Jimmy Carter: History's Greatest Monster

Maybe not the greatest monster, but while watching the very interesting documentary Guests of the Ayatollah last night I could not get out of my mind that much of the terrorist activity that we are now dealing with would never have happened if Carter had destroyed Iran in 1979.

Hostages. There have been thousands taken over the years, but the word to me truly refers to only one group of people. The U.S. embassy personnel captured in Tehran when supposed Iranian "students" over ran the embassy in what is arguably the greatest humiliation ever suffered by the U.S. I call this a humiliation only because we did nothing to rectify the situation.

For example, we attacked and destroyed the al Queda's stronghold in Afghanistan after Sept. 11.
But with the hostages President Carter stood back and allowed a two-bit country to grind its boot heel onto our neck for 444 days.

I was only 16 when this event took place, but it left an indelible mark on my psyche. The greatest nation on earth refused to help its own people or punish its enemy. I'm not forgetting the infamous Desert One rescue attempt, which was such an unwieldly half-hearted plan that it was doomed form the start.

And Carter was to blame.

Granted, an attack on our part would most likely have cost the lives of the hostages and I'm sure I sound like a callous ass for saying this, but their deaths would have saved thousands of lives down the road. Our failure to either rescue the hostages or simply pound Iran back to the stone age gave terrorists the idea that the U.S. could be bullied, an assumption that continues to this day.

When our failure to act in 1979 is compounded by a similar decision made after the Beirut Marine Barracks were bombed and our abrupt withdrawal from Somalia then enemies like Osama bin Laden had a clear idea that he could, literally, get away with murder and we would not act.

I believe that all of this would have been nipped in the bud if Carter had immediately lashed out and eliminated the Ayatollah and his government when they took the hostages. A quick and devestating response would have shown our enemies that you don't f--- with us and get away with it.

Just think of what Iran has done since 1979. It is the primary funder of Hezbollah and Hamas. Has trained thousands of terrorists in Lebanon and now supports Shiite terrorists in Iraq. It threatens Israel with total destruction and has grand plans to instal a Caliphate throughout the region. And these are just Iran's better known manuevers.

If Iran had been reduced in 1979 the world would have been a better place. Thanks, Jimmy.