"Scott Walker's presidential campaign announcement happens to coincide with the latest deadline set by the Obama administration in its negotiations with Iran. But the presence of Kevin Hermening, the youngest American held hostage by Iran in 1979 for 444 days, will not be quite so serendipitous.
Walker often mentions Hermening in his stump speech when making his case about the best way to deal with Iran and other foreign adversaries. The Wausau, Wisc., resident told the Washington Examiner the Walker team invited him to Monday's announcement at the governor's request. He said he felt honored to receive the invitation, and added that he hoped to hear Walker articulate a vision that "lifts up and holds steadfast to the principles of a capitalist economic system and a peace through strength military posture."
"I'm expecting that he'll talk about the fact that hopefully he shares my belief that the United States has seen its influence on the world stage greatly diminish over the last eight years; that the United States is seen as a paper tiger when it comes to our adversarial relationships from around the world," Hermening said. "It's my hope that he will comment and talk about how important renewing the most important relationships of ours around the world, allied relationships, is."
As for President Obama's most recent overtures to Iran, Hermening thinks the president has taken the exact wrong approach.
"The Iranian government has never been held accountable for having violated the actual, or in spirit if not in deed, every tenet of international law for those 444 days we were in captivity," he said. "Quite honestly, any negotiation that our country engages in, or any two parties … certainly with governments, you need two honest brokers and it doesn't appear to me that the Iranians are at all, should be described as an honest broker in this negotiation."
Hermening, who spent 43 days in solitary confinement, was finally released from Iran when President Ronald Reagan took office. He previously told the Examiner that he met Walker in the 1980s as they volunteered for various Republican campaigns and were active in politics during the Reagan era. The governor's familiarity and proximity with Hermening has had an undeniable impact on his understanding of the United States' relationship with Iran."
[Jan 2011] 30 years ago, Iran hostage returned home to Wisconsin