The following podcast contains advertising to access an ad-free version of the LawFair

podcast become a material supporter of LawFair at patreon.com slash LawFair.

That's patreon.com slash LawFair.

Also, check out LawFair's other podcast offerings, rational security, chatter, LawFair

no bull and the aftermath.

The reason we've led with Kevin Kacky and his sort of weird role in the Grenada invasion

was really emblematic of a lot of the component parts of Iran Contra where you had government

officials, specifically all over North, kind of finding people outside the government.

Private citizens who were a little more free to do things that the government was not allowed

to do, they hired people to fly planes in to Nicaragua to air drop supplies to the Contras.

They hired an armed dealer to manage the resupply operation to the Contras and manage logistics

for the Iran weapons sales.

I guess the word for this is like cutouts, they were using cutouts, people who could do

things that the government didn't want its fingerprints on.

There was just like a theme running through the whole story of these sort of outsiders,

freelancers who became essential to the functioning of American foreign policy in a way that

you really, you know, cuts against I think how a lot of us think foreign policy should

work and should be executed.

I'm David Prace and this is the LawFair podcast, February 4th, 2020.

Leon Nefak is the co-creator and former host of SlowBurn, which won the IHRK Radio Podcast

Award for Podcast of the Year last year.

And now the co-creator and host of Fiasco entering its second season on Luminary.

...