Winners and losers.

THE 11-WEEK TRIAL OF Oliver North has ended, and everyone claims victory. A spokesman for Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh says the prosecution is "very satisfied" with the outcome. Senator Daniel K. Inouye (D., Hawaii), the Pooh-Bah of the IranContra hearings, says the verdict "reaffirmed the conclusions of the committees." Colonel North himself called it a "partial vindication."

Of the 16 counts of the original indictment, four were dropped even before the trial began. Of the remaining 12 counts, a guilty verdict was delivered on only three, the most minor ones at that. Specifically, Oliver L. North was found guilty of helping obstruct Congress's investigation of arms sales to Iran; removing and destroying National Security Council documents dealing with the Contras; and accepting a $13,873 security system for his home.

There is one clear loser (apart from the taxpayers, who will foot Mr. Walsh's $40-million bill). This is the group, led by congressional foes of the Reagan Administration, who have argued that the whole IranContra scheme was illegal from the start. The prosecution abandoned this line early on, opting instead to go for an easier conviction of Mr. North based on specific violations. In the event, they were lucky to get that: in post-trial interviews the jurors made it clear that they found the former Marine guilty only on those charges he admitted to.

The Reagan Administration could have avoided the whole mess, first by standing up to the Boland amendments instead of sending Mr. North to run Contra aid out of the back door; second, by being prudent enough to take a weekend's heat and pardon those involved before the case ever got to trial. The most lamentable failure of the Reagan Administration was its failure to stick by its people, and the price for that was paid by the President personally in the form of frequent embarrassing disclosures by former aides. The American people paid too, in a weakened Presidency. The jury's decision now presents the new President with a splendid opportunity to reverse these trends. A quick pardon for Oliver North et al. would send a signal that this Administration is in charge and is not about to let a truculent Congress re-write election results with special prosecutors, interminable hearings, and wellpublicized innuendo.