Jimmy Carter’s big regret
Ann Althouse reports on Jimmy Carter’s major regret, according to Carter:
REPORTER: And anything you wish — I’m sorry — that you had not done or that you’d done differently?
JIMMY CARTER: I wish I’d sent one more helicopter to get the hostages and we would have rescued them and I would have been re-elected.
I’m going to leave out the question of whether Carter is narcissistic in relating it to his own re-election. What I want to focus on now is a different sort of narcissism on Carter’s part, as well as Carter’s poor judgement: that is, his idea that “one more helicopter” would have done the trick.
Years ago I wrote a long post on the rescue mission known as Operation Eagle Claw. There were so many things wrong with the operation that it’s hard to know where to begin. Some were bad luck; some were mechanical, some were logistical:
…[T]he details…are a case of “whatever could go wrong, did go wrong;” from vicious sandstorms, to the utterly improbable coincidence of the planes’ initially encountering a truck and a civilian passenger bus as they landed in the desert, to a fatal airplane crash. Debacle, indeed; the planes never even came near Tehran.
One more plane probably would not have mattered, because so much had gone wrong. But there was also a serious problem that probably could not have been fixed even by a few more planes. The problem was inherent in a directive for which Carter himself was directly responsible:
Perhaps it’s a good thing [the planes] didn’t [get to Tehran]. From the evidence in the piece, the loss of life would likely have been even greater had they done so. It’s very difficult to believe that this mission ever had any chance of succeeding. Not only was the weather problem in the desert underestimated, and the assault force relatively small (one hundred thirty two men maximum, with some planes expected to encounter technical difficulties and drop out), but here was the game plan for controlling crowds around the embassy:
“Another presidential directive concerned the use of nonlethal riot-control agents. Given that the shah’s occasionally violent riot control during the revolution was now Exhibit A in Iran’s human-rights case against the former regime and America, Carter wanted to avoid killing Iranians, so he had insisted that if a hostile crowd formed during the raid, Delta should attempt to control it without shooting people. Burruss considered this ridiculous. He and his men were going to assault a guarded compound in the middle of a city of more than 5 million people, most of them presumed to be aggressively hostile. It was unbelievably risky; everyone on the mission knew there was a very good chance they would not get home alive. Wade Ishmoto, a Delta captain who worked with the unit’s intelligence division, had joked, ‘The only difference between this and the Alamo is that Davy Crockett didn’t have to fight his way in.’”
Carter is old and sick now. But that doesn’t change history, even though he’d probably like to do so.
Why doesn’t Carter mention as a regret the ascendancy of the mullahs in Iran under his watch? Yes, I know—there’s no way he could argue that that might have been cured by one more helicopter.
If you’re not familiar with his role in that transition, take a look at this post of mine. Here’s an excerpt:
The Shah lived in what’s known as a “rough neighborhood.” This meant that, in order to implement the modernization of Iran, he felt he needed to be harsh in dealing with the opposition. Jimmy Carter was dedicated to the cause of spreading human rights throughout the world, and he decided to put pressure to bear on the Shah to expand civil liberties and relax his policies towards those in his country who were against him.
Carter threatened the Shah with cutting arms shipments, and in response:
The Shah…released 357 political prisoners in February, 1977. But lifting the lid of repression even slightly encouraged the Shah’s opponents. An organization of writers and publishers called for freedom of thought, and 64 lawyers called for the abolition of military tribunals. Merchants wrote letters requesting more freedom from government controls. Some people took to the streets, perhaps less fearful of being shot to death, and they clashed with police. A group of 120 lawyers joined together to publicize SAVAK torture and to monitor prison conditions. Dissident academics formed a group called the National Organization of University Teachers, and they joined students in demanding academic freedom. Political dissidents started disseminating more openly their semi-clandestine publications.
As events spiraled out of control, there were demonstrations throughout Iran. Police reacted harshly, and many protesters were killed, which led to more demonstrations and more deaths, which led to–well, you get the idea.
