Tower Commission

The Tower Commission went out of business on Friday as the period for which it was created by President Reagan to investigate the Iran- contra affair ended. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said commission files would be returned to the White House, which will make them available to other investigators. The secret arms sales to Iran and the reported diversion of funds to aid Nicaraguan rebels are being investigated by an independent counsel and by committees of the House and Senate.

During a political career that spanned three decades, former Sen. John Tower, who died Friday in a plane crash at the age of 65, was a recognized leader on defense policy. Yet he surely will be remembered as a tragic figure--the man whose alleged preference for wine and women prevented him from becoming defense secretary.

Senate confirmation of Robert M. Gates as director of the Central Intelligence Agency appeared to be in jeopardy Thursday because the Tower Commission found he permitted the White House to influence an intelligence report analyzing the political situation in Iran.

Jurors at John M. Poindexter's Iran-Contra trial watched the last of President Reagan's videotaped testimony today as the former President displayed annoyance at a prosecutor's question. The jurors watched closely, but did not react when Reagan became visibly irritated at prosecutor Dan Webb, who said Reagan was not answering a question. Webb asked Reagan whether the presidentially appointed Tower Commission concluded Oliver L. North was assisting the Contras militarily.

Like the report of the Senate Intelligence Committee issued earlier this year, the Tower Commission's findings still do not answer a number of key questions about the Iran- contra affair--leaving considerable work to be done by congressional investigators and the independent counsel. Among these unanswered questions are: Contra Funds How much money was diverted to the Nicaraguan rebels and who received it?

Bantam Books is rushing the Tower Commission's report into print, and copies are to be available in bookstores next Monday. "We decided (to publish) because there seemed to be an urgency to its contents that matched the public's potential broad-based fascination with what it has to say," Stuart Applebaum, a vice president of the company, said Thursday.

The Tower Commission concluded Thursday that the President's apparatus for making foreign policy works fine, but was not used in the events that led up to the Iran- contra scandal. "The problem," retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, one of the commission members, told reporters after delivering the report to President Reagan, "was one of people, not of process."

Laying bare a chapter of intrigue and deception at the top of the United States' national security apparatus, members of the Tower Commission on Thursday completed a landmark investigation in which the sharpest difference was said to have concerned a split infinitive.

Following are excerpts of the Tower Commission report issued Thursday: In November, 1986, it was disclosed that the United States had, in August, 1985, and subsequently, participated in secret dealings with Iran involving the sale of military equipment. There appeared to be a linkage between these dealings and efforts to obtain the release of U.S. citizens held hostage in Lebanon by terrorists believed to be closely associated with the Iranian regime.

Release of the Tower Commission report Thursday brought demands from both parties in Congress that President Reagan change the hands-off approach to governing that has been the hallmark of his presidency. Although there was no indication that Reagan broke the law, "colossal blunders were made," Senate Republican leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said. He added that "we need to tighten things up at the White House. . . .

Once upon a time the American public was told that the Iran-Contra affair was an aberration. "Never again," was the assurance by the President, the independent review board chaired by former Sen. John Tower and the joint congressional committee investigating the scandal. There were some of us who disagreed with this finding and believed that strong action was required to regulate and oversee the use of covert action and secret diplomacy. However, as public concern about the scandal waned--Ronald Reagan was fond of saying that it didn't matter at all to the folks living beyond the Washington Beltway--the pressure for reform lost much of its momentum.

As the North trial progresses, it becomes more and more obvious why John Tower was nominated for secretary of defense, and why his defeat was so strongly partisan. Meese testified that he had warned Reagan that impeachment was a possibility if the whole Iran-Contra story came out. Thus, the creation of the Tower Commission, appointed by Reagan and headed by John Tower. The commission's report cleared Reagan of any responsibility. The report also confirmed George Bush's contention that he knew little or nothing about what was going on at the time and was, therefore, the logical choice to succeed Reagan.

President-elect Bush rounded out his national security team Friday with the long-expected selection of former Texas Sen. John Tower as defense secretary. Tower promised "as much, if not more, defense for less money." Tower hinted at manpower reductions throughout the armed services. But, he stressed, "I would not advocate, for the immediate future, any significant troop reduction in Europe."

President-elect George Bush today named former Texas Sen. John Tower to be the nation's next defense secretary, capping an extraordinary semipublic debate over the retired conservative lawmaker's personal and professional fitness for the post. In making the announcement before reporters, Bush hailed "my friend Sen. Tower" as a man of "great experience, expertise and commitment to peace and freedom." He said the former lawmaker is committed to reforming the Pentagon.

President Reagan's confidential, handwritten diaries show he was far more aware of private fund-raising efforts for the Nicaraguan rebels than previously known, according to members of the Senate committee investigating the Iran- contra affair.

The Tower Commission said there is nothing wrong with the National Security Council process; that the recent major breakdown in the council's function was due to the fact that the process wasn't used. It went on to say that it is not necessary that presidential appointees to the council be approved by the Senate. I disagree. We the people need more control over those in position to exert great influence over or usurp power from the President. It is obvious that unscrupulous and ignorant men were the prime cause of the current debacle by substituting their unethical codes and procedures for established legal process.

Despite its intense investigation, the Tower Commission said Thursday that it was unable to prove that Reagan Administration officials had succeeded in their attempt to divert profits from the Iran arms sales to support Nicaraguan contras. The panel determined for the first time, however, that $22.8 million from the secret arms sales is unaccounted for.

President Reagan will address the nation at 6 p.m. PST tonight in what is expected to be his first lengthy response to the Tower Commission report on the Iran arms affair. The speech will be broadcast by the major television networks.

The Tower Commission went out of business on Friday as the period for which it was created by President Reagan to investigate the Iran- contra affair ended. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said commission files would be returned to the White House, which will make them available to other investigators. The secret arms sales to Iran and the reported diversion of funds to aid Nicaraguan rebels are being investigated by an independent counsel and by committees of the House and Senate.

Anyone who has struggled through his W-4 form may be wondering why he would want to read another government document, ever. On the other hand, the "instant book" version of the report of the President's Special Review Board, better known as the Tower Commission, has been in print less than a week and is selling out in bookstores across the country. "An across-the-board phenomenon" is how Mary Lilja at the B.