Even his failures, like the Hostage Crisis as we called it, was rooted from a situation that he inherited. From the 50's. It blew up in his face. His moderate response (perhaps in some 20/20 hindsight underresponse) became an embarrassment for the U.S. But, you know, we weren't universally embarrassed by it. In some ways, it may have shown a more approachable side to the U.S. I guess some would just say, humiliating, as the article below calls it.
It is hard to know what would have happened if we zoomed in with a Entebbe type raid. And succeeded. That might have actually made Kuwait a harder sell and been counter productive long term. If he'd said "rip 'em a new one" and did, it is possible that we'd have had even more of the World Trade Center type events. But who knows.
I'm sure most of you remember that Nightline started as America Held Hostage, Day <nn>. I think it started at day 10 or so.
I found this article:
iranian.com
Actually, I found it pretty accurate, but definitely with a pro-Iran tilt. It's hard to find a pro-US/shah tilt, I suppose. I find it useful to seek opinions outside of the U.S. Our press is so wrapped up with our government through networks of people that know each other and rely upon each other, that stilts the truth. |
