Jimmy Carter Power

Yesterday I wrote about anti-Americanism as reflected in a book by a typical lefty intellectual. Julia Sweig disparages US foreign policy since WWII and recommends a new strategy based on a policy of “generosity, modesty, discretion, cooperation, empathy, fairness, and manners.” I wondered how well that policy would have worked with guys like Hitler and Stalin.

Today I want to discuss the time when Sweig’s policy was actually employed by the US government. You may remember our former president Jimmy Carter’s exercise of soft power in his dealings with the Ayatollah Khomeini.

In October, 1979 the ayatollah's prime minister met with US national security adviser Zbigniew Bzrezinski. Carter had addressed a flattering letter to Khomeini, praising the ayatollah as "a man of God" and, in a show of goodwill, Carter lifted the ban on arms exports to Iran.

A few days after the meeting, however, Khomeinist militants raided the US Embassy in Teheran and seized the diplomats. The drama was to continue for the last 444 days of the Carter presidency. In a piece for the New York Post (“America can’t do a thing” 11/2/04) Amir Taheri analyzed the Carter response. Following are excerpts.

According to his late son Ahmad, the ayatollah feared "thunder and lightning" from Washington. But what came, instead, was a series of bland statements by Carter and his aides pleading for the release of the hostages on humanitarian grounds. Carter's envoy to the United Nations, a certain Andrew Young, described Khomeini as "a 20th-century saint," and begged the ayatollah to show "magnanimity and compassion."

Carter went further by sending a letter to Khomeini, an appeal from "one believer to a man of God." Carter's syrupy prose must have amused Khomeini, who preferred a minimalist style with such phrases as "we shall cut off America's hands."

As days passed, with the US diplomats paraded in front of TV cameras blindfolded and threatened with execution, it became increasingly clear that there would be no "thunder and lightning" from Washington. By the end of the first week of the drama Khomeini's view of America had changed.

Ahmad Khomeini's memoirs echo the surprise that his father, the ayatollah, showed, as the Carter administration behaved "like a headless chicken."

What especially surprised Khomeini was that Carter and his aides, notably Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, rather than condemning the seizure and the treatment of the hostages as a barbarous act, appeared apologetic for unspecified mistakes supposedly committed by the United States and asked for forgiveness.

Once he had concluded that America would not take any meaningful action against his regime, Khomeini took over control of the hostage enterprise and used it to prop up his "anti-imperialist" credentials.

The surprising show of weakness from Washington also encouraged the mullahs to come up with a fresh demand each day. For instance, one demand was for the United States to capture and hand over the shah for trial. The United States was asked to apologize to Muslim peoples everywhere and, in effect, change its foreign policy to please the ayatollah.

Matters worsened when a military mission to rescue the hostages ended in tragedy in the Iranian desert. The force dispatched by Carter fled under the cover of night, leaving behind the charred bodies of eight of their comrades.

In his memoirs, Ahmad nicely captures the mood of his father, who had expected the Americans to do "something serious," such as threatening to block Iran's oil exports or even firing a few missiles at the ayatollah's neighborhood.

But none of that happened. It was then that Khomeini coined his notorious phrase, "America cannot do a damn thing."

He also ordered that the slogan "Death to America" be inscribed in all official buildings and vehicles. The U.S. flag was to be painted at the entrance of airports, railway stations, ministries, factories, schools, hotels and bazaars so that the faithful could trample it under their feet every day.

The slogan "America cannot do a damn thing" became the basis of all strategies worked out by Islamist militant groups.

That slogan was tested and proved right for almost a quarter of a century. Between Nov. 4, 1979, and 9/11, a total of 671 Americans were held hostage for varying lengths of time in several Muslim countries. Nearly 1,000 Americans were killed, including 241 Marines blown up while sleeping in Beirut in 1983.

For 22 years the United States, under presidents from both parties, behaved in exactly the way that Khomeini predicted. It took countless successive blows, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, without decisive retaliation. That attitude invited, indeed encouraged, more attacks. The 9/11 tragedy was the denouement of the Nov. 4 attack on the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

The peace loving Jimmy Carter pleaded for the hostages on humanitarian grounds, begged for "magnanimity and compassion," appealed to "a man of God," apologized to Muslim peoples everywhere for unspecified mistakes, asked for forgiveness and the Muslims concluded that "America cannot do a damn thing." How about that for a successful strategy, Julia Sweig? Do you know what worked better? It was the election of Ronald Reagan when the 444 day hostage crisis ended the day he entered the White House. Ever wonder why?