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In Japan, during the Tokugawa period, there was a policy called Sankin ko tai, an 'alternative attendance' or 'visit and hostage' system to keep the Daimyos in line. Wives and relatives would reside with the Shogunate while the Daimyos ruled their fiefdoms. Visitations were allowed generously as long as the Daimyos remained in good grace.

Carter's administration allowed the mullahs to keep the embassy staff hostage for 444 days, with no visitation, no contact and no rescue. This situation reduced the President of the US to the status of an errant and weak daimyo in the eyes of the mullahs. Now to save face (or create a legacy), Carter suggests we revisit the past in the belief of a different outcome.

Hmmm.....not a bad idea. Let's nominate former Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife to head to Tehran as the new ambassador and CIA station chief.