A bit of reflection

After Reagan was elected president, he named Casey to the post of Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During his tenure at the CIA, Casey played a large part in the shaping of Reagan's foreign-policy, particularly its approach to Soviet expansionism.

This period of the Cold War saw a ramping up of the Agency's anti-Soviet activities around the world. Casey was the principal architect of the arms-for-hostages deal that became known as the Iran-Contra affair. He also oversaw covert assistance to the mujahadeen resistance in Afghanistan by working closely with Akhtar Abdur Rahman The Director General of ISI in Pakistan, the Solidarity movement in Poland, and a number of coups and attempted coups in South- and Central America.

In 1985, Casey authorized the assasination of Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a prominent anti-American Hezbollah cleric, in Beirut.<1> The operation was accredited by then president of the United States Ronald Reagan. The venture was however a failure of dramatic proportions as the Ayatollah escaped unharmed while the car bomb, placed outside a mosque in proximity to the home of the intended target, exploded during rush hour, killing at least 85 civilians while injuring at least 175.<2>...Many people feel that Casey's death was convenient, as he avoided testifying at an investigatory committee to be held just days later, the purpose of which was to look into CIA involvement in Iran Contra scandal. His brain cancer was very sudden and killed him just in time.