THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIV, Issue # 26, February 7, 2012
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
TAKING HOSTAGES: TEHRAN IN 1979; CAIRO IN 2012
By Alan Caruba
WHAT THE U.S.A. & ITS ALLIES NEED TO DO, AS REGARDS EGYPT & IRAN: DIRECT MILITARY ACTION AGAINST THE ISLAMISTS IN EGYPT & IRAN --
IN EGYPT: SWIFT & EFFECTIVE U.S. MILITARY ACTION TO RESCUE AMERICAN HOSTAGES BEING HELD, AS WELL AS TERMINATION OF THE BILLION PLUS
U.S. AID PROGRAM TO EGYPT -- IN IRAN: DIRECT ALLIED MILITARY ACTION AGAINST IRAN'S NUCLEAR FACILITIES, ITS MISSILE OPERATIONS, & THE
BARRACKS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS
FULL STORY:
As someone who vividly recalls the Iranian “students” who took our diplomats hostage in 1979 and the 444 days it took to get them back, the repeat of this by the
Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, putting 19 pro-democracy, non-government organization (NGO) Americans on trial on trumped up charges has an ugly repetitive
feel to it.
The contempt the Iranian revolutionaries, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, had for America and, I might add, international law and practice that goes back centuries, is
everything you need to know about dealing with militant Islamists, whether they are in Iran, Egypt, or anywhere else on the face of the Earth.
Just as then-President Jimmy Carter dawdled, while looking for a diplomatic response, this same scenario is now being played out by Barack Obama and it won’t
work now, just as it did not work then. Carter authorized a failed military operation that, by most accounts, was poorly organized and executed.
What is needed now is a Navy SEAL unit or larger force to go in, rescue our American hostages, and extract them from Cairo. We need direct military action, just
as we need direct military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile operations, and the barracks of the Revolutionary Guards.
Just as Jimmy Carter was seen as weak, so too is Barack Obama, and, for America and the world, that is very bad news. I don’t care if the Iranian leadership and
other militant Islamists don’t like America. I want them to fear us.
Apparently they didn’t get the message when the U.S. killed Obama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the home city to its military college. While bin Laden was
right up the street and around the corner, we are supposed to believe that no one in Pakistan’s military or intelligence structure had the slightest idea. He was
living in a large walled compound. Short of buying his own groceries, you’d think someone might have noticed. And, of course, now they are angry at us for
killing the man behind the murder of some 3,000 of our citizens, including an attack on the Pentagon!
When the Iranians went into the streets in June, 2009, protesting the bogus election of Mamoud Ahmadinejad, Obama’s response was that the U.S. “shouldn’t
meddle” in Iran’s affairs. A plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to America in a Washington, D.C., restaurant was discovered and some people might call
that “meddling” in our affairs.
This hostage-taking needs boots-on-the-ground action now. The only upside to this event is that the longer it goes on, the same disenchantment that resulted in
the defeat of Jimmy Carter will be Obama’s fate in the 2012 November election.
The fact that Obama has imposed the largest debt/credit crisis that the nation has ever incurred, unemployment levels that rival the Great Depression, a housing
market that is still in the tank, and is busy hollowing out the nation’s military capabilities at the worst possible time seems to gone unnoticed by the forty percent
or more of Americans that think he’s doing a swell job.
Our present problem is that Obama does not like America any better than our enemies do. He does not like our Federal Constitution, recently blaming the
Founding Fathers for the limitations they wisely imposed to avoid a government grown too large and a president with powers beyond those granted.
This nation is in peril from the same gross stupidity that gripped it prior to World War Two, until Pearl Harbor occurred in 1941. The war in Europe had been
going on since 1939 and the Japanese had invaded China in 1937.
We are in a new, dangerous era with the chaotic situations in the Maghreb of northern Africa, where U.S. assistance, via NATO, was provided to overthrow
Qaddafi and Obama's swift rejection of Egypt’s Mubarack led to his downfall. There are uprisings in Syria and Yemen. It is the result of massive resentment
against dictatorial regimes, but the real problem will be how these revolutions turn out.
That is something we cannot control, but we must do what we can to protect American citizens abroad to protect our national interest and to project real national
power.
The Middle East is tribal. With the exception of Israel, the “nations” we must deal with are merely armies with a national flag, not modern democratic governments
responsive to their citizens. That is why Iraq threatens to break apart. It is why the majority Syrians want to end the minority Alawite tribe’s control. It is why
Palestinians are not welcome anywhere.
The President’s top intelligence advisor recently told a U.S. Senate committee that sanctions are not working against Iran, but the President wants to pretend they
are. The U.S.A. and the rest of the world are waiting for the Israelis to do to Iran what we and our allies should be doing to Iran in order to end its nuclear threat.
Likewise, if we wait around while the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo makes us look like a bunch of punks, it will just get worse for us in Egypt and the Middle East
just as it did in 1979 in Iran.
In Egypt we need to get in, break some furniture, shoot some bad guys, get our people out, and then shut off the billion-plus dollar aid spigot.
No more American tourists, no more American aid, and no more Mr. Nice Guy.
© Alan Caruba, 2010
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Egypt, Arabs, & the Middle East
North Africa -- The Arab States of Islamic North Africa
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
The Middle East & the Arabs
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba's commentaries are posted daily at Warning Signs, his popular blog -- and thereafter on dozens of other
websites and blogs. His monthly report on new books is posted at Bookviews.
A business and science writer, Caruba is the Founder of The National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information
about "scare campaigns" designed to influence public opinion and policy.
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume XIV, 2011
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues
Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity