Firewall or Defending the Homeland

Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up

Author: Lawrence E Walsh

In this historic, first-person account, the independent counsel in the Iran-Contra investigation exposes the extraordinary duplicity of the highest officials of Ronald Reagan's administration and the paralyzing effects of the cover-up that Judge Lawrence Walsh and his associates unraveled. Iran-Contra was far more than a rogue operation conceived and executed by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North with the backing of National Security Advisor John Poindexter, as the Reagan administration claimed. It was instead a conspiracy that drew in the chief actors of that administration: President Reagan, Vice President George Bush, Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, and Attorney General Edwin Meese, among others. With the president's support, the United States attempted to trade arms for hostages held by Iranian terrorists, then retained part of the proceeds from these undercover sales in Swiss bank accounts, where the secret money funded the guerrilla activities of the Nicaraguan Contras, a counter-revolutionary group that Congress had specifically forbidden the administration to support. An experienced and steely prosecutor, Judge Walsh built a powerful team of young lawyers to pursue the truth of the Iran-Contra affair through painstaking interrogations and reviews of hundreds of thousands of documents. His team confronted daunting barriers: some of the key players were given grants of immunity by Congress's own (and sometimes hindering) investigation, government agencies twisted claims of national security in order to hide the true nature of their activities, administration officials told outright lies in sworn testimony, and Republican leaders attempted to drown the investigation in a massive flow of often irrelevant material.

Publishers Weekly

Iran-contra independent counsel Walsh chronicles here his efforts to call to account senior Reagan administration officials for their deceptions and the arms-for-hostages fiasco, alleging that "no one... told the full truth." Having failed to put anyone in prison, he marshals considerable evidence of malfeasance to convict Oliver North, John Poindexter and Caspar Weinberger. Neither Beltway insiders nor the public at large, however, are likely to read this work for its insights into Iran-contra or the political culture of the Reagan era. Instead, Walsh's book will probably be cited in a growing debate about whether the expenditure of millions on independent investigations has made our government more honest. Foes of the independent counsel system will find a lot of material here with which to buttress their arguments. Despite years of effort from some of the most astute prosecutors in the country, the only high-level official left with a criminal record from Walsh's investigation was national security adviser Robert McFarlanea reluctant participant in the Iran-contra cover-up who pleaded guilty to deceiving Congress. Walsh attributes his meager results to systematic efforts by two administrations to frustrate his efforts and an executive bureaucracy mired in a culture of concealment.

Library Journal

Walsh was the independent counsel for the Iran-Contra investigation from 1986 to 1993. Though he writes earnestly and with the highest integrity, his recounting of the events surrounding Iran-Contra is as confusing as the hearings themselves and is overburdened by excessive detail. Walsh alleges that Presidents Reagan and Bush could have been indicted for obstruction of justice and misuse of the presidential pardon, respectively. However, Reagan is not Nixon, and Iran-Contra never fascinated and repelled the public like Watergate. The long ordeal ended with few perpetrators being convicted, while members of Reagan's cabinet built an impenetrable firewall around the president. -- Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

Library Journal

Walsh was the independent counsel for the Iran-Contra investigation from 1986 to 1993. Though he writes earnestly and with the highest integrity, his recounting of the events surrounding Iran-Contra is as confusing as the hearings themselves and is overburdened by excessive detail. Walsh alleges that Presidents Reagan and Bush could have been indicted for obstruction of justice and misuse of the presidential pardon, respectively. However, Reagan is not Nixon, and Iran-Contra never fascinated and repelled the public like Watergate. The long ordeal ended with few perpetrators being convicted, while members of Reagan's cabinet built an impenetrable firewall around the president. -- Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Twp. Lib., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania

John B. Judis

Walsh's book is a useful record of the scandal and its aftermath. -- The New York Times Book Review

Kirkus Reviews

Walsh, the former independent counsel for Iran/Contra matters, submits an injudicious, self-serving brief in aid of reversing the probable verdict of history that his extended and contentious investigation of malfeasance at the highest levels of US government produced appreciably more heat than light. Drawing on the record he compiled in the course of a six-year investigation, the author delivers a largely chronological narrative built around a rehash of serious charges that were never proved in court. At issue was the question of whether Ronald Reagan exceeded his presidential authority in sanctioning a hushed-up arms-for-hostages deal with Iran, which also yielded cash used to equip the Contra forces in Nicaragua. These clandestine operations came to light in the mid-1980s, and Walsh was called in to unravel the tangled web at the start of 1987. By the author's account, he had no axes to grind at the outset of his inquiry. Perhaps not, but his office became vaultingly ambitious in its selection of targets after failing to put the usual CIA, National Security Council, or White House suspects, let alone Oliver North and John Poindexter, behind bars. At various times, Walsh recounts, he and his aides went after George Bush, Edwin Meese, Donald Regan, George Shultz, and Caspar Weinberger. The fact that he got nary a one of these men in the dock does not stop the author from repeating in detail allegations of supposed misdeeds that resulted in but a single indictment. Attentive readers will learn that feckless subordinates, ill-informed judges, and national-security hurdles, not Walsh, are to blame for the paucity of scalps.

A spirited if one-sided effort by Walsh to have the last word on the Iran/Contra affair and to justify his largely unavailing stewardship of the independent counsel's office.

Table of Contents:

List of Illustrations

Preface
Part I. Rogue Conspiracy: The Congress againstthe Courts
1. From Stonewall to Firewall
2. The Private War
3. Call to Counsel
4. Opening View
5. The Bramble Bush
6. First Convictions
7. Close Pursuit
8. Crossroads
9. The Basic Indictment

Part II. Litigation: The Courts against the Congress
10. Half a League Onward
11. The Trial of Oliver North
12. Deniability Triumphant
13. The Trial of John Poindexter
14. Reversal and Revival
15. The CIA Cracks
16. Roller Coaster

Part III. Behind the Firewall
17. What the Secretary of State Knew
18. The Note-Taker
19. The Chief of Staff
20. The President's Protector
21. Like Brushing His Teeth

Part IV. Political Counterattack
22. Nuclear War
23. An Unusual Proposal
24. Boomerang: The Character Issue
25. Bob Dole, Pardon Advocate
26. The Last Card in the Cover-up
Reflections
Index

New interesting textbook: Encyclopedia of Food and Color Additives or Move over Martha

Defending the Homeland: Domestic Intelligence, Law Enforcement, and Securit

Author: Jonathan R Whit

The United States government is reorganizing to increase domestic security. How will these changes impact the American criminal justice system? DEFENDING THE HOMELAND: DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE, LAW ENFORCEMENT, AND SECURITY is the only book that illustrates up-to-the minute information on how our criminal justice system has changed since 9/11. Written by an expert on academic leave to provide training for the Department of Defense, White provides an insider's look at issues related to restructuring of federal law enforcement and recent policy challenges. The book discusses the problem of bureaucracy, interaction between the law enforcement and intelligence communities, civil liberties, and theories of war and police work. From a practical perspective, the book examines offensive and defensive strategies. The book gives an introduction to violent international religious terrorism and an overview of domestic terrorist problems still facing law enforcement.