Page "Contras" Paragraph 17

By December 1981, however, the U. S. had already begun to support armed opponents of the Sandinista regime.

From the beginning, the CIA was in charge.

The arming, clothing, feeding and supervision of the contras became the most ambitious paramilitary and political action operation mounted by the agency in nearly a decade.

One of the purposes the CIA hoped to achieve by these operations was an aggressive and violent response from the Sandinista government which in turn could be used as a pretext for proper military actions.