Boland II '' amendment, re-tightening the laws against this public- private warfare (see
entry for Oct. 3, 1984).
April 3, 1984:Another subcommittee of the Bush terrorism apparatus was formed, as President Reagan
signed National Security Decision Directive 138. The new `` Terrorist Incident Working
Group '' reported to Bush's Special Situation Group. The TIWG geared up government
agencies to support militant counterterrorism assaults, on the Israeli model.@s1@s5
`` How Can Anyone Object? ''
June 25, 1984:The National Security Planning Group, including Reagan, Bush and other top officials,
met secretly in the White House situation room at 2:00 P.M. They discussed whether to
risk seeking third- country aid '' to the Contras, to get around the congressional ban enacted Dec. 21, 1982. George Bush spoke in favor, according to minutes of the meeting. Bush said, How can anyone object to the U.S. encouraging third parties to provide help
to the anti- Sandinistas under the [intelligence] finding. The only problem that might
come up is if the United States were to promise to give these third parties something in
return so that some people might interpret this as some kind of an exchange '' [emphasis
added]. Warning that this would be illegal, Secretary of State Shultz said: I would like to get money for the contras also, but another lawyer [then-Treasury Secretary] Jim Baker said if we go out and try to get money from third countries, it is an impeachable offense. '' CIA Director Casey reminded Shultz that Jim Baker changed his mind [and now
supported the circumvention].... '' NSC adviser Robert McFarlane cautioned, I propose that there be no authority for anyone to seek third party support for the anti-Sandinistas until we have the information we need, and I certainly hope none of this discussion will be made public in any way. '' President Ronald Reagan then closed the meeting with a warning against anyone leaking the fact they were considering how to circumvent the law: If such a story gets out, we'll all be hanging by our thumbs in front of the White
House until we find out who did it. '' In March of the following year, Bush personally
arranged the transfer of funds to the Contras by the Honduran government, assuring them
they would receive compensating U.S. aid. The minutes of this meeting, originally
marked `` secret, '' were released five years later, at Oliver North's trial in the spring of
1989.@s1@s6
October 3, 1984:Congress enacted a new version of the earlier attempt to outlaw the U.S. secret war in
Central America. This Boland II '' amendment was designed to prevent any conceivable form of deceit by the covert action apparatus: During fiscal year 1985, no
funds available to the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, or any
other agency or entity of the United States involved in intelligence activities may be
obligated or expended for the purpose or which would have the effect of supporting,