ELAND URGES SENATE TO REJECT GATES NOMINATION
President Bush's nomination of Robert Gates to replace Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary merely replaces one problem with another, according to Ivan Eland, director of the Independent Institute's Center on Peace & Liberty. The main problem is Gates' involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal during the Reagan administration.
Judge Lawrence Walsh, the Independent Counsel who investigated Iran-Contra, concluded that "Gates knew about the unconstitutional diversion of profits from Iran-bound arms sales to the Contras sooner than he let on," Eland writes in his latest op-ed. Walsh also concluded that Gates helped lull congressional investigators "into falsely believe the CIA was not involved in facilitating private flights to resupply the Contras."
"Gates' role in ignoring Congress's specific ban on assisting the Contras -- one of the most dangerous threats to constitutional government in American history -- should not be dismissed as merely 'old news,'" Eland continues. Despite endorsements by retired Senator Sam Nunn and others who say that Gates has the respect of legislators from both parties, "the Senate should reject the Gates nomination," Eland concludes.
"Revisiting Iran-Contra: The Nomination of Robert Gates," by Ivan Eland (11/10/06)
http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1850