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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Robert McFarlane.md

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+category: "Intelligence & Government"
 tags:
   - Person
-  - Military
-  - Politics
-  - USA
+  - Person/Politician
+  - 1980s
+  - Contra_War
+summary: Robert McFarlane served as Ronald Reagan's national security adviser and in January 1985 advised FDN leader Adolfo Calero that it might be time to consider cutting losses on the Contra project.
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-[[Robert McFarlane]] was a former [[USA|U.S.]] Marine colonel who served in [[Vietnam]] and later became a key figure in [[USA|U.S.]] foreign policy and the [[Iran-Contra Affair]]. He was an aide to Senator [[John Tower]] and had connections to [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] circles through [[Robert Gates]].[^1]
+Robert "Bud" McFarlane served as President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s national security adviser during the period when the [[Contras]] reached their lowest ebb, both on the battlefield and in the battle for U.S. public opinion during the winter of 1984–85.[^1]
 
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was part of a group of [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-connected officers gathered by [[Miles Copeland]] who were unhappy with the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration. This group, along with [[William Casey]], decided that the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] administration was incapable of dealing with the [[Iran]] issue.[^1]
+### Advice to FDN Leadership
 
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was involved in secret negotiations with [[Iran]] concerning the [[USA|American]] hostages. He, along with [[Earl Brian]], arranged a meeting with [[Mehdi Bazargan]] in [[Tehran]] in January 1980. He also attended the Madrid meetings in March and May 1980, where he accompanied [[William Casey]] and [[Robert Gates]], discussing future [[USA|U.S.]]-[[Iran|Iranian]] relations and arms supplies.[^1]
+In January 1985, as the [[FDN]] spent its last batch of [[Central Intelligence Agency]] money and Contra forces retreated from Nicaragua into Honduras, McFarlane told FDN leader [[Adolfo Calero]] that perhaps it was time to start thinking about "cutting both our losses and theirs." The administration's prestige was riding on the Contras; Reagan had compared them to the founding fathers of the American Revolution during a speech. The FDN's only ray of hope was to withdraw from battle and lie low until spring, when Congress agreed to let the administration make one more pitch for funding.[^1]
 
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] had a special relationship with [[Rafi Eitan]], then counterterrorism adviser to [[Menachem Begin 1]]. [[Rafi Eitan|Eitan]] built a network within the [[USA|United States]] to obtain information about Palestinian terrorists, and [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] introduced [[Rafi Eitan|Eitan]] to his friends, including [[Earl Brian]], who had significant intelligence connections. Much information reaching the Senate Armed Services Committee found its way to [[Rafi Eitan|Eitan's]] desk.[^1]
+### Context
 
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was a key player in the [[Oliver North|North]]-[[Amiram Nir|Nir]] second channel arms operation. He, along with [[Oliver North|North]] and [[John Poindexter]], agreed to run this second channel, despite the existing [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee|Israeli channel]]. [[Amiram Nir|Nir]] met with [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] in [[Washington D.C.]] and threatened him with exposure if he did not cooperate with the new channel.[^1]
-
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was involved in the leaking of the [[Jonathan Pollard]] story to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] to discredit the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee|original channel]]. He was referred to as "Mr. X" in the subsequent hearings and was accused of providing computer access codes of intelligence reports to [[Rafi Eitan]] in [[Israel]].[^1]
-
-In May 1986, [[Oliver North|North]], [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]], and [[Amiram Nir|Nir]] traveled to [[Tehran]] disguised as Irish technicians, carrying [[TOW missile]]s and [[Hawk missile]] spare parts. They were detained, and the military equipment was confiscated.[^1]
-
-[[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was forced to resign from the [[National Security Council]] at the end of 1985 after [[William Odom|Gen. William Odom]] proved to [[George Bush|Vice President Bush]] that [[Robert McFarlane|McFarlane]] was an [[Israel|Israeli]] mole working for [[Rafi Eitan]]. He later attempted suicide during the congressional hearings into the [[Iran-Contra Affair]], possibly fearing his role with the [[Israel|Israelis]] would surface. He was convicted of lying to [[USA|Congress]], but his conviction was later thrown out.[^1]
+McFarlane's pessimistic counsel came after twelve months of consecutive public relations disasters for the Contra project, including the CIA's seeding of [[Nicaragua|Nicaraguan]] harbors with mines, a bombing at [[Eden Pastora|Eden Pastora's]] jungle headquarters, the public exposure of a CIA-printed terrorism manual, and the passage of a stringent [[Boland Amendment]] in October 1984 that cut off all U.S. government funding for the Contras.[^1]
 
 ### Footnotes
-[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992. (Hereafter, "Profits of War")
+
+[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 10: "Teach a man a craft and he's liable to practice it"