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Bush Questions Iran Leader-Elect's Past
Associated Press ^ | 7 minutes ago | NEDRA PICKLER,

Posted on 06/30/2005 4:02:33 PM PDT by BenLurkin

WASHINGTON - The White House said Thursday it was investigating whether Iran's new president played a role in seizing the American Embassy and holding 52 U.S. captives a quarter century ago. President Bush said the allegation by former hostages "raises many questions."

The administration was reviewing its files on Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the hostage comments were brought to light by The Associated Press.

"I have no information, but obviously his involvement raises many questions," Bush said in an interview with foreign reporters. The administration said it would have to deal with Ahmadinejad, regardless of his past.

Ahmadinejad has been the ultraconservative mayor of Tehran and, according to his associates, was a member of the radical student group that planned the embassy takeover in 1979. But his associates say he opposed the plan and did not take part in holding hostages because he preferred instead to target the Soviet Embassy.

Six former hostages told AP they recognized Ahmadinejad from television coverage and photos as one of their captors during the 444-day ordeal. It was a painful, frustrating time for the United States and weakened then-President Carter, contributing to his re-election loss to Ronald Reagan.

William A. Gallegos, who lives in suburban Denver, wrote in an e-mail concerning Ahmadinejad: "I remember him being one of the leaders at the beginning of the takeover. He was also present during my interrogations. He did not take part, but was present in the background and he always seemed to be in charge of the guards who watched over us."

It was unclear whether the administration had explored previously whether Ahmadinejad was involved in the hostage episode. National security adviser Stephen Hadley said the United States has followed his career. "Obviously, one of the things you do when you get a report like this is look back and see what you have in the files, and that's the process that's going on now," Hadley said.

Militant students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, and held the U.S. hostages in reprisal for Washington's refusal to surrender ousted Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi for trial. The shah had fled Iran earlier that year after he was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution.

Ahmadinejad resembles a thin, bearded man pictured on Nov. 9, 1979, holding the arm of a blindfolded hostage and displaying him to the crowd outside the embassy, although some who know Ahmadinejad say the man is too tall to be the incoming president.

Hadley said the White House was looking into the photographs and had not reached any conclusions. "They are allegations at the present time," he said. "We need to get the facts."

Hadley stressed that the United States would have to deal with Ahmadinejad, even if the administration did not approve of the way he was elected. Bush denounced the election earlier this month, saying it was designed to maintain power in the hands of an unelected few who denied ballot access to more than 1,000 people who wanted to run.

Bush suggested that questions about Ahmadinejad's role in the hostage situation were not his primary concern. Instead, he said, he wanted to ensure that Britain, France and Germany, who have been negotiating with Iran to stop its alleged nuclear ambitions, make clear to Ahmadinejad that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated.

"We've got a new man who's assumed power and he must hear a focused message," the president said. "That's where my attention is focused right now."

Members of Ahmadinejad's office refused to look at the photos or comment on the allegations. Guards prevented AP from entering Ahmadinejad's office to present the photos.

"The president-elect will have four years ahead with a lot of work that needs to be done. We won't enter a media game," Kaveh Eshtehardi, an aide to the president-elect said when asked to look at the pictures. "We won't heed such allegations."

Ahmadinejad was a member of the Office of Strengthening Unity, the student organization that planned the embassy takeover, but he was opposed to taking the U.S. Embassy, several of his associates said. Ahmadinejad was more concerned with putting down leftists and communists at universities than striking at Americans, they said.

Ahmadinejad was said to have told colleagues in a recent meeting that he had opposed targeting the American Embassy because it would bring international condemnation on Iran. "I believed that if we did that, the world would swallow us," he said, according to aide Meisan Rowhani, who was at the meeting.

Abbas Abdi, the leader of the hostage-takers, said Ahmadinejad did not take part in the seizure. Abdi has since become a leading supporter of reform in Iran and sharply opposed Ahmadinejad in the election. "He was not part of us," Abdi said.

Some former hostages said they couldn't be sure about their captors. Alan Golancinski, one of the former hostages who is retired and now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., said he couldn't positively identify Ahmadinejad

"When I was interrogated, I was blindfolded and shackled," he said.


TOPICS: War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ahmadinejad; bush43; iran; jimmycarter; mahmoudahmadinejad; mullahloversonfr; tehran
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1 posted on 06/30/2005 4:02:33 PM PDT by BenLurkin
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To: BenLurkin

No doubt Jimmuh Cawtuh has blessed the election and sent a love note to Mahmoud......


2 posted on 06/30/2005 4:05:27 PM PDT by clintonh8r (Liberals preach comity and practice calumny.)
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To: BenLurkin
I have a pretty good hunch that Bush already knows the score on this jerk.

I'd be amazed if our intelligence services didn't ID and track all the players in the Iranian Hostage Crisis from 1980 on to today....

3 posted on 06/30/2005 4:06:19 PM PDT by Yossarian (Remember: NOT ALL HEART ATTACKS HAVE TRADITIONAL SYMPTOMS)
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To: BenLurkin
The carter legacy lives on.
4 posted on 06/30/2005 4:08:21 PM PDT by mdittmar (May God watch over those who serve,and have served, to keep us free.)
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To: BenLurkin

If it's the guy in the photo that's in the CBS News archive, it's not the same guy. Nose and earlobe different, without a doubt.


