Oliver North was the one man intended for that slot.
At this meeting, Nir proposed specifically that prisoners held by Israeli-controlled Lebanese, and
3,000 American TOW missiles, be exchanged for U.S. hostages held by Iran. Other discussions
between Nir and Bush's nominee involved the supposedly new idea that the Iranians be overcharged
for the weapons shipped to them, and the surplus funds be diverted to the Contras.@s3@s7
January 6, 1986 (MPresident Reagan met with George Bush, Donald Regan, McFarlane and Poindexter. The Presidentonday):
was handed a draft Presidential Finding '' that called for shipping arms to Iran through Israel. The President signed this document, drafted following the discussions with Amiram Nir. The draft consciously violated the National Security Act which had established the Central Intelligence Agency, requiring notification of Congre finding '': `` I hereby find that the following operation in a foreign country ... is important to thess. But Bush joined in urging President Reagan to sign this
national security of the United States, and due to its extreme sensitivity and security risks, I
determine it is essential to limit prior notice, and direct the Director of Central Intelligence to
refrain from reporting this finding to the Congress as provided in Section 501 of the National
Security Act of 1947, aUSG[overnment] will act to facilitate efforts by third parties and third countries to establishs amended, until I otherwise direct '' [emphasis added]. ... The (^) contacts with moderate elements within and outside the Government of Iran by providing these elements with arms, equipment and related materiel in order to enhance the credibility of these elements.... '' Of course, Bush, Casey and their Israeli allies had never sought to bolster moderate
elements '' in Iran, but overthrew them at every opportBani-Sadr.@s3@s8 unity--beginning with President Abolhassan
January 7, 1986:
President Reagan and Vice President Bush met at the White House with several other
administration officials. There was an argument over new proposals by Amiram Nir and Iranian
arms dealer Manucher Ghorbanifar to swap arms for hostages.
Secretary of State George Shultz later told the Tower Commission that George Bush supported the
arms-for-hostages deal at this meeting, as did President Reagan, Casey, Meese, Regan and
Poindexter. Shultz reported that he himself and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger both
opposed further arms shipments.@s3@s9 January 9, 1986:
Lt. Col. Oliver North complained, in his notebook, that Felix [Rodriguez] '' has been talking
too much about the V[ice] P[resident] connection. ''@s4@s0
January 15, 1986:
CIA and Mossad employee Richard Brenneke wrote a letter to Vice President Bush giving fulldetails, alerting Bush about his own work on behalf of the CIA in illegal--but U.S. government-
sanctioned-- sales of arms to Iran.@s4@s1
Mid-January, 1986:
George Bush and Oliver North worked together on the illegal plan.
Later, at North's trial, the Bush administration--portraying Colonel North as the master strategist in
the case!--stipulated that North prepared talking points for a meeting between Admiral Poindexter, Vice-President Bush, and [the new] Honduran President [Jose Simon] Azcona. North recommended that Admiral Poindexter and Vice-President Bush tell President Azcona of the need for Honduras to work with the U.S. government on increasing regional involvement with andsupport for the Resistance. Poindexter and Bush were also to raise the subject of better U.S. government support for the states bordering Nicaragua. '' That is, Honduras, which of course
borders on Nicaragua, '' was to get more U.S. aid and was to pass some of it through to the Contras.
In preparation for the January 1986 Bush-Azcona meeting, the U.S. State Department sent to Bush
adviser Donald Gregg a memorandum, which `` alerted Gregg that Azcona would insist on