[VOA]

It began in Tehran in 1979

Good point.
Although I was a teenager at the time, I did keep up with the news...
and over the years, I've gotten the feeling that the US "news media" has conveniently
reported that time period in terms most favorable to Jimmy Carter.

The Shah was no saint...but he wasn't on the fast track to "Axis of Evil" status
like the Ayatollah and all the mullahs/imams/etc.

[lightman]

Tehran was the first overt attack by radical Islamists against the US, and it was met with nothing but handwringing and yellow ribbons, and, yes, a very poorly executed attempt at rescuing the hostages. That set the pattern of our do-nothing response for the next 22 years.

Any wonder they prefer a donkey boy in the White House?