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1979 Iran Hostage Crisis

PoS

Minister of Love
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When this happened I was a little tot so I wasnt sure what was going on, and just having seen this, and I sure learned a lot of new things.

- There was a previous hostage taking attempt almost one year prior, and it succeeded before the Iranian radicals left the compound.
- Most of the embassy staff and their dependents left not long after, but 50 or so stayed. Why didnt the State Department evacuate them all by this point?
- The spark that set off the second attempt was when Jimmy Carter allowed the exiled Shah into the US for cancer treatment, and this angered the radicals in Iran.
- When it happened a second time, and the students who engineered it only wanted to occupy the place for 2 days before leaving to demand the Shah's extradition.
- Khomeni originally didnt know about it, but when radicals gathered around the embassy, he decided to let it continue in order to get rid of the political opposition to his rule.
- The Iranians were willing to trade the 50 hostages for the Shah, but Carter refused.
- Operation Eagle Claw was a disaster because of poor planning and ineffective command and control.

What do you think?
 
I was on Diego Garcia when we tried the rescue that went horribly wrong in the desert.
 
I was working midnight at UPS to put myself through school when the rescue attempt failed. I still remember that night.

The Shah was a brutal dictator whose secret police (known as the SAVAK) tortured and murdered thousands of Iranians and other people. Carter lost the '80 election to Ronnie because he was seen as weak. It's a shame we can't come to some type of agreement with the Iranians. The middle-east would be better off if we did.
 
There’s a new mood in Iran today:

Iranian protesters set fire to Ayatollah Khomeini's house https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63681472
The last episode of the miniseries sort of touches this subject. You ought to watch it.

I was on Diego Garcia when we tried the rescue that went horribly wrong in the desert.
Were you in the Service? What was the attitude like back then?

I was working midnight at UPS to put myself through school when the rescue attempt failed. I still remember that night.

The Shah was a brutal dictator whose secret police (known as the SAVAK) tortured and murdered thousands of Iranians and other people. Carter lost the '80 election to Ronnie because he was seen as weak. It's a shame we can't come to some type of agreement with the Iranians. The middle-east would be better off if we did.
From watching the docu, it seems that the Iranians hated Carter almost as much as the Shah. And when the hostage crisis played out, they kept the hostages in captivity all the way until Carter was out of office just to twist the knife.
 


When this happened I was a little tot so I wasnt sure what was going on, and just having seen this, and I sure learned a lot of new things.

- There was a previous hostage taking attempt almost one year prior, and it succeeded before the Iranian radicals left the compound.
- Most of the embassy staff and their dependents left not long after, but 50 or so stayed. Why didnt the State Department evacuate them all by this point?
- The spark that set off the second attempt was when Jimmy Carter allowed the exiled Shah into the US for cancer treatment, and this angered the radicals in Iran.
- When it happened a second time, and the students who engineered it only wanted to occupy the place for 2 days before leaving to demand the Shah's extradition.
- Khomeni originally didnt know about it, but when radicals gathered around the embassy, he decided to let it continue in order to get rid of the political opposition to his rule.
- The Iranians were willing to trade the 50 hostages for the Shah, but Carter refused.
- Operation Eagle Claw was a disaster because of poor planning and ineffective command and control.

What do you think?

Your version is not entirely correct.
But Carter and his negotiators kept working through the very end of his presidency, and eventually, at the last possible moment, they succeeded. On January 19, 1981, the US and Iran signed the Algiers Accords, an agreement brokered by the Algerian government that secured the hostages' release in exchange for concessions by the US, including sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the creation of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal that would remove cases against Iran from US courts.
The hostages were released the following day, January 20, 1981 — the day Reagan was inaugurated.

The Republican myth of Ronald Reagan and the Iran hostages, debunked​

 
A bit of a tangent, but IMO, I don't think there's a single issue that did more damage to Carter's chances of winning reelection than the Iranian hostage crisis. At every turn he looked impotent.
 
What do you think?
When this happened, I was more than old enough to remember it.

Really sorry that the plan to rescue the Americans was a disaster.

In retrospect, this country should have asked Israel to do the job.

With all due respect, the Iranian leaders have to be treated with an iron fist.

Israel in recent years has sent in agents to, uh, terminate some bad guys.

The Iranian leaders are terrified of Israel.

That's how they have to be treated -- in my humble opinion.
 
And Iran is voting to execute over 15,000 protestors.

What are Biden and the US going to do about this?
 
I was in 9th grade when this happened. Two things I remember that stood out. I followed the crisis on TV with the advent of Ted Koppel's Nightline. Near real-time reporting was still a new medium - no more waiting for tomorrow morning's paper.

Secondly, we had a classmate that was Iranian. When this all broke out, students became suspicious of him and the whole school got worked up over it. One day in class, the teacher addressed the situation, and the student shared his story with the class. He explained to us how his family was forced to flee Iran because they were part of the political class aligned with the Shah. That pretty much ended that drama.

I still have memories of watching Walter Cronkite and Viet Nam war reporting, Watergate, oil embargo, etc, but this was the first world crisis were I was engaged with interest. I stayed up late and watched Nightline for over a year.
 
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When this happened, I was more than old enough to remember it.

Really sorry that the plan to rescue the Americans was a disaster.

In retrospect, this country should have asked Israel to do the job.

With all due respect, the Iranian leaders have to be treated with an iron fist.

Israel in recent years has sent in agents to, uh, terminate some bad guys.

The Iranian leaders are terrified of Israel.

