Iranian Hostage Crisis
Almost 10,000 Days, Same Players, Same Game & We Have Learned Nothing
By Douglas J. Hagmann
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Today is the 26th anniversary of the release of 52 Americans who were held hostage by Islamic terrorists in Iran for an unbelievable 444 days. Released from their captivity on January 21, 1981, it has been two months shy of 10,000 days – 9940 days to be exact, since about 300 Islamic terrorists calling themselves students stormed the U.S. Embassy Compound on Taleghani Avenue in Tehran, called at that time "the den of spies." Some believe that the birthing of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Embassy takeover marked the beginning of the clash between Islam and the West that we are still fighting today. It was – and continues to be – Islam versus the West in general, or perhaps more specifically, Islam versus the U.S. and Israel. It is the same war that ultimately forever changed the landscape of America on 9/11, with numerous clashes before and since that day of death and destruction.
The Islamic fascism native to the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as other Islamic theocracies is the 21 century version of Hitler's Mein Kampf – the torch of this template of fascism was simply passed from the Nazi's to the Wahabbi leaders of Islam. America's response to that "crisis," seems to have come full circle over the last quarter of a century. Our "response" to the 1979 Islamic revolution ultimately set the stage for the current state of Muslim terrorism and went a long way to embolden Islamic terrorists worldwide to launch additional terrorist attacks for the advancement of their global agenda. Sadly, we are still playing their games some 26 years later – and with many of the same players.
The embassy takeover was concluded in 1981 by diplomatic blackmail known as the Declaration of Algiers – a money-for-hostages agreement brokered by then-Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher with the approval of the milquetoast U.S. President "Jimmy" Carter. The agreement allowed for the Islamic Republic of Iran to regain control of their previously frozen assets, wiped out unpaid debts, and in general, gave Iran an $8 billion pass.
In 2000, during the Clinton administration, the 52 American hostages and their heirs were again victimized, this time by our own government. The hostages and families sought redress from Iran in a class action suit under the provisions of 1996 federal anti-terrorism legislation. The Iranian government failed to respond to the suit and accordingly, resulted in the hostages and families winning a default judgment in federal court. In October 2000, as many of the hostages gathered to testify about their treatment during the 444 days, the United States government requested the federal court to dismiss the judgment, arguing that the Declaration of Algiers prevented such a lawsuit from taking place. The district court dismissed the suit, a ruling that was upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.
Due, in part, to America's handling of Islamic terrorism spanning multiple administrations, the number of hostages held by Islamic terrorists has risen to 300 million people in the U.S., plus the entire population of Israel and the rest of the free Western world over the last 26 years. Unbelievably, some of the very same terrorists responsible for the taking of our Americans in 1979 are, unfortunately, still sucking air, some even leading countries and winning awards.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of the known architect's of the embassy takeover in 1979 and one of the biggest and most evil sponsors or Islamic terrorism, was elevated from the mayor of Tehran to the President of Iran. Twenty-six years later, we are still dealing with this personification of evil. Now, instead of holding a group of hostages at a walled compound in Tehran, he is about to hold the entire non-Muslim world hostage – this time with a nuclear arsenal as the world watches like a deer caught in the headlights.
Perhaps the most nauseating and despicable figure from the hostage takeover is Masumeh (or Massoumeh) Ebtekar, a/k/a "sister Mary," a female personification of evil who acted as a "translator" (and in my opinion, as the most worthy of a back-handed slap) during the hostage "crisis."
Born in 1960 in Tehran, Ebtekar went to school in the United States during her early years. She went on to become Iran's first woman vice-president, serving as Vice President of the Islamic Republic and Head of the Department of Environment from 1997-2005 under former Iranian President Seyyed Mohammad Khatami. In April 2006, the United Nations awarded her a Champion of the Earth award for her care over the environment – laughable if it weren't so sickening.
Within our own ranks, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher did such a good job with his negotiation with Islamic terrorists that President William Jefferson Clinton appointed him as Secretary of State. He was sworn-in on January 20, 1993, twelve years nearly to the day of the hostages' release.
The war against Islamic terrorists, fascists, facilitators and sympathizers that we are fighting today, arguably began in earnest between the U.S. and Islam with the formation of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Unfortunately, the memories of most Americans of the events of 9/11 are fading, and many people have all but forgotten the multitude of Islamic terrorist attacks prior to that time. It is equally unfortunate that most Americans know little of contemporary history or how we arrived where we are today – embroiled in one of the most dangerous times in modern history.
Nearly 10,000 days after Islamic terrorists captured Americans in Tehran, it seems that the war declared against the U.S. and the West by Muslim terrorists has come full circle, and that circle is forming a noose around the necks of every American man, woman and child. It appears that most Western leaders and most Americans have learned nothing over the last quarter-century. Just in case they should experience a sudden recall of contemporary history, you can count on certain members of our own government and certain pro-Islamic agencies and apologists to warn against the unfairness of stereotyping simply on the basis of historical events. The tug you might occasionally feel around your neck by the noose, we are asked to believe, is merely the warm scarf of multi-culturism and we have nothing to fear. After all, many of the same players are still in the game, and the game is still in its infancy of rebirth.
Fear much, however. Fear that if we respond to the Declaration of nuclear Jihad by Iran and other Islamic fascist states that we will respond with our own declaration, a revised Declaration of Algiers. Just as that set the stage for the last 25 years, a modern revision will set a more ominous stage for the next 25 years - if we make it that far.
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