroyed evidence in a criminal trial
- attempted to back a coup in a foreign country
- lied about it
- declared himself exonerated of wrong doing because they couldn’t use his confession as evidence.
You should see my expose on Mr. Clean: “American Hero, or the master mind of the scrubbing. Bubbles genocide in Uzbekistan, and how big potato ties in to it all.”
So we're still currently trying desperately to skirt WW3 while centering foreign and national policy on how to squeeze and contain the Soviet Union?
Better Mujahedeen fighters with Stingers than Soviets conquering Afghanistan.
Better Saddam than a Soviet Iraq.
And Iran can have conventional weapons all live long day if it helps keep any more Soviet puppets or proxies from being in operational range of the US.
Of course, the Iron Curtain was lifted, and all of those and more came back to bite us, but we definitely came out ahead considering the alternatives at the time.
- Confessed to selling classified US weapons to a hostile nation or covered up for someone else.
- went against the stated will of the president, congress, and thereby the US citizens who’s will they represent because he thought he knew better.
-stole classified documents from a government facility
- committed conspiracy
- destroyed evidence in a criminal trial
- attempted to back a coup in a foreign country
- lied about it
- declared himself exonerated of wrong doing because they couldn’t use his confession as evidence.
Better Mujahedeen fighters with Stingers than Soviets conquering Afghanistan.
Better Saddam than a Soviet Iraq.
And Iran can have conventional weapons all live long day if it helps keep any more Soviet puppets or proxies from being in operational range of the US.
Of course, the Iron Curtain was lifted, and all of those and more came back to bite us, but we definitely came out ahead considering the alternatives at the time.