Middle East and the US

Last half of the twentieth century

Creation of the State of Israel 1948

• United Nations partition plan 1947

• Recognized by both super-powers, the US and the Soviet Union

President Truman recognized the state of Israel, going against most of his advisors

Six Day War, 1967 (during Johnson presidency)

Egypt put troops along Israel’s border and Israel launched a pre-emptive strike;

Jordan and Syria joined Egypt;

A stunning victory for Israel, seizing territory amounting to twice its

original size.

Israel took control of the Sinai Peninsula,

Gaza Strip (from Egypt);

the Golan Heights (from Syria);

and the West Bank (from Jordan);

Yom Kippur War, 1973

Egypt and Syria attack Israel;

Nixon Administration sided with Israel,

Arab nations retaliated with an oil embargo that caused serious shortages in US.

What are the Disputes?

Palestinians displaced when Israel was created in the 1940s

Arab countries refusal to admit Israel’s right to exist;

Israel settling territories it gained in the Six Day War

Camp David Accords• President Jimmy

Carter negotiates peace in Middle East

• calls Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat and Israeli leader Menachim Begin to Camp David in Maryland;

• thirteen day negotiations

“Camp David Accords”

signed at the White House in 1979, brokered by Carter

Israel agreed to gradual withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt first Arab nation to recognize Israel.

Iran

Iran

In the 1950s, the CIA had helped overthrow Iranian government, and the Shah of Iran was installed;

In 1979, a revolution against the westernized and dictatorial shah resulted in a Shiite Islamic fundamentalist government (Ayatollah Khomeini)

Shiite Islamic fundamentalist government (Ayatollah Khomeini)

• Extremely anti-American

Sequence of events in 1979

• Carter admitted the shah to the US for medical treatment

• It was demanded that the Shah be returned to Iran.

• Carter froze Iranian assets in US banks and placed an embargo on Iranian oil.

Iran Hostage Crisis

November 1979, the US Embassy in Iran was broken into and sixty Americans were seized.

Failed hostage rescue attempt

In April 1980 Carter sent a small military operation into Iran, but the rescue mission failed and hostages remained prisoners until January 1981.

the wreckage

Hostages’ release too late for Carter

• Carter loses election in 1980, he believed because of the hostage crisis

• Reagan presidential campaign fears an “October Surprise” or release of hostages before the election

• Credible sources that Reagan’s advisors secretly negotiated the release to occur on his inauguration day.

Central America

US Policy in El Salvador and Nicaragua Early 1980s

• Prop up brutal Salvadoran government against leftists

• Dismantle leftist government in Nicaragua by supporting the “contras” or opposition to the Sandinista

Nicaragua

• US Congress repeatedly and clearly instructed the President to stop aid to the Contras in Nicaragua.

• The majority of Nicaraguans supported their government

Reagan Administration

• Supported the Contras through legal and illegal means to dismantle the government in Nicaragua

Iran-Contra Scandal

Senior US officials agreed to facilitate the sale of arms to Iran despite our embargo

Why?

• To secure release of hostages

• To fund contras in Nicaragua

the United States supplied the following arms to Iran

• August 20, 1985. 96 TOW anti-tank missiles • September 14, 1985. 408 more TOWs • November 24, 1985. 18 Hawk anti-aircraft missiles • February 17, 1986. 500 TOWs • February 27, 1986. 500 TOWs • May 24, 1986. 508 TOWs, 240 Hawk spare parts • August 4, 1986. More Hawk spares • October 28, 1986. 500 TOWs • According to the New York Times

Not you? Then who? Not me - Couldn't be.

Arms-for-Hostages scheme

• plan eventually deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch (Reagan White House including VP George H.W. Bush) sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages

• Both the sale of weapons to Iran, and the funding of the Contras, attempted to circumvent not only stated administration policy, but also acts of Congress (Boland Amendment)

How did it turn out?

• Oliver North was convicted, but conviction overturned on a technicality

• Independent Prosecutor determined that both President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush knew about the diverted funds

• As President, Bush pardoned six other officials in 1992

• The head of the Nicaraguan government lost power in part because US involvement ruined that country’s economy.