[Interesting Times]

Article by a friend-of-a-friend who was one of the 52 hostages held by the Iranians in 1979. He has a new book out on the crisis that triggered the U.S. war on terrorism

[Interesting Times]

Origins of the current unpleasantness ping...

[shield]

This is what put Reagan in office...

[Paladin2]

"The hostage-taking and murder of the Jewish athletes and coaches in the Olympic Village on September 5, 1972" seems the modern era started earlier. Maybe in the 1800's with the Brits in India and Afghanistan

[ladyinred]

I read one of the previous books written by a hostage and it just made my blood boil! I must read this one as well. Thanks for posting this.

[hoosiermama]

Please add me to the ping list.

[RaceBannon]

http://rescueattempt.tripod.com

Bowden promised me an autographed copy! :)

[ncountylee]

Carter encouraged the Islamo nut jobs in Somalia in 1977.

[Tall_Texan]

Hopefully, these jihadists have learned that if they attack when Republican presidents are in office, they'll be attacked in return. If they attack while a Democrat is in office, some envoy will want to negotiate peace with them.

[pollyannaish]

Looking forward to getting the book.

A "you can never get too much context" bttt.

[delphifalcon]

"President George W. Bush consistently has opposed our case."

WHY???

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

The story of the American hostages who spent 444 days in Iran is now more than a quarter century old and rarely told in the detail that it deserves.

...because the story makes Jimmy Carter look like the weak neutered leader that he really was, and the freeing of them makes Reagan look good. The liberal media doesn't want that. They'd rather stay vague and let everybody think that it was an unsolvable problem that eventually worked itself out.

[mass55th]

According to Wikipedia:

"In 2000, the hostages and their families tried to sue Iran, unsuccessfully, under the Antiterrorism Act. They originally won the case when Iran failed to provide defense, but the U.S. State Department tried to put an end to the suit, fearing that it would make international relations difficult. As a result, a federal judge ruled that nothing could be done to repay the damages the hostages faced due to the agreement they made when the hostages were freed."

Anybody surprised that our illustrious State Dept. was behind squashing this suit? I see the Clintonites written all over this.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Meanwhile the lotus-eaters dream on.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

President George W. Bush consistently has opposed our case.

So much for accountability for terrorism. It's selective accountability based on who you are. No wonder Iran and Saudi Arabia are so brazen, we still let them off scot free for directly supporting terrorism.

[RaceBannon]

Guests of the Ayatollah video
http://www.ocule.com/guests/



Guests of the Ayatollah book website

http://www.theguestsoftheayatollah.com/




Discovery Times website on the video

http://times.discovery.com/convergence/ayatollah/ayatollah.html


Guests of the Ayatollah, Atlantic Monthly website, blog and chat on the book

http://iran.theatlantic.com/homepage.html

[SuziQ]

I've seen that book, "Guests of the Ayatollah", and wondered what it was like. I think I'll see if our local library has a copy of it. I listened to the audio book version of Terry Anderson's "Den of Lions", and it was very good.

[cricket]

Thanks for the post. . .definitely want to read this. . .am wondering, as we 'speak' how many Hollywood Studios are rushing to Author to get film rights. . .

It is a horrific site to behold; watching/listening to Demrats offer their prescriptions for Iraq and analyze our WOT. . .

[Samwise]

Thanks for the ping!

[Irish Eyes]

Thanks for the post. I remember those times well.

[Guenevere]

bttt