I had a Bud McFarlane flashback!
I had to refresh my memory on Bud McFarlane. It didn't take long...
<snip>
Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane was President Reagan's national security adviser from October 1983 to December 1985. He briefed the President daily about world events and conferred regularly with
Vice President Bush, Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger and CIA Director William J. Casey, who were the principal members of President Reagan's National Security Council.
Prior to becoming national security adviser, McFarlane had been deputy to his predecessor William Clark;
counselor to Alexander M. Haig, Jr., when he was secretary of state; a member of the staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee; and
military aide to Henry Kissinger when he was national security adviser to President Nixon. An Annapolis graduate, he commanded the first U.S. Marine battery to land in the Republic of South Vietnam. He completed two tours, each characterized by the heavy fighting in I-Corps just south of the demilitarized zone that separated North and South Vietnam. He received a Bronze Star for valor and other individual and unit decorations. He resigned from the U.S. Marine Corps as a lieutenant colonel.
<snip>
In 1985, McFarlane and Casey were the
chief advocates of weapons sales to Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages held by pro-Iranian terrorists in Beirut; again, McFarlane turned to North to help implement, in utmost secrecy, the arms-for-hostages deals. Although McFarlane resigned as national security adviser in December 1985, he stayed in contact with his former deputy and successor, Navy Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, and with North. He remained involved in the Iran weapons sales, acting as President Reagan's emissary on a mission to Tehran in May 1986.
In November 1986, McFarlane helped Poindexter and North conceal details of the Iran initiative, just as they had done when the operation was underway. Beginning in December 1986 after the public exposure of Iran/contra, McFarlane voluntarily provided information to Congress, to President Reagan's Tower Commission and to Independent Counsel. Because McFarlane was only partially truthful, it was difficult for investigators to determine on which matters he could be believed. Further complicating the matter was the fact that McFarlane's testimony was, in some crucial respects, at odds with that of other senior Reagan Administration officials. McFarlane, for example, stood alone in insisting that President Reagan had approved the earliest 1985 sales of U.S. arms to Iran by Israel and had agreed to replenish Israeli weapons stocks. It was only after contemporary notes recording the events in question were discovered late in Independent Counsel's investigation that much of what McFarlane said could be verified. His desire to keep secret certain contra-assistance activities resulted in criminal charges being brought against him.
After lengthy negotiations with Independent Counsel,
McFarlane on March 11, 1988, pleaded guilty to four misdemeanor charges that he unlawfully withheld information from Congress about North's contra-support activities and about the solicitation of foreign funding for the contras. As a condition of his plea, he agreed to cooperate with the ongoing criminal investigation.
On December 24, 1992, McFarlane was one of six Iran/contra defendants pardoned by President Bush. source:
http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_01.htm-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Long post if you are still reading, but very relevant to the situation today.
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