Bush made the claim in his 1987 autobiography. But documents and testimony place him in several dozen sessions at which the Iran initiative and aid to the contras came up. Last week former National Security Council staffer Howard Teicher said he briefed Bush “several times” on the Iran initiative. Teicher, who was a member of the American delegation that made a failed secret trip to Teheran in May 1986, to secure the release of the hostages, says Bush even offered his assistance. “The vice president asked, ‘What can I do to help?’” Teicher said.
Bush’s July 1986 meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli counterterrorism adviser Amiram Nir is well documented. Craig Fuller, Bush’s former chief of staff, says the session was “pro forma.” But a new book published last week, “Honored and Betrayed,” by Irancontra logistician Richard Secord, says Bush played a crucial role in keeping the Iran initiative alive after meeting with Nir.
Secord says that Ronald Reagan, disappointed that the Teheran mission had not resulted in mass hostage releases, decided there would be no new deals until all were freed. According to Secord, Nir pushed for the Bush meeting through NSC staffer Oliver North to move Reagan off the “all or nothing” policy and return to a “sequential” exchange of arms for hostages.
Secord said Nir described Bush as noncommittal but “very attentive, very interested,” and that he promised to speak with Reagan. The day after the meeting, Reagan reversed his policy and approved another arms shipment. “I think it fills a gap in the record,” Secord told NEWSWEEK. The White House says Secord is trying to sell a book. And his account, while intriguing, will forever remain hearsay. Nir died in a 1988 plane crash.
This assertion, in an August 1987 interview with Washington Post columnist David Broder, is at odds with Shultz’s testimony to the Tower commission that investigated Iran-contra. Shultz told the panel he “passionately” expressed his opposition at a Jan. 7, 1986, White House meeting attended by Bush. Five weeks ago The Washington Post reported the discovery of a note-dictated by Shultz to an aide a day after the Broder interview-describing a telephone call from Weinberger complaining about Bush’s backpedal. “Cap called me [and said] that’s terrible. He [Bush] was on the other side.. . Why did he say that?”
Ironically, the note emerged as part of the federal case against Weinberger, who was charged with five counts, including perjury and obstruction of the congressional investigation. Special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, winding down his probe, framed the indictment to allow wide exploration of the Iran initiative. Bush may not be in the White House when the trial gets underway in January, but he may be placed more firmly than ever in the loop.
