Conclusion of the Iran-Contra Hearings

Members of the news media are now engaged in a pathetic effort to salvage their reputations by justifying their earlier unscrupulous, prejudicial vilification of North with desperate attempts to imply that North’s acclaim is simply an emotional reaction by those who do not have all the facts.

The fact is that the American people have seen and heard North for themselves instead of through the distorted prism of the media and they have determined the truth.

If he has violated any law, they are only minor technical violations.

The clique in Congress that are his detractors are not so much upset that he broke the law, as they are that he found a way of doing what they did not want him to do without breaking the law.

I would hope that a byproduct of these hearings will be that the American people will realize that if we don’t help the contras fight for themselves, then we are ensuring that one day we will have to send American troops to fight for them.

North is a hero.

PETER CALLIS

Santa Monica