To say that the nation of Iran has been a thorn in the side of the United States would be a major understatement. In-fact, Iran has been much more than a mere thorn, they have been a raging lion clawing and ripping away at American resolve for several decades. I, for one, and sick and tired of that lion, and feel that we should slay the beast before it does any more damage.
In 1975, then President Gerald R. Ford sold a package of military hardware which included several Knox Class Frigates and 75 F-14A Tomcat Fighter Jets to what was then a friendly government in Iran. Well, we all know how things go for Western Friendly Governments in the Persian Gulf Region, they are often over thrown by more radical, and indeed more powerful rebels who are hostile towards the west. Such was true of the nation of Iran. In 1979, a group of college students, one of which was named Ahmadinejad (a name that would become as infamous as Bin Ladan) raided the US Embassy in Iran and took 52 Americans hostage. President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter ordered three US Aircraft Carriers believed to be the USS America, The USS Independence, and The USS Kennedy into combat stations in the North Arabian Sea, an area that sailors for many years would come to know as Gonzo Station. Those Aircraft Carriers remained on station for more than 7 months, and there was even an attempt to launch a helicopter assault which failed as the pilots flew into a sand storm. Ever service member on that mission was lost as the helicopters crashed in the desert of Iran. They never made it within 200 miles of the US Embassy.
Despite demands from the Amer ican people for a more aggressive action, President Carter failed to rise to the challenge. That was a shame because 1980 became an election year, and a highly energetic and outspoken Governor from the state of California threw his hat into the ring. Ronald Reagan was no stranger to drama, after-all, he was an actor before he was Governor of California. Upon winning the election in November 1980, Ronald Reagan stated that it would be in the best interest of Iran that they release our hostages before he takes the oath of office. I remember that vividly because my father looked me in the eye and said, "I don't think he is bullsh@ting, he looks like he will pull the trigger". Now I was way too young to be in the military, but I understood my father's metaphor to mean that Reagan would have ordered a massive air strike and would have killed anything Iranian if they failed to do what he said. I don't know if the Shah of Iran acted out of charity, or fear, but on J anuary 20th 1981, as I stood on Pennsylvania Avenue in my high school marching band uniform freezing, we waited until the loud speakers announced that the American Hostages have touched down at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, and were now in the custody of the United States Air Force. Immediately following that announcement I heard the worlds "I Ronald Wilson Reagan".
That was certainly not the end of our encounters with Iran. During the 1980's, Iran maintained an ongoing war against their neighbor Iraq. Both countries took their aggression out on oil tankers which belonged to the nation of Kuwait. This action compelled Ronald Reagan to order that the American Flag be flown from 6 Kuwaiti oil tankers, which the US would provide escort for under the code name Operation Earnest Will. Of course neither Iran, nor Iraq took the action seriously, so Naval Task Force 77, which included the US Aircraft Carrier Ranger, and the US Battleship Missouri entere d Gonzo Station. Our goal was simple, give Iran a taste of what they are giving to those defenseless Kuwaiti oil tankers.
Iraq got the message pretty quickly, but Iran chose to be hard headed. After a few hit and run raids on the Re-flagged Tankers, INTEL revealed the attacks were coming from 3 oil platforms inside the Persian Gulf, so the order was given, and surface combatants from Battle Group Echo (The USS Ranger's Battle Group) entered the Persian Gulf and destroyed all three oil platforms. Operation Earnest Will continued into 1988, even after the USS Ranger was relieved and returned home. In April of 1988, Iran decided they would escalate their campaign against the Kuwaiti Oil Tankers by launching a full naval assault. The USS Enterprise and her Battle group were on station. Now, in what is perhaps the most controversial naval tactic in recent history, two US Navy Aegis Class Cruisers took up a formation so close to each other that on the radar screens of the I ranian Knox Class Frigates the two cruisers looked like one big oil tanker. The Iranian Frigate engaged and the two cruisers revealed themselves. The ensuing fire fight which included Harpoon Missile attacks from aircraft launched by the USS Enterprise became known as Operation Praying Mantis, and was successful in sinking two thirds of the Iranian Navy. To this day, I still do not believe they recovered.
So the war between Iran and Iraq ended in 1989, and from there you know the history of events that transpired between Iraq and the United Stated. Iran opted to sit back and watch. What is funny is that seemingly as Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq, Ahmadinejad was rising to power in Iran. Yes, the very same Ahmadinejad who was involved in the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979. That lion was not gone, he was merely hibernating until an opportunity arose. Now Ahmadinejad immediately began a campaign of saber rattling against the United States. So vocal was Ahmad inejad that then President George W. Bush included the Nation of Iran in what he called an Axis of Evil. Unfortunately with American Forces committed to the rebuilding of Iraq, and fully committed to the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, America just simply did not have enough forced to take on Ahmadinejad. And so, Iran grew stronger.
Now we are faced with an incredibly dangerous and volatile situation. Iran is playing around with nuclear power, they have ballistic missiles that are capable of reaching Israel, and they are working on something called Theater Denial Technology to prevent our Navy from getting close enough to do any major damage to their agenda. We also have another incarnation of Jimmy Carter in the White House. Not saying that our President in ineffective, just a tad bit naive and inexperienced when it comes to dealing with hostile governments like that of Iran.
Here is the bottom line America; Iran has been a loaded gun laid on the tabl e with it's barrel pointed at the United States for more than 30 years. Well, the hammer of that gun is cocked, and so radial college boy has his finger on the trigger. President Obama made a gesture for Iran to enter into dialogue with the United States in an attempt to reason with Ahmadinejad and come to a rational solution to a possible nuclear stand off. I do not know how much of a student of history President Obama is, but Iran descends from a race of people who used to walk on fire as their form of worship and praise to their god. That is to say there is simply no reasoning with these people. These are the very same people who sent poorly armed soldiers to face 300 highly trained and well armed Spartans. These are also the people who continued to charge the Iraqi border even though Saddam Hussein had deployed some highly poisonous mustard gas. In other words, losing a few Iranian citizens is nothing so long as their goal is accomplished. For goodness sake, these are the pe ople who threatened to "WIPE ISRAEL OFF THE MAP", how can you reason with someone who is willing to attack the chosen of God, and will not rest until the chosen of God are no more. The answer is simple, you can not reason with them. Now Ahmadinejad has said that he rejects the olive branch extended by President Obama? Note to Barack Obama, seeing that you have already pissed off 85% of all conservatives in America, I would recommend that you take a massive step of reconciliation with the GOP. Said step is simple. Since Ahmadinejad does not want to talk to President Obama, let us send some presidents that Ahmadinejad will not be able to reject. I suggest George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush. For those of you who are a little slow, let us put USS in front of the presidents I just mentioned, and you will get the picture I am trying to paint here. We do not need to monkey pump around with Iran. The time for action is now, because the longer we wait the more dangerous Ahmadinejad becomes. So, President Obama, I think you need to take a suggestion from your former political rival and "Bomb-Bomb-Bomb, Bomb-Bomb Iran". America will judge you on the actions you take with regards to Iran. Do not turn a deaf ear.
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