A genie of dissent had been unleashed–a valid one, because there was much to protest. But as things escalated, and the Shah eventually lost the support of the army and the police (a turning point), few seemed to be prescient enough to predict what forces would replace his regime–not what was hoped for, but what was likely to do so. There were only three choices, and two of them–the mullahs and the Marxists–could reasonably be expected to be far more repressive than the Shah.
Jimmy Carter was probably sincere in wishing that his pressure on the Shah would lead to greater civil liberties, not fewer. But if so, it was one of the gravest miscalculations in history. Be careful what you wish for.
President Carter toasted the Shah at a state dinner in Tehran, calling him “an island of stability’ in the troubled Middle East….Did the Carter administration “lose” Iran, as some have suggested? Gaddis Smith might have put it best: “President Carter inherited an impossible situation — and he and his advisers made the worst of it.” Carter seemed to have a hard time deciding whether to heed the advice of his aggressive national security advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who wanted to encourage the Shah to brutally suppress the revolution, or that of his more cautious State Department, which suggested Carter reach out to opposition elements in order to smooth the transition to a new government. In the end he did neither, and suffered the consequences.
Even after it became known that the Shah was suffering from cancer, President Carter was reluctant to allow him entry to the United States, for fear of reprisal against Americans still in Iran. But in October, when the severity of the Shah’s illness became known, Carter relented on humanitarian grounds. “He went around the room, and most of us said, ‘Let him in.'” recalls Vice President Walter Mondale. “And he said, ‘And if [the Iranians] take our employees in our embassy hostage, then what would be your advice?’ And the room just fell dead. No one had an answer to that. Turns out, we never did.”…
No, they never did. And soon the whole world knew it.
We are reaping the rewards now.
I would compare Carter to Obama, but I think the former comes out much better than the latter. At least Carter tried. I think his main flaws re Iran were weakness and naivete. Those are not Obama’s main flaws, although some seem to think so.
Just watching Carter’s endless press conference about his cancer was enough to convince me the man likes attention on himself. Do you remember such a press conference about the medical details of George H W Bush’s neck injury not too long ago? Did he sit in front of cameras with his neck brace and discuss the finer points of his injury, what the doctors did to repair his injury, how long the recovery would be and his expectations for a normal life afterwards?
Carter gave TMI about his cancer…in person. Alone. On camera. It was weird.
“JIMMY CARTER: I wish I’d sent one more helicopter to get the hostages and we would have rescued them and I would have been re-elected.”
An inability to admit to clear mistakes is a sign of insecurity. Carter’s well established antisemitism, the sign of at base, a mean spirited man, one who pretends to ethics out of a need for external approval.
Carter’s main flaw is he was just not tough enough to deal with the mullahs. His message to them should have been no iranian oil is shipped out of the Straits of Hormuz until all of our people are released healthy and fit. Once they are back home and deemed healthy and fit we will think about ending the blockade. Any attempt to break the blockade will mean war and the great satan will put a boot up your ass.
Btw, Carter, for all his many faults and post presidential meddling in foreign affairs, did not hate his fellow Americans. The boychild hates us, unless we give him millions and lick his boots, in which case he merely holds you in contempt.
Re: carter, how about the claim that HE lectured & demanded to know from the very learned & dignified John Paul 2 why, (in Carter’s opinion)
the Church ( not carter’s church but the Pope’s church) was not allowing women to be priests.
Then Carters public remarks fell back into good old fashioned *anti Catholic rhetoric* to take further swipes @ JP2. How petty ! & How absurd
I guess only a Sunday school teacher like Carter could feel comfortable lecturing a Pope with multiple theology degrees & years of study of
historical Christian thought. Then again ole Jimmy probably never heard of Augustine, Aquinas, or Catherine of Siena.
I knew some ex green berets at the time. They were hooked into the special forces gossip about the operation, but unfornately I can’t recall any details except the general opinion that it was f*cked up.
In nearly every revolution, the group that eventually emerges to hold power is the most ruthless one. The US is blessed to be the exception.
I regret voting for Carter.
“Carter wanted to avoid killing Iranians” yet he was comfortable with the death of his countrymen.
The thought of the man makes me spit uncontrollably. His name is like vomit in my mouth.
