Podbit · Stuff You Should Know
On October 5, 1986, a CIA Contra supply plane flew a weapons drop at 2,500 feet in broad daylight. A Sandinista soldier shot it down. The only survivor, Eugene Hasenfuss, had borrowed a parachute from his skydiving brother. He was captured, paraded in front of cameras, and told the Sandinistas everything he knew.
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At 23:57 · chapter starts 20:00
By 1986, Congress had been worn down by Reagan's drumbeat and restored $100 million in Contra aid — but the covert operation kept running alongside the official funding. The operation had become routine to the point of sloppiness. On October 5, 1986, a C-123 cargo plane called the Provider made a supply drop at just 2,500 feet in broad daylight over Nicaragua, carrying 70 Soviet Kalashnikovs, 100,000 rounds of ammunition, and rocket grenades. A young Sandinista soldier named José Fernando Canales Alemán shot it down. Three of the four crew members died; the fourth, Eugene Hasenfuss, survived because he had borrowed a parachute from his skydiving brother before the mission — a decision that became one of history's more consequential acts of preparedness. Hasenfuss was captured, paraded before cameras with a rope around his neck, and told the Sandinistas everything he knew: his 10th supply mission, his presumption that the CIA was running things, his previous Air America work during Vietnam. [1] — Josh Clark "On October 5, 1986, a CIA Contra supply plane flew a weapons drop at 2,500 feet in broad daylight. A Sandinista soldier shot it down. The o…" 23:57 His wallet contained employee IDs from Southern Air Transport — a CIA front company so widely known as such that Josh likened carrying those IDs to wearing 'CIA junior badges' — and a business card directly linking him to Oliver North's office in Washington.
The CIA supply plane that blew open the scandal was flying at only 2,500 feet in broad daylight when it was shot down on October 5, 1986.
The CIA supply operation used a front company called Southern Air Transport, widely known to be a CIA cover. Crew members of the downed plane carried their Southern Air Transport employee IDs in their wallets. One also had a business card directly linking him to Oliver North's office in Washington.
Lebanese terrorists backed by Iran were holding American hostages throughout the Reagan presidency. Reagan had loudly campaigned against negotiating with terrorists — putting him in an impossible position that his team quietly decided to ignore.
During the Iran-Iraq War, the US openly supplied Iraq with weapons, training, and intelligence. At the same time, Oliver North was secretly funneling missiles to Iran. The US was playing both sides of a shooting war.
Oliver North traveled to Iran under the alias 'William P. Goode' with a fake passport. CIA Director William Casey allegedly gave him cyanide pills so he could kill himself rather than be tortured if captured. He returned safely and the deal moved forward.
The Pentagon sold missiles to the CIA for $3,700 each. The CIA sold them to Richard Secord at cost. Secord sold them to Iranian middleman Ghorbanifar for $10,000 each. Ghorbanifar charged Iran even more. The profit — including $3 million in interest in one Swiss account — was diverted directly to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.
America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran in 8 shipments over more than a year. Only 3 of 7 hostages were released. Three more were taken. The net result was zero freed hostages and a full-blown constitutional scandal.
The CIA supply operation used a front company called Southern Air Transport, widely known to be a CIA cover. Crew members of the downed plane carried their Southern Air Transport employee IDs in their wallets. One also had a business card directly linking him to Oliver North's office in Washington.
When the scandal broke, Oliver North and his secretary Fawn Hall conducted what became known as a 'shredding party,' destroying a day's worth of documents. The full truth of Iran-Contra may never be known because of what was fed through that shredder.
The official narrative: John Poindexter wanted to help the Contras, tapped Oliver North, and North went rogue — creating the entire network, brokering the Iran deal, all without Reagan or Bush knowing anything. The American public was not impressed.
President George H.W. Bush issued 6 pardons on Christmas Eve as he was leaving office, freeing all key Iran-Contra figures including Caspar Weinberger and Dewey Claridge, who hadn't yet stood trial. North's conviction had already been overturned on a technicality. The men who ran the operation got 2 years probation each.
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