Iranian Hostage Crisis 1979-1981

Brief:

A consequence of the earlier overthrow of Mohammad Mossadegh. During the Iranian Revolution during which the American backed Shah of Iran was ousted about 300-500 students overran the American embassy in Tehran taking citizens and diplomats inside hostage. Originally 66 hostages were taken, but after releasing women and African Americans, only 55 hostages were left. The people were angry that the oppressive shah was able to receive asylum in the United States, where he had come for medical treatment. 

The most well known things about this crisis is Jimmy Carter's failure to retrieve the hostages. After trying and failing to get the hostages out through diplomacy, they resulted to a hastily planned military extraction attempt called Eagle Claw. Eagle Claw was hastily planned and a military disaster. Tehran, which is in the middle of the desert was harder to reach than expected and there was difficulty in helicopter communication and navigation resulting in the destruction of a few of the helicopters. The Iranians later paraded this military failure on television providing a great deal of embarrassment to the United States. 

Jimmy Carter's presidency may have ultimately ended because of his failure to end the hostage situation. In what is speculated to have been an arrangement by the Reagan Administration, the hostages were released a few hours after Carter's departure from office.

Analysis:

Something had to be done to get the men out of Tehran, but Eagle Claw was not the right answer. More research should have been done before the operation was carried out. The embarrassment to the United States military was beginning to pile on and it created more of the a need for the United States to "prove its mettle." 

The fact is that this situation was entirely of the United States's own making. The fact is that if the United States had not overthrown Mohammed Mossadegh, then this whole situation could have been avoided. 

Bottom Line:

Though it was a bad situation, it would have been worse if the hostages had died. The government did what it thought it had to do but it failed. If allegations of Reagan making a deal with the Iranians not to release the hostages until after Carter left office are true, that is despicable. 

U.S.S. Mayaguez Incident 1975

Brief:

This incident was the first military action after Vietnam. The U.S.S. Mayaguez was overtaken my a group of Khmer Rouge militants of Cambodia. The 39 man crew of the ship was taking hostage. After an unsuccessful attempt at diplomacy, then President Gerald Ford ordered that military action be taken. The rescue attempt was quickly planned. It was reported that the Khmer Rouge had taken the crew to the island of Koh Tang and for this reason the military invaded the island. Unfortunately the military underestimated the military capabilities of the Khmer Rouge and the extent of the islands defenses. The Khmer Rouge barraged the helicopters that were dropping troop off on the island with heavy caliber machine gun fire, mortars, and rocket propelled grenades from hard to target bunkered positions. Multiple helicopters were shot down and more were seriously damaged, throwing a wrench the Americans' plan to overtake the island.

Meanwhile, American troops took back the U.S.S. Mayaguez but to their surprise the crew was not present. However the crew was later released by the Khmer Rouge unharmed. It is believed that Khmer Rouge compliance was a result of American bombing of the Cambodian mainland.

Stats :

Number of Crewman Captured: 39

Number of Americans Killed: 41 (Three of which were initially reported missing, but after a Department of Defense Investigation were ruled to be dead.)

Number of Americans Wounded: 50

Analysis:

The first attempt to redeem the credibility of the United States military post-Vietnam was another failure. Hasty planning and faulty intelligence resulted in the deaths of 41 men and the maiming of 50 others. In addition, a great deal of money was lost with the damage done to the helicopters. It is one thing to simply die in battle, but it is different if you die in battle because you were sent into a death trap by your superiors. That's what Koh Tang was to those troops- a death trap. 

The helicopter crews were totally unaware of the capablities of the enemy and for this reason the mortars, RPG's, and machine guns of the enemy were able to wreck havoc as the troops tried to land on the island.

Unlike many U.S. interventions there was a valid reason to strike. However, a tell tale sign of a failure is when more rescuers die than hostage are held captive. It's like watching Saving Private Ryan all over again. The best course of action here would have been an extended attempt at diplomacy. The window for diplomatic action was too short. 

Many considered that attacking mainland Cambodia was too harsh a punishment for the actions of a few pirates, I disagree. The Khmer Rouge was completely aware of the actions of some of its patrol boats and they should have been held responsible. The attacks were not done on civilian targets, but on military targets.

The Bottom Line:

The U.S.S. Mayaguez rescue attempt had good intentions, but it was performed with faulty intelligence. I doubt that President Ford would have delayed military action had he known the fierceness of the ensuing firefight. The failure of the invasion Koh Tang only threw salt on the wound of the failure in Vietnam.  

Iran 1953

Brief:

The United States organized the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh. He became disposable after he tried to nationalize Iranian oil companies.  This was supposedly a covert mission; however, the United States's fingerprints were all over this coup. 

Analysis:

This was a failure. The United States sloppily tried to eliminate Mossadegh without thinking of the consequences. In this case the consequences were dire. The shah of Iran who retook power after Mossadegh was oust was extremely oppressive and turned the Iranians against the United States. The move to overthrow Mossadegh was selfish and it appeared that way to other countries in the reason. In the long run, the negative effects of Iranian non-compliance far outweigh the less than a quarter of a century oil benefits enjoyed by ousting Mossadegh. 

The Bottom Line:

A overall terrible decision. The risks far outnumbered the benefits. The fact that this covert mission was obviously a United States plot did not help either. The United States still must face the repercussions of its actions in this coup today. The current Iranian government carries a direct link to animosity toward the United States after this coup. For this and other reason this piece of foreign military policy was a...

Failure

Iran 1953

Brief:

The United States organized the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh. He became disposable after he tried to nationalize Iranian oil companies.  This was supposedly a covert mission; however, the United States's fingerprints were all over this coup. 

Analysis:

This was a failure. The United States sloppily tried to eliminate Mossadegh without thinking of the consequences. In this case the consequences were dire. The shah of Iran who retook power after Mossadegh was oust was extremely oppressive and turned the Iranians against the United States. The move to overthrow Mossadegh was selfish and it appeared that way to other countries in the reason. In the long run, the negative effects of Iranian non-compliance far outweigh the less than a quarter of a century oil benefits enjoyed by ousting Mossadegh. 

The Bottom Line:

A overall terrible decision. The risks far outnumbered the benefits. The fact that this covert mission was obviously a United States plot did not help either. The United States still must face the repercussions of its actions in this coup today. The current Iranian government carries a direct link to animosity toward the United States after this coup. For this and other reason this piece of foreign military policy was a...

Failure

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