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generally supported the invasion, which the Administration promoted as an
effort to provide greater security in an increasingly dangerous world. Just two
days before the Grenada invasion, a militant Islamic suicide bomber drove his
explosive-loaded vehicle into the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, kill-
ing 220 Marines, 18 naval personnel, and 3 Army service members; 60 were
wounded. During the next few months, Iranian-backed Islamic terrorists
began seizing hostages in Lebanon as a response to continuing U.S. support
for Israel and Iraq. It was this development in the Middle East that ultimate-
ly led to the connection of “Iran” and “Contra” into a single entity. Reagan’s
desire to stop the spread of Communism through covert military action while
simultaneously securing American interests in the Middle East initiated the
biggest scandal in modern presidential history. The Iran-Contra Scandal, as it
came to be known, refers to a succession of illegal activities on the part of
the Reagan administration to sell arms to Iran in exchange for hostages in
Lebanon while simultaneously diverting funds from the sales to the Contras
in Nicaragua.FIGuRE 10-7 President Reagan making an early morning telephone call to
staff regarding the situation in Grenada at Eisenhower cabin, Augusta
National Golf course in Georgia, October 1983