Posted on 07/29/2019 4:45:39 PM PDT by kosciusko51
On the morning the U.S. Embassy in Tehran was stormed by Iranian students, its top diplomat was visiting the Iranian Foreign Ministry, discussing security and diplomatic immunity over a cup of tea when word reached him that his embassy was under siege.
L. Bruce Laingen went on to reach State Department officials by telephone from the Foreign Ministry office in downtown Tehran, ordering them to destroy confidential documents before it was too late. His staff was soon overrun, bound and blindfolded. He would spend most of the next 444 days in captivity at the Foreign Ministry, isolated from the dozens of other Americans who were primarily held at the embassy.
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RIP.
I have often wondered about the hostage crisis. Jimmy Carter authorized the ill fated rescue mission. We seemed to be paralyzed in what to do.
It was no coincidence that the hostages were released as Reagan was being sworn in as president. I recall Reagan made some comments about the Iranians being barbarians or savages, words to that effect. I think that the Iranians were afraid of what Reagan might do. I think Reagan also described the hostages as prisoners of war, and suggested that Iran was at war with us, which would invite a military response.
Rather than take chances, Ayatollah Khomeini (sp)? and his boys decided to release the hostages.
I was in the Air Force at that time. It was rumored that Mr. Reagan had sent word thru a friendly embassy that, “If the hostages were still on the ground after he was sworn in, his first act would be to make Tehran a glass parking lot.”
I remember during the hostage crisis the news kept calling the hostage takers "students". After a while, Doonesbury came out with a very funny comic strip where the "students" were agonizing over being behind on their school projects and didn't have time to study for exams. After that, the news stopped calling them "students."
I was in the Air Force at the time as well, statiioned on Guam. I pulled sentry duty on the C-5A that we found out later was carrying the helicopter used in the ill-fated rescue mission.
They had a farsi language specialist who was a spy, of course. The student idiot take-overErs didn’t know who he was.
One American captive went all Stockholm Syndrome, though, and do you know what he did?
He went and TOLD THE IRANIANS who this spy among their number was. That guy didn’t get executed but he underwent many beatings, severe interrogation and several mock executions.
The guy who ratted him out, you know what job he did after he got back to the USA?
He became a *COP*.
So just remember that.
I did not know that.
I firmly believe it was also a B-12 shot to crazed muslims worldwide. We did nothing to them (except later we destroyed their enemy, Iraq).
Carter should have given the Iranians what they wanted — a War. Go to Congress, get a declaration. Then, while building up forces, have the Swiss negotiate an exchange of diplomatic staff (we would have legally grabbed theirs). But Carter was morally weak and indecisive.
I was a contractor at Camp Pendleton, they painted a couple dozen Jeeps & small troop transports “desert tan” in the open air, then a day later the lot was empty. A week later, Jimmy’s desert disaster was reported. Don’t know if they were used in Iran, but it fit the timeline.
I was a contractor at Camp Pendleton, they painted a couple dozen Jeeps & small troop transports “desert tan” in the open air, then a day later the lot was empty. A week later, Jimmy’s desert disaster was reported. Don’t know if they were used in Iran, but it fit the timeline.
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