That's how they have to be treated -- in my humble opinion.

....no they aren’t.

Israel’s hit squads have utterly failed to deter Iran from continuing to work towards a nuclear bomb.
 
Your version is not entirely correct.
But Carter and his negotiators kept working through the very end of his presidency, and eventually, at the last possible moment, they succeeded. On January 19, 1981, the US and Iran signed the Algiers Accords, an agreement brokered by the Algerian government that secured the hostages' release in exchange for concessions by the US, including sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the creation of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal that would remove cases against Iran from US courts.
The hostages were released the following day, January 20, 1981 — the day Reagan was inaugurated.

The Republican myth of Ronald Reagan and the Iran hostages, debunked​

Thats covered in the documentary. The Iranians delayed the hostages' flight out of their country just until Reagan assumed office. That's how much they hated Carter.
 
Truly pathetic watching Fledermaus blunder in without having the slightest clue what is going in the thread.

Parser claimed that the Iranians are “terrified of Israel” when they clearly aren’t.
 
Yes, it’s rather funny watching you embarrass yourself.
 
Your version is not entirely correct.
But Carter and his negotiators kept working through the very end of his presidency, and eventually, at the last possible moment, they succeeded. On January 19, 1981, the US and Iran signed the Algiers Accords, an agreement brokered by the Algerian government that secured the hostages' release in exchange for concessions by the US, including sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the creation of the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal that would remove cases against Iran from US courts.
The hostages were released the following day, January 20, 1981 — the day Reagan was inaugurated.

The Republican myth of Ronald Reagan and the Iran hostages, debunked​

The only reason Iran caved was because they knew RR was coming.
 
Thats covered in the documentary. The Iranians delayed the hostages' flight out of their country just until Reagan assumed office. That's how much they hated Carter.
So Reagan was more terrorist Iran friendly, i.e. the Iran Contra Scandal orchestrated under Reagan.
 
The only reason Iran caved was because they knew RR was coming.
So Reagan was more terrorist Iran friendly, i.e. the Iran Contra Scandal orchestrated under Reagan.
 


When this happened I was a little tot so I wasnt sure what was going on, and just having seen this, and I sure learned a lot of new things.

- There was a previous hostage taking attempt almost one year prior, and it succeeded before the Iranian radicals left the compound.
- Most of the embassy staff and their dependents left not long after, but 50 or so stayed. Why didnt the State Department evacuate them all by this point?
- The spark that set off the second attempt was when Jimmy Carter allowed the exiled Shah into the US for cancer treatment, and this angered the radicals in Iran.
- When it happened a second time, and the students who engineered it only wanted to occupy the place for 2 days before leaving to demand the Shah's extradition.
- Khomeni originally didnt know about it, but when radicals gathered around the embassy, he decided to let it continue in order to get rid of the political opposition to his rule.
- The Iranians were willing to trade the 50 hostages for the Shah, but Carter refused.
- Operation Eagle Claw was a disaster because of poor planning and ineffective command and control.

What do you think?

I was about 4 years out of military service. Nevermind the Iranian motivations for taking over the embassy. It was an act of war. None of the reasons were valid. President Carter lost his bid for re-election because he simply lacked the backbone to act. Instead of giving the Iranians a strong ultimatum, he wrote letters to the Ayotollah and tried to appeal to his religion. He had special forces organize a rescue, then sat on his hands for six months after they were ready before giving the go ahead. By that time the weather conditions were very unfavorable which led to the failure.
 
I was about 4 years out of military service. Nevermind the Iranian motivations for taking over the embassy. It was an act of war. None of the reasons were valid. President Carter lost his bid for re-election because he simply lacked the backbone to act. Instead of giving the Iranians a strong ultimatum, he wrote letters to the Ayotollah and tried to appeal to his religion. He had special forces organize a rescue, then sat on his hands for six months after they were ready before giving the go ahead. By that time the weather conditions were very unfavorable which led to the failure.

The US public and military were in no shape to try and fight a major war less than five years after Vietnam ended. “Acting” militarily would have been a disastrous bloodbath.
 
The US public and military were in no shape to try and fight a major war less than five years after Vietnam ended. “Acting” militarily would have been a disastrous bloodbath.
You are confused on many levels. Nobody was pushing a war against Iran. Just an ultimatum backed up by force if needed. Your bloodbath scenario is ignorant as well. You have no earthly idea what our military capabilities or readiness levels were at the time.
 
So Reagan was more terrorist Iran friendly, i.e. the Iran Contra Scandal orchestrated under Reagan.
Yes, Reagan owned up to it, and the public said it was okay. You should really watch the docu since its covered.
 
You are confused on many levels. Nobody was pushing a war against Iran. Just an ultimatum backed up by force if needed. Your bloodbath scenario is ignorant as well. You have no earthly idea what our military capabilities or readiness levels were at the time.

And “ultimatums backed by force” are the exact situation that lead to wars. There is no evidence to suggest that the Iranians would have caved to an ultimatum in the first place.

Furthermore, much like Vietnam, Iran’s terrain is a defender and guerrilla’s wet dream. Only a few years removed from the failure in Vietnam, where the US military practically came apart at the seams, ANOTHER unwinnable war would have been disastrous.

The Iranians proved they would fight for their new regime when Iraq attacked. The US was in no shape to enter what would have been a major war.
 
So Reagan was more terrorist Iran friendly, i.e. the Iran Contra Scandal orchestrated under Reagan.
No, we were going to go into Iran and get the job done.
 
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