Posted on 04/28/2006 1:35:47 AM PDT by ajolympian2004
I began studying Iran in 1979 as a 21-year-old Marine sergeant and Recon (Recon is the Corps’ version of Navy SEALs and Army Rangers and Green Berets) team leader with "A" Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion. My studies began because terrorists in Iran had just overthrown Shah Reza Mohammed Pahlavi, sacked the United States Embassy in Tehran and taken dozens of Americans hostage. A few months later, my unit, the 31st Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) out of Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, was in Thailand when our mission was changed and we headed up through the tanker- and cargo-ship-packed Straits of Malacca (I recall thinking how so many ships in such tight confines created what Marines call a target-rich environment), across the placid Indian Ocean and into the North Arabian Sea, from where we could see the reddish brown dust of Iran rising into the hot air on the other side of the maritime choke point known as the Straits of Hormuz.
Welcome to Gonzo Station.
You know the rest of the story, with the hostage-rescue mission, led by Army Colonel
"Chargin’" Charlie Beckwith, ending in grim disaster at Desert One and the hostages being released as Ronald Reagan was sworn in for his first term.
As the MAU sailed south after the mission to Mombasa, Kenya, I couldn’t help but wonder what America’s next move would be. Surely President Carter, a former naval officer, would not allow terrorists to remain in charge of so strategic a nation as Iran.
If only that had been the case. Because my platoon was a special operations unit, word soon reached us that Mr. Carter was disinclined to deal with the terrorists in any fashion. The terrorists would not only be allowed to keep the hostages throughout Carter’s tenure if they wished, but would be allowed to remain in power so long as Carter was president.
That’s insanity, I thought. Leaving Muslim terrorists in charge of a heavily armed, geo-politically critical nation such as Iran is untenable. If we don’t solve the problem now, we will have a much bigger problem to solve later.
Carter knew this, of course, but was too feeble, too weak, too submissive and too pacifistic a president to handle the problem.
Now, 26 years later, my assessment has been proven graphically accurate.
This morning, I awoke to the news that Iran had acquired from North Korea SSN 6 ballistic missiles, also known as the BM-25, which North Korea had purchased from Russia, which of course is run by President Bush’s pal, Vladimir Putin, an adept (read: unscrupulous) career KGB officer. These missiles have an even greater range than Iran’s Shehab-3 and 4 ballistic missiles and are able to easily target Europe.
My daily flashback took me this morning to the flight deck of the USS Okinawa in the spring of 1980, where a young Marine sergeant stood facing aft, watching the red dust on the horizon fade away. Somewhere in that dust were the bodies of three Marines and five Air Force personnel who perished on 25 April 1980 near Tabas (the town closest to Desert One). They were:
Captain Richard L. Bakke, 34, Long Beach, CA. U.S. Air Force.
Sergeant John D. Harvey, 21, Roanoke, VA. U.S. Marine Corps.
Corporal George N. Holmes, Jr., 22, Pine Bluff, AR. U.S. Marine Corps.
Staff Sergeant Dewey L. Johnson, 32, Jacksonville, NC. U.S. Marine Corps.
Captain Harold L. Lewis, 35, Mansfield, CT. U.S. Air Force.
Technical Sergeant Joel C. Mayo, 34, Bonifay, FL. U.S. Air Force.
Captain Lynn D. McIntosh, 33, Valdosta, GA. U.S. Air Force.
Captain Charles T. McMillan II, 28, Corrytown, TN. U.S. Air Force.
Jimmy Carter should have these names tattooed on his forehead, behind which cringes the pathetic psyche of a contemptible coward. Had Carter properly dealt with the Iranian terrorists then, the United States would not be having to figure out how to deal with them now as a far more powerful and dangerous enemy that can strike targets thousands of miles away with ballistic missiles and targets tens of thousands of miles away with suicide bombers.
To be clear, Jimmy Carter is directly responsible for the Persian problem we currently face. Sadly, he will never be held accountable for his detestable lack of leadership and repugnant cowardice in the face of the enemy. His name should be stricken from the rolls of the United States Navy and the submarine that bears his name should be renamed the Reagan.
Gunny Bob Newman ping -
For Jimmy Carter it's spelled: "I ran."
We already have a USS Reagan. I agree that the sub carrying Carter's name will be handicapped by that name. What's the sub's nickname going to be? It's motto?
Great reminder and post.
I believe American officials and military personell were held captive in our embassy (Iran) for 444 days.
A question I've never seen/heard asked by the supporters of "the new world order" is, where in anyone's name was the adored United Nations on this?
This was an invasion on American soil and the U.N. did zilch. I suppose there was some jaw-flapping, but nothing happened. I'm still waiting for this question to be asked. And answered.
The peanut farmer should be more than tattooed.
BTTT
Carter was inevitable after the Democrats had successfully torn down a strong President with the resignation of Nixon. After that, the nation was going to elect an amiable dunce. If it had not been Carter, it would have been somebody else. The problem is, the US Presidency cannot take a vacation from reality.
But if you really want to assign blame, blame those who tore down Nixon. Carter was a symptom. They are the disease.
And they still are.
I remember during this Nixon/Ford time of being so sick and tired of the media and liberals gloating that they had "taken down a President" that all I wanted was to shut them up and the only way to do that was to give them what they were after...a Democrat as President. Lets face it Congress could not have chosen a worse man than Ford to run against him and don't forget it WAS Congress who "selected" Ford.
Once Carter got in, he could do no wrong and the press shut up and the verbal abuse stopped so it was kind of a relief. Of course immediately everyone, including the Press and the Liberals began to realize "they" had elected an idiot.
It was kind of funny to watch the press and liberals trying so hard to make the public believe that "their" President was a great man but just like with Bill Clinton, once they knew he was a joke, they immediately began to invent the "real" Jimmy Carter and that is what you see today. The Press invented President Carter.
You had to live through the period to understand why the Liberals think they can get away with it again. When they took down Nixon, they knew they owned the Presidency.
This is the definitive statement on the root cause of the WOT.
Thanks for everything, Gunny Bob!
An excellent point, which should be shouted from the rooftops in 2008.
"Killer Rabbit," of course.
RETIRED MARINE CALLS FOR CARTER'S RESIGNATION
USS Carter?
USS Malaise.
No, 'Amiable dunce' is what Tip O'Neal called Reagan. O'Neal turned out to be the unamiable dunce, unable to figure Reagan out.
Carter was more a stupid and helpless, yet malignant presence in the White House.
You can get a measure of the man by the fact that he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize even though the Peace Prize Committee Chairman made it clear that Cahtah got it just as slap in Bush's face.
He was a quavering little man who put together a rescue party armed with six helicopters unfit for desert duty.
He is a quavering little man who doesn't have enough love for his country to withhold diatribes against George W Bush, usually delivered in some foreign country.
My contempt for Jimmuh is unbounded.
Must've been written by Amy Carter.
bump
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