CAN EUGENE HASENFUS BE FAR BEHIND?

Rice appoints Iran-Contra figure Abrams to head NSC's Mideast section (Associated Press, 12/02/02)

Iran-Contra figure Elliott Abrams, who received a pardon from the first President Bush for his role in the scandal and has served in the White House for over a year, has been promoted to a key post among the current President Bush's national security aides.

Abrams was appointed to lead the National Security Council's office for Near East and North African affairs. The senior director job oversees Arab-Israeli relations and U.S. efforts to promote peace in the troubled region.

His appointment, which does not require Senate confirmation, was announced Monday by Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

An assistant secretary of state during the Reagan administration, Abrams was a fierce advocate of armed support for Nicaraguan rebels despite Congress' ban on military aid to the so-called Contras.

He pleaded guilty in 1991 to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress. In court, Abrams admitted he kept information from two committees in 1986 when he testified about his knowledge of the secret Contra supply network and about his role in soliciting a $10 million contribution for the Contras from the Sultan of Brunei. Abrams received a Christmas Eve pardon from President George H.W. Bush in 1992.

First Admiral Poindexter, now Elliott Abrams--such public honoring of the heroes of the Cold War is one of the sub rosa reasons that conservatives understand W to be one of them. Posted by Orrin Judd at December 4, 2002 12:36 PM