Say Anything Blog

Am i the only one who thinks that Carter’s outlook would be completely different, had his defense administration not botched the hostage rescue attempt back in 1980?

C, it was my understanding that the failure of the rescue mission was primarily due to the administrations attempts to micromanage it—a big mistake considering their inability to navigate interservice rivalries.  The result?  The wrong people doing the wrong jobs with the wrong equipment—certainly a recipe for the type of disaster that resulted. 

And not a big suprise, considering that administration’s thinly veiled contempt and mistrust of the armed services, in general.  THAT, was the root of the problem, and it poisoned the operation from top to bottom.  At least according to everything i’ve read on the subject.

No, the equipment was mostly adequate for the job—IF the right people had been put in charge of it.  Instead, we had helicopter pilots who were not trained in night flying over the desert, and radios that could not communicate (were not allowed to actually) between the chopper pilots, cargo planes, and the ground forces.  Flying blind?  The sandstorm was the least of that problem…

Granted, nobody knows if the mission could have succeeded, even if everything went right.  But as it was, the command (Carter, and his aides) made that impossible.

Marty:

Am i the only one who thinks that Carter’s outlook would be completely different, had his defense administration not botched the hostage rescue attempt back in 1980?

There’s no doubt that was one of the defining moments of his presidency.  However, there was little or no chance that this mission as planned could ever have succeeded.  The failure lies primarily with the military,1 I think, but it was Jimmy who put his name on the bottom line.

Another defining moment was His “we must learn to live with less” State of the Union address in 1980 was another.  Letting the former Shah of Iran into the US for medical treatment was undoubtedly his biggest tangible error, as this led to the Iranian hostage crisis and the essential paralysis of his presidency for more than a year.

I’m not exactly a big fan of Carter, so this is a big consession on my part! [back]

The failure lies primarily with the military,1 I think, but it was Jimmy who put his name on the bottom line.

Too bad there are no bottom lines for this administration.

Re: the rescue attempt, I think we need to remember that they were essentially still working with post-WW2 equipment in the 70s.  Perhaps the outcome would have been different with today’s equipment.

I think I agree with you, Marty, inasmuch as a successful operation might have led to his re-election, instead of the election of that man amongst men, Reagan.

Of course, I could be wrong.  He could have had a successful operation (ignoring the fact that despite his Naval background he could never have managed to pull it off, he was that much of an idiot) and still lost to Reagan.  He was a pretty depressing little shitstain, like most Democrats.

Never again.

There’s got to be a “satire” HTML tag out there somewhere, right?  It’s just so hard to tell sometimes when it’s just words on the screen.

the operation was botched because reagan’s goons wanted the boost. CIA and all them fucked it all up for carter. Sure enough, Ronald McIdiot got the gold star minutes after swearing in to be the new puppet. Carter was just as much a puppet...All puppets I tell ya. Look at the evidence...you probably have...you probably don’t care.

oh no! moonbattery! out damned spot! conspiracy? not in THIS country, heck no! Stick to your beliefs gentlemen...the world needs unyielding believers in the honest goodness of our leaders.

There’s got to be a “satire” HTML tag out there somewhere, right? It’s just so hard to tell sometimes when it’s just words on the screen.

If you find it by all means let me know.  I suffer from the same confusions.

The war against illegal plunder has been fought since the beginning of the world. But how is… legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. Then abolish this law without delay … If such a law is not abolished immediately it will spread, multiply and develop into a system.

Frédéric Bastiat, The Law

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