Operation Eagle Claw Decision Analysis

There was once time of prosperity and hope in this great nation. A time where it seemed that nothing could go wrong and a time that America seemed to be on top of the world as a powerhouse; however, by the late 1970’s, that time was no more. America went from an economic powerhouse to a country struggling to survive. America went from the land of the free and the home of the brave to citizens having no identity of patriotism following the Vietnam War. America went from doing the attacking and righting the wrong in the world, to being harassed and taken advantage of. This harassment is told through David Farber’s novel, Taken Hostage, which details the hostage takeover that involved sixty-six American citizens who had to endure 444 agonizing days of being taken hostage because America was no longer in control. During the time of the Iranian hostage crisis, Americans were held back by the tragedy for numerous reasons, many of which stem from the immediate reaction of combined shock and frustration towards the United States Government and President Carter, a lack of knowledge of the ongoing strained relationship between the two countries, and finally, the surprising tension and ineffectiveness of the Carter Administration’s foreign policy.

In January 1979, Iranians opposed to the Shah’s rule invaded the American embassy in Tehran and held a group of 52 American diplomats and other hostages for 444 days. The Shah left Iran and the victorious Ayatollah Khomeini returned that February. Of the approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis. The reputation of the Ayatollah Khomeini and the hostage taking was further enhanced with the failure of a hostage rescue attempt that cost lives. The Ayatollah Khomeini set forth several demands to be met prior to the release of the hostages. The US had options of their own; however, the risk to the hostages required the utmost consideration. In order to secure their freedom, outgoing

On David Farber 's book Taken Hostage, Farber informs us about the Iran Hostage Crisis and America 's First Encounter with Radical Islam. This book tells us how the United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decade that caused the United States many problems. Farber talked about all the events that lead to the Iranian Hostage Crisis. November 4, 1979, seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty four days following, were the first steps leading up to the perpetual War on Terror. Farber believes the failure from American policymakers and more specifically from President Carter, to identify the severity of the crisis made for the prolonged crisis. The sheer ineptitude of Carter administration was the cost of the US to lose it’s way economically, culturally, politically and even military. Carter struggled to respond to the impulses of Islamic fundamentalism within the prevailing Cold War paradigm. They saw the real battle as against secular modernism and they recognized that the US was the major force spreading this cultural and political belief throughout the world. The media misrepresentations of the struggle and mass media manipulation of Americans played on the peoples emotions. Although Carter was popular at the beginning of his presidency, this began

November 4, 1979, seizure of the United States embassy in Tehran and the hostage of four hundred and forty-four days following, were the first steps leading up to the perpetual War on Terror. In the book Taken Hostage by David Farber informs about the Iran Hostage Crisis and the First Encounter with Radical Islam. United States and Iran got into conflict, leading to the Iranians holding American Embassy members hostage as revenge for them feeling betrayed by the United States. It also informs us about other events that occurred in a decade that caused the United States many problems. Farber believes the failure of American policymakers and more specifically from President Carter, to identify the severity of the crisis made for the prolonged crisis. The sheer ineptitude of the Carter administration was the cost of the US to lose it’s way economically, culturally, politically and even military. Carter struggled to respond to the impulses of Islamic fundamentalism within the prevailing Cold War paradigm. They saw the real problem as against modernism and they knew that the US was the major force spreading this belief throughout the world. The media misrepresentations of the struggle and mass media manipulation of Americans played on the peoples emotions. Although Carter was popular at the beginning of his presidency, this began to change when he was unable to solve economic problems and was unsuccessful in negotiating the release of the American hostages in Iran.

The United States history during 1977 to 1989 went through two presidencies and whirlwind of events happened. When President Jimmy Carter became president he wanted to lower the inflation rates to make life easier for the people of the United States. While that was his goal it got completely derailed. Near the end of Jimmy Carters presidency, a group of Iranian students took over the U.S Embassy in Tehran and took people hostage. Over the course of the 444 days the hostages where held captive while the people of the United States voted for a new president to help lead them into a new direction. The people voted for Ronald Reagan. While he was president things didn’t go as he planned as well. The issues with Iran did not calm down and escalated to something bigger. After the Iran hostage crisis, the US had another issues with Iran and it was the Iran- Contra affair. During this essay I will be talking about the book called “Taken Hostage” by David Farber and the information in the book. The book is about the time frame of Jimmy Carter’s presidency and the issues with Iran and the hostage crisis. The second half of my essay is towards President Ronald Reagan’s and the issues about the Iran- Contra affair and the lasting issues between Iran and the United states.

The Iranian hostage crisis was one of the most dramatic events in a series of problems that took place during President Jimmy Carter’s term. The crisis, beginning in November of 1979, received the most coverage of any major event since World War II. It was one of many problems faced in light of the United State’s complex relationship with Iran. The effects on both the US and Iran were astronomical, especially politically as well as economically and socially. It took a heavy toll on American relations with the Middle East and changed the way we engage in foreign affairs. In light of this crisis, Iran started an international war that we are still fighting thirty-two years later.

