As the various investigating committees looking into the Iran/Contras affair gear up in this New Year, it might be a good idea to remember that different parties in the scandal have different idea of what some of terms and statements mean. I offer the following examples in the hope that they will help readers keep these things straight:
STATEMENT: "There is no evidence to suggest that the President was in involved in the diversion of funds." WHITE HOUSE INTERPRETATION: The President was not involved. PRESS INTERPRETATION: Congress hasn't pinned it on the President yet, nyah nyah.
TERM: proprietary. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY'S STATED MEANING: A corporation owned or operated by the CIA which is used to keep its operations, particularly its monetary dealings, secret from hostile foreign powers. CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY'S OPERATIONAL MEANING: A corporation owned or operated by the CIA which is used to keep its operations, particularly its monetary dealings, secret from hostile members of Congress.
EVENT: The United States voices concern about the participation of Organization of American States Secretary-General Joao Baenes in the contadora peace negotiations. AMERICAN POSITION: The US government intended to start its own negotiations with Nicaragua because it had no faith in the contadora process. OAS INTERPRETATION: The Americans don't want a peace process they don't control, even though their claims in the region are, at best, dodgy.
EVENT: The Contras launch a major offensive. LITERAL INTERPRETATION: The Contras are fighting the Sandinistas. ACTUAL EVENT: The Contras decide to move from their position 50 kilometres from the Honduras/Nicaragua border to a new position 30 kilometres from the border because the Honduran government wants the Contras out of its country.
STATEMENT: "The Contras are freedom fighters." WHITE HOUSE IMPLICATION: The Contras are Communist fighters. CRITICS' ACCUSATION ABOUT WHITE HOUSE IMPLICATION: When the Contras torture civilians and murder innocent children, they mean well.
WHITE HOUSE POSITION: The arms deal to Iran was an attempt to secure favourable relations with government moderates. WHITE HOUSE INTENDED IMPLICATION: If hostages were released as a side effect of the deal, so much the better. WHITE HOUSE MEMORANDUM REVELATION: The President authorized the deal for the express purpose of getting the hostages released. Oops.
STATEMENT: "The President was originally against the shipment of arms to Iran." ORIGINAL WHITE HOUSE INTERPRETATION: The President is innocent of any wrong-doing. RECENT WASHINGTON REVELATION: Several White House officials lied to protect the President, who clearly did authorize the original shipment of arms to Iran. Oops...really oops.
STATEMENT: Canada's $39 million humanitarian aid package to Nicaragua should be contingent on whether that country develops a more democratic system, or it won't bring peace to the region." US ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE ELLIOTT ABRAMS' IMPLICATION: Canada should stop sending humanitarian aid to Nicaragua. WHITE HOUSE DREAM: That the $100 million in American military aid to the Contras will bring peace to the region.
TERM: destabilization. WHITE HOUSE MEANING: Support for right wing factions in a county in order to weaken a left wing government. REAL ACTION: Bloody revolution, often against a democratically elected government.
TERM: hero. WEBSTER'S DEFINITION: Any man admired for his courage, nobility or exploits, particularly in war. WHITE HOUSE DEFINITION: Retired Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North.
TERM: secret mission. WHITE HOUSE DEFINITION: One that nobody finds out about. NATIONAL SECURITY DEFINITION: One that nobody finds out about for a few months.
POSITION: The United States is neutral in the war between Iran and Iraq. WHITE HOUSE INTERPRETATION: The US is supplying both sides in the war with intelligence and arms. CIA INTERPRETATION: The US is supplying both sides in the war with incomplete and faulty intelligence and outdated arms.
TERM: disappointment, as in Robert McFarlane's mission to Iran with a cake in the shape of a key, a bible signed by the President and assorted spare parts was "a disappointment." WHITE HOUSE DEFINITION: Failure. PRESS DEFINITION: Catastrophe.
STATEMENT: "The amount of arms sent to Iran wouldn't fill a single plane." ONE PRESS INTERPRETATION: This would have been true if the US had a plane the size of Ohio. A DIFFERENT PRESS INTERPRETATION: The Iranians must have been changed overcharged a fortune!
WHITE HOUSE POSITION: The President was recovering from surgery when he first approved of the arms deal and, in his drugged state, was not responsible for his decision. IMPLICATION: If he had been in a more rational frame of mind, the President would not have approved the deal. IMPERTINENT SUGGESTION: That the President probably wishes he will be drugged during the Congressional investigations.
