Question about aborted attempt to rescue our hostages at our embassy in Iran.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Has there ever been an outline of what the rescue would have looked like if it wasn't aborted? Seems like a logistical nightmare. If it was successful the goodwill it generated might have carried Jimmy Carter to victory despite the rampant inflation that was greatly hindering the economy.

[viva la]

1. I just remember Cy Vance (the father of the current prosecutor in NYC) was secy of state

and he was so appalled by the project that he resigned on principle (but withheld doing it publically so as not to reveal anything about it).

no word on whether he said, "I told you so," afterwards.

[former9thward]

2. They were to be rescued at where they were being held in downtown Tehran.

Then taken back out to the desert where helicopters would take everyone away. Movie stuff for sure. Once the helicopters crashed at Desert One Carter lost his will to carry through and the mission was scrubbed.

[sabbat hunter]

4. It wasn't a loss of will

It was that we no longer had the resources in place to get everyone in to Tehran and out with the hostages safely.

[former9thward]

7. No, When a military operation is planned you plan for mistakes.

If you don't that is a loss of will right there.

[left-of-center2012]

3. As I recall, and it has been many years ago ...

They were going to use a gas to put all the guards asleep and then remove the hostages with helicopters.

Would not the guards have heard the helicopters landing?

Would not the hostages also have gone to sleep?

Perhaps not a well thought out plan.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. The Raid On Entebbe.

The Raid On Entebbe was a masterpiece of logistics but rescuing our hostages seems much more daunting.

[left-of-center2012]

11. 'The Raid On Entebbe' was Israeli n/t

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. I know.

[tirebiter]

14. This was based more from what was learned at Son Tay

[sarisataka]

6. There was to be a second landing point

Closer to Tehran.

The rescue teams would have traveled by vehicle into to city and rescued the hostages from the locations they were kept. They would then be driven out of the city to a captured airport and flown to Egypt. The helicopters would get the troops back to the carrier.

The major flaws were the plan was overly complex and information was too compartmentalized.

[tirebiter]

8. Carter gave the operation to the Navy

The Navy had the helicopters but the army had the helicopters that were made for the desert. As Mr. Natural sez, always get the right tool for the job.

[AllaN01Bear]

9. operation eagle claw.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw


also known as desert 1 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/desert-one-inside-the-failed-1980-hostage-rescue-in-iran/

On the day of Reagan's inauguration, January 20, 1981, the United States freed almost $8 billion in frozen Iranian assets, and the 52 hostages were released after 444 days. The next day, Jimmy Carter flew to West Germany to greet the Americans on their way home.

[PoliticAverse]

10. Yes the entire plan was revealed. It was a logistical nightmare.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Eagle_Claw

[rso]

12. Vance

I’m dating myself, but my first assignment in the State Dept. Diplomatic Security Service (known as SY in those days), was an assignment to Vance’s security detail. I recall Vance one time unexpectedly leaving his residence in the middle of the night and asking to go urgently to the State Dept. in Foggy Bottom, about 20-30 minutes from his residence in NW DC. Of course we had no idea of what was happening, and only later did we learn the reason for the late night move. He resigned a day or two later and we were later placed on new Secretary of State Ed Muskie’s detail. The planning for the rescue was not up to today’s standards of redundant assets in place because the Delta Force, originally known as “Blue Light”, had just been created recently, and possessed no real World experience in this type of operation. Years later, while assigned in Panama during the Noriega Regime and on the eve of the US invasion, I ran into several of the Delta operatives who survived Iran and they absolutely did not want to talk about it, except to say that the plan also involved the participation of several US Intel assets already waiting for the rescue force in Teheran.