5 posted on 06/30/2005 4:08:25 PM PDT by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has ever led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: Yossarian

I agree. And I think he let it all take place and now we have a reason to go into Iran or stir their sh*t pot.


6 posted on 06/30/2005 4:08:41 PM PDT by jw777
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To: clintonh8r
I'm glad you brough that cretin up. Just today I asked a friend "How come Jimmy Carter has never been mentioned in discussing the current Middle East situation Bush has had to deal with?" We hear about Clinton and Bush 41 and even Reagan, but never Jimmuh.

Jimmuh praised the shah when he was in power but did nothing to keep him there--he was a creep, sure, but how come Saddam is "bad, but no threat" and he got involved in a war that killed one million...and he fought it against a regime that slithered into power after the downfall of the shah. (The mullahs and the ayatollah were NOT the ones who were intended to be put in power after the shah's fall, they crawled back into the country and basically took control of a rudderless opposition.)

If Jimmuh had helped keep the shah in power, Khomeni might never have been in charge, and gone to war with Saddam, and killed a million people.

All of that is fine with the left...but someone liberating the area, admittedly with some civilian casualties, but helping to start the process of democratization--he's a Nazi? And the vile Carter is "our greatest ex-president"?

7 posted on 06/30/2005 4:10:47 PM PDT by Darkwolf377 (Don't suffer fools gladly? I don't suffer them at all.)
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To: clintonh8r; All

Related earlier thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434208/posts


8 posted on 06/30/2005 4:11:07 PM PDT by BenLurkin (O beautiful for patriot dream - that sees beyond the years)
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To: clintonh8r

9 posted on 06/30/2005 4:22:58 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("Rommel, you magnificent son of bitch.....I READ YOUR BOOK!! - Gen. Patton)
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To: savedbygrace

There are two issues :

1)Ahmadinejad, without question, DID participate in the hostage crisis. That's a fact.

2) Is that him in the photo? I don't know. There are differences. But it really doesn't matter who the man in the photo is.


10 posted on 06/30/2005 4:23:40 PM PDT by nuconvert (No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR) [there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: Yossarian

While I certainly hope that the CIA has done what you suggest, I have my doubts. After all, it is the CIA


11 posted on 06/30/2005 4:25:27 PM PDT by Accygirl
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To: Michael.SF.

I betcha Israel will have a thing or two to say and do about this also!!!


12 posted on 06/30/2005 4:25:31 PM PDT by jackv
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To: nuconvert

You're right, I'm sure, but I think we need to make it clear that the photo comparison isn't anywhere near proof that they're the same guy.


13 posted on 06/30/2005 4:29:07 PM PDT by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has ever led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: savedbygrace
.....

They look pretty close to being the same guy to me.

14 posted on 06/30/2005 4:33:30 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("Rommel, you magnificent son of bitch.....I READ YOUR BOOK!! - Gen. Patton)
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To: savedbygrace

No, I don't think it's clear, either. And, this whole photo thing was started on a website run by the MEK, a designated terrorist group, itself involved in the hostage crisis, that has a grudge against the regime.

As I said, it doesn't matter who the man is in the photo.
Ahmadinejad was involved in the hostage crisis, photo or not. He also wanted to storm the Russian embassy, at the time.


15 posted on 06/30/2005 4:35:43 PM PDT by nuconvert (No More Axis of Evil by Christmas ! TLR) [there's a lot of bad people in the pistachio business])
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To: Darkwolf377
"How come Jimmy Carter has never been mentioned in discussing the current Middle East situation Bush has had to deal with?" We hear about Clinton and Bush 41 and even Reagan, but never Jimmuh.

History is repleat with "footnote's".

Jimmuh was a most forgetable "footnote".

You are correct though, this thread to the past needs more attention.

A caller on Rush's show today made a good case about this very matter.

LVM

16 posted on 06/30/2005 4:44:26 PM PDT by LasVegasMac ("God. Guts. Guns. I don't call 911." (bumper sticker))
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To: Michael.SF.
Look at this thread and see what you think:

Is it the same guy? [New Iran Pres.] (New profile pic)

17 posted on 06/30/2005 5:09:31 PM PDT by savedbygrace ("No Monday morning quarterback has ever led a team to victory" GW Bush)
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To: BenLurkin

What happens when this jerk feels like throwing atomic bombs around the neighborhood towards, for instance, Israel?
Once let loose they are devastating.
Should there be preventive measures similar to what Saddam had to tolerate when Israel decided enough is enough?


18 posted on 06/30/2005 5:15:48 PM PDT by hermgem
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To: savedbygrace
Look at this thread and see what you think

OK, point made. Most likely not the same guy.

Call this a Ratherism..... inaccurate, but factual.

19 posted on 06/30/2005 5:19:42 PM PDT by Michael.SF. ("Rommel, you magnificent son of bitch.....I READ YOUR BOOK!! - Gen. Patton)
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To: savedbygrace
Isokoff was on Hardball tonite and said a BBC reporter interviewed this new Pres of Iran, and recognized him from the hostage crisis.

I think I heard him correctly, will have to watch again.
20 posted on 06/30/2005 5:22:40 PM PDT by roses of sharon (,)
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