From: Bert Smith <samsung!ulowell!genome.wi.edu!bowler@uunet.UU.NET>
Subject: TO GEORGE:  COME CLEAN ABOUT IRAN CONTRA
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: A big organization with lots of people
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 18:59:20 GMT

[IRANCO.TXT file date 9/24/92]
Please Distribute September 24, 1992 

IT'S TIME TO COME CLEAN, GEORGE BUSH
Statement by George Stephanopoulos, Clinton Communications Director]

	  It's time for George Bush to come clean with the American people.

	  Time after time, his administration secretly deals with dictators and
terrorists, to the detriment of U.S. interests.  Then, when the policy
blows up, Bush and other officials deny the facts and try to cover-up. 
When it comes to Iraq, like Iran-Contra before it, Bush's flat denials
are consistently refuted by the evidence.

	  These ongoing contradictions concern matters of great public
importance.  They demand a full response, not more evasions.

	  What did Bush know and when did he know it?  Why won't he tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? IRAN-CONTRA

	  Bush said he was "out of the loop."   Newly released secret memos tell
a different story.  When will Bush come clean on his real role in
Iran-Contra?  Why does he continue to tell a story that's contradicted by
every piece of evidence?

	   Bush said he was unaware that Secretary of State George Schultz and
Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger were strongly opposed to selling
arms to Iran.  "If I'd have sat there and heard George Schultz and Cap
express it [opposition] strongly, maybe I would have had a stronger
view," Bush told the Washington Post. "But when you don't know something,
it's hard to react. . . . We were not in the loop."

	  BUT.... Today's Washington Post reports a memo in the possession of
prosecutors that shows Bush was present at a January, 1986 meeting where
Weinberger argued against arms sales.

	  BUT.... Notes dictated by Schultz quote Weinberger as calling Schultz
and saying that Bush had said he was "not exposed to Cap or my arguments
on Iran arms.  Cap called me + sd [and said] that's terrible.  He [Bush]
was on the other side.  It's on the record.  Why did he say that."  The
notes came out on August 25 as part of Cap's pretrial procedures.

	   Bush said in his autobiography that the first time he knew that the
arms sales were in fact an arms for hostages deal was when Sen. David
Durenberger visited him in December, 1986.

	  BUT.... According to the Washington Post, Bush was present at "several
dozen" daily Presidential national security briefings where the arms for
hostages deal was discussed.

	  BUT.... Bush was one of only five people present at the January 17,
1986 meeting where Reagan signed the intelligence finding that for the
first time authorized the U.S. to sell arms directly -- instead of
through Israel -- to Iran in exchange for hostages.  One month later, the
U.S. shipped 1,000 TOW missiles to Iran.

	  AND.... According to today's Washington Post, "He attended three White
House meetings in November 1986 that Iran-contra prosecutors working for
independent counsel Lawrence E. Walsh have concluded set the stage for an
attempted coverup of one particular set of Hawk missile shipments to Iran
in 1985."



	  QUESTION: HOW CAN BUSH CONTINUE TO CLAIM HE DIDN'T KNOW SCHULTZ AND
WEINBERGER WERE STRENUOUSLY AGAINST THE ARMS DEAL?  IS HE SAYING THEY ARE
BOTH LYING?

	  QUESTION: WHY DID BUSH SAY HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS AN ARMS-FOR-HOSTAGES
DEAL, WHEN HE WAS AT SEVERAL DOZEN MEETINGS WHERE THE SCHEME WAS
DISCUSSED?

	  QUESTION: DID BUSH PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING A COVER UP OF MISSILE
SALES, AS REPORTED IN TODAY'S WASHINGTON POST? IRAQGATE: SECRET HELP FOR
SADDAM HUSSEIN

	  We know now that Saddam Hussein used billions of dollars in American
taxpayers' foreign aid to build up his weapons of mass destruction -- the
very weapons our troops faced in Desert Storm. George Bush and James
Baker have denied knowing anything about it at the time.  Newly released
document confirm that they did know -- and didn't act to stop it.

	  Bush has repeatedly said that the Administration did not know that
Saddam Hussein was skimming American money to build Iraqi military
capabilities:

	  On CBS Morning News (7/1/92), Harry Smith asked: "Why did we continue
to support Saddam Hussein even though we knew he was skimming US support
to help develop nuclear arms?"  Bush replied: "We didn't know that.  I
don't know where you got that, Harry.  The State Department didn't know
it, and what we did is try to bring him into the family of nations.  And
what you're doing is repeating something that these candidates are
saying.  We did not go to enhance his nuclear, biological or chemical
capabilities."

	  In July, Bush said: "We didn't know that.  The State Department didn't
know it. . . . You can talk about what one State Department employee, and
if we had known it wouldn't have happened."  (NY Times, 7/9/92)

	  BUT.... The State Department document released yesterday -- a July 24,
1990 memo signed off on by James Baker -- directly contradicts this
statement: "Iraq is actively engaged in developing chemical and
biological weapons and ballistic missile systems, and may be seeking to
develop nuclear weapons as well.  Iraq has been attempting to obtain
items to support these proliferation activities from U.S. exporters, in
some cases successfully."

	  AND.... Just one week after Baker signed off on the memo, U.S.
Ambassador April Glaspie was assuring Iraqi officials of State Department
efforts to continue agriculture credits to Iraq.  Baker instructed
Glaspie to assure Saddam Hussein that the U.S. would take no position on
Iraq's buildup against Kuwait.

	  QUESTION: WHY DID GEORGE BUSH SAY THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT DIDN'T
KNOW THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS GETTING HELP FROM U.S. FIRMS IN HIS DEADLY
WEAPONS BUILDUP?  HOW DOES HE RECONCILE HIS FLAT DENIALS WITH THE
EMERGING EVIDENCE?

	  QUESTION: DID GEORGE BUSH KNOW THAT IRAQ WAS DEVELOPING CHEMICAL,
BIOLOGICAL AND NUCLEAR WEAPONS?  IF HE DID, WHEN DID HE KNOW IT AND WHY
DID HE CONTINUE U.S. AGRICULTURAL LOANS TO IRAQ?  IF HE DID, WHY DOES HE
CONTINUE TO ISSUE BLANKET DENIALS OF ANY KNOWLEDGE?

	  QUESTION: WHAT DID JAMES BAKER TELL GEORGE BUSH ABOUT THE IRAQI
WEAPONS PROGRAM?  HOW EARLY DID BAKER KNOW?

	  QUESTION: HOW DOES JAMES BAKER RECONCILE HIS MEMO TO BOB MOSBACHER
WITH HIS INSTRUCTIONS TO APRIL GLASPIE ASSURING SADDAM THAT WE WOULD
CONTINUE AGRICULTURAL CREDITS?

	  End of Statement