Explanation: At the same time that US President Ronald Reagan was ramping up the 'war on drugs', he was also directing the CIA to assist Nicaraguan anti-communist death squads with funding. Unfortunately, since big mean Congress had forbade Reagan from funding his favorite murderers directly, the CIA had to use 'backchannels' to acquire the necessary off-the-books money - some of it by dealing arms to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and some by helping those death squads sell cocaine in the US.