From Watergate to Iran-Contra to the present, official lies have justified public crimes. When exposed, crimes unpunished to protect deeper secrets create an alternate reality in which the propaganda of power secures impunity for the powerful.
Undeclared US wars fought against phantom or created enemies for profit; illegal and covert CIA interference in foreign countries — these familiar echos find their antecedents in a long and bloody history, going back to Iran-Contra, further back to Vietnam, and further back still. Will history repeat itself again?
The first of a three-part series exploring Iran-Contra and its implications. Part 1 focuses on the Reagan Administration’s secret wars and illegal arms deals exposed in the scandal.