Comments on: Why Iran Matters to Microkhan

By: Echoes of an Ink-Stained Martyr

Echoes of an Ink-Stained Martyr — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:42:40 +0000

[...] the many ghostly memories conjured up by Iran’s current tumult, the unsolved murder of Paul Klebnikov is one [...]

By: Iranian Half-Truths During the Harrison Years

Iranian Half-Truths During the Harrison Years — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 16:16:38 +0000

[...] leave the running protest commentary to far more qualified folks. But since we’re obviously somewhat transfixed by the Iranian opposition’s humble request for electoral fairplay, we couldn’t help but [...]

By: We Are the Salsa

We Are the Salsa — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:31:11 +0000

[...] this was a pretty heavy day here at Microkhan—a bummer vibe perhaps not helped by our rare stab at outright earnestness. So let us make it up to you by ratcheting up the zany for our Bloomsday outro: Senor [...]

By: Brendan I. Koerner

Brendan I. Koerner — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:24:40 +0000

@scottstev: Need to read that–putting it in the queue, right behind Papillon.

I remember the cover photo on the L.A. Times the day after the rescue mission failed. It was perhaps my earliest encounter with the concept that the U.S. was not, indeed, infallible.

The Beirut barracks bombing sticks in my mind, too, as does the hijacking of TWA Flight 847. Funny, guess I was just born a news junkie–with an attraction to grim stories, to boot.

By: scottstev

scottstev — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:17:43 +0000

You’ve probably already read it, but Mark Bowden’s book, in which he interviewed some of the hostage takers themselves is a refreshing take on the complexity that was Revolutionary Iran at the time.

Basically, the hostage-taking was a way for the Islamists to start taking control over the Leftists. It was the Jacobin Phase. The US was left without a negotiating partner as the Iranian Gov’t collapsed during the events. That’s part of the reason the hostage crisis lasted so long.

Of course to a nation already frustrated with Carter, it looked like fecklessness. Bowden does good work in rehabilitating Carter’s reputation during the Crisis.

I was a young lad during the 80’s myself. And the impression left to me about Beruit, Iran and Northern Ireland from the nightly newscasts still stick.