Was McCain involved in secret arm sales to Iran?

By: Tolbert Yarkpawolo
For: http://www.ChocolateCity.cc/blog

Reagan and McCain

It is a popular and well known idiom that “people who live in glass houses should not throw stones!,” or should I paraphrase the idiom by saying “people who live in 7 glass houses should not throw stones!.” Something made of glass can easily break; it is vulnerable; and we are all vulnerable in different ways, especially during the early stages of our lives when dumb mistakes and poor judgments. Sometimes we forget our own vulnerability and "throw stones" at other people in the form of unwarranted criticism. In the Good Book, King James Version, Matthew – Chapter 7:5 also touches on similar issue.

The above idiom applies to everyday issues of our daily lives, most especially politics. Sen. McCain’s vice-presidential candidate started the stone throwing by stating: "There is a time when it’s necessary to take the gloves off and that time is right now." Sarah Palin, also raised the Obama link with Ayers. "Our opponent though is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough that he is palling around with terrorists who would target their own country," Palin said.

Barack and his campaign hit back hard reminding McCain about his poor judgment, trustworthiness, and the questionable ethical issues concerning his involvement with Charles Keating and his attempt to pressure regulators to go easy on Keating.

McCain’s ties are facing renewed scrutiny after his vice-presidential candidate and his campaign continues to criticized Barack Obama.

Pete Yost, an Associated Press Writer, is now reporting that the GOP presidential nominee John McCain has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra affair.

The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America. The group was dedicated to stamping out communism around the globe. The council’s founder, retired Army Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career in Arizona. Singlaub said McCain was a supporter but not an active member in the group. "McCain was a new guy on the block learning the ropes," Singlaub told The Associated Press in an interview. "I think I met him in the Washington area when he was just a new congressman. We had McCain on the board to make him feel like he wasn’t left out. It looks good to have names on a letterhead who are well-known and appreciated.

Covert arms shipments to the rebels called Contras, financed in part by secret arms sales to Iran, became known as the Iran-Contra affair. They proved to be the undoing of Singlaub’s council. In 1987, the Internal Revenue Service withdrew the tax-exempt status of Singlaub’s group because of its activities on behalf of the Contras.

Elected to the House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub’s council, McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the Contras, a CIA-organized guerrilla force in Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras.

"I didn’t know whether (the group’s activity) was legal or illegal, but I didn’t think I wanted to be associated with them," McCain said in a newspaper interview in 1986.

Resorting to smear tactics and not sticking to the issues – the economy, only showed signs of alarm at the prospect of a Democratic clean sweep in both the White House and Congressional races on November 4.