<P> I argued strongly that we have an embargo that makes arms sales to Iran illegal and President couldn't violate it and that' washing' transactions thru Israel wouldn't make it legal . Shultz, Don Regan agreed . </P> <P> Weinberger's notes have Reagan saying he "could answer charges of illegality but he couldn't answer charge that' big strong President Reagan' passed up a chance to free hostages". Now retired National Security Advisor McFarlane flew to London to meet with Israelis and Ghorbanifar in an attempt to persuade the Iranian to use his influence to release the hostages before any arms transactions occurred; this plan was rejected by Ghorbanifar . </P> <P> On the day of McFarlane's resignation, Oliver North, a military aide to the United States National Security Council (NSC), proposed a new plan for selling arms to Iran, which included two major adjustments: instead of selling arms through Israel, the sale was to be direct, and a portion of the proceeds would go to Contras, or Nicaraguan paramilitary fighters waging guerrilla warfare against the democratically elected Sandinista government, at a markup . The dealings with the Iranians were conducted via the NSC with Admiral Poindexter and his deputy Colonel North, with the American historians Malcolm Byrne and Peter Kornbluh writing that Poindexter granted much power to North "...who made the most of the situation, often deciding important matters on his own, striking outlandish deals with the Iranians, and acting in the name of the president on issues that were far beyond his competence . All of these activities continued to take place within the framework of the president's broad authorization . Until the press reported on the existence of the operation, nobody in the administration questioned the authority of Poindexter's and North's team to implement the president's decisions". North proposed a $15 million markup, while contracted arms broker Ghorbanifar added a 41% markup of his own . Other members of the NSC were in favor of North's plan; with large support, Poindexter authorized it without notifying President Reagan, and it went into effect . At first, the Iranians refused to buy the arms at the inflated price because of the excessive markup imposed by North and Ghorbanifar . They eventually relented, and in February 1986, 1,000 TOW missiles were shipped to the country . From May to November 1986, there were additional shipments of miscellaneous weapons and parts . </P> <P> Both the sale of weapons to Iran, and the funding of the Contras, attempted to circumvent not only stated administration policy, but also the Boland Amendment . Administration officials argued that regardless of the Congress restricting the funds for the Contras, or any affair, the President (or in this case the administration) could carry on by seeking alternative means of funding such as private entities and foreign governments . Funding from one foreign country, Brunei, was botched when North's secretary, Fawn Hall, transposed the numbers of North's Swiss bank account number . A Swiss businessman, suddenly $10 million richer, alerted the authorities of the mistake . The money was eventually returned to the Sultan of Brunei, with interest . </P>

Who was the u.s. military officer that was at the head of the iranian arms deals