Iran Hostage Situation

[The Man]

During the hostage situation we make a desperate decision. We nuke Tehran after they decide to kill off the hostages one by one. What happens next? Does 9-11 still occur? Does rad. islam exist?

[David bar Elias]

Originally Posted by The Man

During the hostage situation we make a desperate decision. We nuke Tehran after they decide to kill off the hostages one by one. What happens next? Does 9-11 still occur? Does rad. islam exist?

If anything, the problem is even worse in OTL....something the Soviets might try to exploit during the Cold War.

Talk about desperate. And I'm really not seeing Carter of all people giving into nuking Tehran...

[Leo Caesius]

In OTL, the hostages are released unharmed. In this TL, the Iranians kill them one after the other, and the US, apparently driven to "desperation," decides to nuke Tehran in retaliation?

Alright, let me take a stab at this. A young Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sees the light...



...before disappearing in a pile of ash, leaving behind a shadow imprinted upon the wall behind him.

A young civil engineering student at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah declares that "the God of Jimmy Carter" is greater than Allah and becomes a devout Baptist, joining the Southern Baptist Convention. Millions of Saudis follow suit. This student, Osama, becomes a missionary and travels to Afghanistan, where he proceeds to "win souls" left and right. He becomes known for his wildly popular translations of Chick Tracts into Dari and Pashto, which practically leap off the floors of restrooms and phonebooths into the hands of Afghan sinners.

By 1989 nearly all Middle Easterners have become members of one or another sect of Christianity. After The Shift, as it becomes known, the entire region becomes a model of democracy and free market economics. The people of Iran, grateful to America for liberating them from their revolutionary government, give the US first dibs on lucrative oil contracts.

[Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy]

Originally Posted by Leo Caesius

In OTL, the hostages are released unharmed. In this TL, the Iranians kill them one after the other, and the US, apparently driven to "desperation," decides to nuke Tehran in retaliation?

Alright, let me take a stab at this. A young Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sees the light...



...before disappearing in a pile of ash, leaving behind a shadow imprinted upon the wall behind him.

A young civil engineering student at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah declares that "the God of Jimmy Carter" is greater than Allah and becomes a devout Baptist, joining the Southern Baptist Convention. Millions of Saudis follow suit. This student, Osama, becomes a missionary and travels to Afghanistan, where he proceeds to "win souls" left and right. He becomes known for his wildly popular translations of Chick Tracts into Dari and Pashto, which practically leap off the floors of restrooms and phonebooths into the hands of Afghan sinners.

By 1989 nearly all Middle Easterners have become members of one or another sect of Christianity. After The Shift, as it becomes known, the entire region becomes a model of democracy and free market economics. The people of Iran, grateful to America for liberating them from their revolutionary government, give the US first dibs on lucrative oil contracts.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something tells me you're being sarcastic.

[Keenir]

Originally Posted by VoCSe

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something tells me you're being sarcastic.

I thought it was facetiousness.




.....of course, with our luck, OBL's Christian converts would see the US as The Great Lazy, which pays only lip service to the Redeemer of the World....and would declare a holy crusade against the slackers.

[firemanwonka]

heres something more realsitic, What would happen if the Delta Force commodos rescue the hostages but barely make it out of tehran or get capurted themesvles, would there be a greater U.S. response or possible arming the Iraqis to "Change the government of Iran.

[Melvin Loh]

Well, any of you guys read Mark Bowden's newest book on this subject, GUESTS OF THE AYATOLLAH ? The book actually describes how the Delta guys prior to the mission actually felt they were embarking on a suicide run, with many wanting to die gloriously in action in Tehran.

And I also read in previous yrs how had the EAGLE CLAW assault force actually landed by HH53 Sea Stallion as planned into the heart of Tehran, the whole thing would've been a bloodbath anyways, with heavy casualties on both sides, esp with the rescue force calling on the 2 circling AFSOC AC-13O Spectre gunships to suppress enemy fire. There was also a big fear of any Soviet-made a-a guns the Iranians would've had, esp the dreaded ZSU-23 self-propelled quad 23 mm a-a battery, which would've been lethal in the anti-personnel capacity. 1 hostage OTL was actually supposed to haver remakred about learning of the mission abort due to the HABOOB, 'Thank God for the sandstorm'. BTW, there were protests back in America during 1979-80 by some ppl who were advocating that the US nuke Iran in response.

[Grimm Reaper]

Leo? Sarcastic?

Nonsense! This is simply another of Leo's thoughtful and well-considered analysis of how, given a particular POD, world future events would proceed and it is simply that his exceptional thought process is difficult for lesser minds to keep up with and...

...and...

...Leo, you know something? It actually does almost seem like a bit of sarcasm on your part. What gives?







The attempt was doomed from the start, from the lunatic decision by the Carter Administration NOT to cancel even after they had lost the third helicopter and no longer had the capacity to pull everyone out(!) to the deranged impromptu air base parked in clear view of God and radar along a major Iranian highway. When I look back I think the US was lucky to avoid dozens dead and many more hostages.

[Dave Howery]

my first exposure to AH was a little 'microgame' called "Raid on Tehran"... it was about the rescue attempt going on in.... it came out around 1980 or so when tensions were still pretty high. I used to solo-game it with the special forces running around the embassy and see how fast I could wipe out the 'students' there... and when the mobs showed up, I chucked grenades into them.


"hostages? What hostages?"