David, Reagan was elected in Nov. 1980 and took office on Jan. 20th, 1981. That is the time frame of the (alleged) secret dealings. Clear enough?
And Singpilot, you may very well be right. That is certainly the impression that the world got, (including me), at the time. If these people were held for one extra minute for political purposes or just to embarrass or discredit Carter, that would be deplorable, don't you agree? And BTW, this is not inconsistent w/ the other theory put forth here. They could have very well been afraid of Reagan invading and still have been coerced or persuaded into waiting until Jan. 20th to release them. Of course there is the other scenario, that they just wanted to make Reagan look good to his supporters.
And Lendaddy, now I better not.
OK, just a little. First of all, I have never heard that Bush flew to Iran secretly(??) That certainly would not have been neccesary or believable.
And as for the claim that all of the convictions in the Reagan administration were related to Iran/contra, I don't believe that is true. In fact, I cannot even remember what AG Edwin Meese went down for, it's been awhile. All I do know is that the Reagan administration's record for corruption and criminal convictions will hopefully never be broken. No one else has ever come close, thank goodness.
And as for my knowledge of what Iran/contra was "all about", it's pretty simple. The administration, through very few layers of "plausible deniability" was running a secret war in Latin America. In violation of congressional order, (a crystal clear breach of the Constitution), they were selling arms to Iran and funnelling the proceeds to the Nicarauguan Contras. Just trying to illegally overturn a legitimately elected government in another country in order to install a right-wing one in it's place, no big deal.
Was I in on the secret meetings regarding this scandal? No. Did members of my family personally know individuals, including Nuns, who were killed, raped and tortured by U.S. financed death squads in Central America? Yes, sadly we did. My first trip to the region was in 1972. And you? Please illuminate us all w/ your knowledge of what Iran/contra was really "all about". Or STFU. Have a nice weekend.