During this time, the people of this time became stricken with unprecedented gasoline and energy shortages and lost their jobs. Despite the previous political issues between Iran and the United States intelligence came up with plans to rescue 52 Americans from the United States embassy in Tehran, Iran. The Americans were taken by Iranian radicals in the attempt to enforce the patriotism and the release of assets. This not only caused economic hardship, military, and presidential conflict between the United States and Iran. It also brought forth the leadership of calling rescue mission by Jimmy Carter and the legacy Jimmy Carter and the legacy of the military officials fearlessness of negotiation and a surge of patriotism throughout the United States the legacy Jimmy Carter and the legacy of the military officials fearlessness of negotiation and a surge of patriotism throughout the United

In his 1979 state of the Union Address, President Jimmy Carter stated “We have no desire to be the world's policeman. But America does want to be the world's peacemaker.” However, nearing the end of Carter’s presidency the peace within the American Embassy located in Tehran, Iran was broken. 53 Americans were taken hostage by Iranian militants on November 4th 1979. The Iranian Hostage Crisis caused a loss of American confidence, caused Americans to view middle easterners differently forever, and also cost Jimmy Carter the chance of a second term.

The [Bush] administration found it consistently difficult to get the measure of Tehran. Bush depicted it as a “nation held hostage by a small clerical elite that is repressing and isolating its people,” but the reality was far more complex. (482)

The “Preface to the 2008 Edition: The Folly of Attacking Iran”, highlights the decades that have followed the coup and reasons for the United States attacking Iran. It concludes by introducing the idea that Operation Ajax, which was the code name of this operation, brought tragedy to Iran, which led to the rise of anti-American terror, and weakened the security of the United States. The author explains how most Americans are unfamiliar with the history of what the CIA did in Iran in 1953 and the reason why the country had such hatred for America following the hostage crisis in 1979. The chapters begin with a clear overview of Iranian history and ends with explaining the effects of the countries because of the coup. This book is written like a thrilling story rather than a history book, which makes the information easier to comprehend, for those uneducated about the topic.

The tension in the Iran Hostage Crisis may have started almost half a century ago, when the U.S. stemmed from an increasingly intense conflict over oil .During the Cold War Era, conflicts arose between the United States and Iran over oil. Where decades ago, Iran had good relationships with America. Due to the location of Iran, it gave the country an abundance of oil reserves, making Iran particularly envied during the Cold War. Middle Eastern oil was an interest to American leaders even before World War II. With America intervening in Iran, it had created the way the state of Iran is.

The Iran hostage crises ushered an era in which the greatest foreign policy challenges facing the US were the threats posed by conflicts in the Middle East. Today, the US still finds itself facing similar threats in this region. The Iraq and Afghanistan wars, diplomatic struggles with Iran, and the continous threat of terrorism continue to create problems for tge

Although the hostage crisis took place in 1979, the disapproval of the United States and Iran foreign relations took place over a century before the overthrow of the embassy. A major threat to the United States was the fear of the Soviets spreading their communist beliefs internationally. Due to this, the United States came to conclusion that the best way to stop the Soviets was to use a containment strategy (Cold War Intervention 1954). This entailed the United States doing what they thought was necessary to stop the spread of communism. Unfortunately, the prime minister of Iran at that time supported Soviet beliefs along with the idea of nationalism. The nationalist beliefs of the prime minister gave him the idea of nationalizing the Britain and American owned petroleum refineries in Iran, and god forbid someone touches the U.S. oil. With the fear of Soviet communism having an influence on Iran, the United States successfully completed a covert CIA operation that overthrew Mossaegh. Thus, replacing him with a pro-western Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who despised the Soviets just as much as the United States. With the new anti-communist Shah in place, the fear of the Soviets influencing Iran had finally subsided. However, even though the United States needs were satisfied, American intervention with Iranian affairs was deeply resented. By the time of 1970 the Iranian people

It is a common conception that Obama’s prior efforts of engagement with the Iranian government have set many precedents for how the U.S is to communicate with Iran (and the Middle East) in the future, with some even referencing Obama’s attempts to amend the relationship between the two countries as monumental for not just the political legacy of the U.S, but specifically, the Obama administration as well. The relationship between the two countries seems to be primarily focused on the fact that the U.S is trying to control how Iran manages their nuclear weapons program, as the Obama Administration is unsure of what the nuclear capacity of the country is, and thusly, this may severe and cause suspicion to arise not just with reference to neighboring countries, but also one that connects to dangers that are prevalent on an international level; this is important because we are not aware of what the destructive capacity of the weapons are as a whole, due to the secretism that the Iranian regime’s nuclear program undertakes when looking into building their weaponry. The Obama Administration seems to have taken the approach of establishing strong diplomatic ties in order to prevent Iran from engaging in any acts of mass terrorism, as they have priorily expressed interest in taking action against Israel. In some cases the U.S utilized sanctions, some which caused disruption in their oil industry, thusly impacting their economy to a certain degree. Many have criticized Obama’s

Relationships between Western and Middle Eastern countries have always be tainted by ugly truths and misdeeds from both sides. The political relationship between the United States and Iran is not exempt from that, and is one that has a history of tension. Much of this tension can be traced to the 1953 Coup d 'Etat in which Mohammad Mossadegh, Iran’s first democratically elected prime minister, was removed and an American support system for despotic leaders was established. This unfortunate chapter in history has resulted in a culture of mistrust and betrayal deeply felt by the Iranian people, and has led to reactions and overreactions from both sides, culminating in the animosity and mistrust between the two countries that persists to this day.