I used to think that Carter was just incompetent but now I believe he is an evil man. You can’t mess up that much by mistake.
Carter would have said that he wished he would have denied medical care to the last Shah of Iran so that Khomeini would gain, but since he already did that, he can’t say that any more.
” . . .[if] we would have rescued them and I would have been re-elected.”
This part is very true. If the rescue had been successful, then, Carter would have won re-election hands down.
But, it wasn’t successful. Not at all. What I remember about Carter was his inability to think of others. Or I should say, his inability to think how others might perceive something.
For example, when the Iranian hostage situation started, Carter said that he would stay in the White House and not go out campaigning, etc. until it was resolved. While he may have thought this showed resolve, what it actually showed was a cowardly way, sort of like “I’m staying in my room and not coming out until it is all over!”
I think this latest comment shows the same lack of other’s perception. Yes, Jimmy, it would have helped to win re-election; but, damn it man! Americans were being held hostage; and fellow Americans died trying to rescue them. Is there no remorse for that?!
Maybe my memory is faulty; but, I also remember the Iranians digging through the wreckage of the helicopters poking sticks at the charred bodies. What an absolutely disgraceful act of barbarism. No remorse for that?
And, absolutely there should be remorse for allowing the Islamic fascists to gain power in a country that used to be a US ally.
Also, I remember his stupid “Human Rights” campaign going after South Korea (“We, in the U.S., don’t need cheap shirts at the expense of human rights violations in South Korea” or some such nonsense) while ignoring the human rights violations in North Korea.
During Carter’s administration the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and established official diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic Of China. I think this was a move to try to give his Presidency a “legacy.” Something that it was sorely lacking. Well, in my opinion, Carter messed up. He could have, if he were an outside-the-box thinker, gone against the standard “One China” Policy and recognized BOTH the ROC and the PRC. Instead he jumped at this chance, throwing the U.S. Ally, the ROC, under the bus which caused more countries to follow the U.S. lead and isolate Taiwan further in the diplomatic world. Carter, you’re an idiot!
And Carter’s post-presidency comments against “apartheid” Israel while ignoring the almost daily rockets and other terrorist acts coming from Palestinian territories follows this same pattern of thinking on his part.
Yea, it seems many on the left, including Carter and Obama, see fault with the U.S. and its allies; but, ignore gross violations against humanity elsewhere.
And, Cornhead, like you I regret having voted for Carter. It was my election that I could vote so I use the excuse that I was young and naé¯ve. If only I could go back in time and re-cast my vote, I’d vote for Ford who turned out to be a rather decent guy after all.
Carter, you’re an idiot!
It was intentional. Leftist policies aren’t as stupid as people think. While Carter is sufficiently competent to be a puppet, that doesn’t mean the ones pulling his strings were incompetent at what the Left’s goal was all along.
The Left are humanity’s enemies. They are not merely a political faction.
As for the helicopters, SF weren’t allowed weapons free on the enemy. How were they going to take the hostages away, exactly, even if they got there? It was doomed from the start.
Another Black Hawk Down, except the SF team on the helis had even less firepower options than the ones Clinton unwillingly gave out.
I apologize for my home state of Georgia for ever producing a loser like Jimmy Carter. Hes simply what you get when adolescence carries on till youre 90.
Carter is what you get when the white boy eugenics system of the slave plantations were applied to poor Southern families.
It didn’t work for the black beasts in the field, the happy bliss of the natural servants of Democrats, and it didn’t work for poor whites either under Democrats.
Jimmy Carter gives the name Jimmy a bad reputation.
Carter is a classic example of the pious, holier than thou Baptist who still blames the Jews for the Crucifixion. And have a closed mind on the issue.
He has a limited/biased knowledge of the history of the Middle East and Israel as well as a dislike of Jews.
Couple that with his inability to delegate anything to subordinates – he was a nit picker who thought he had to have his hand in every little detail of government. In that he emulated his Navy boss, Admiral Rickover. The difference was that Rickover was a true genius who was wise enough to confine himself to one field – atomic energy to power our ships. As a result of his compulsive meddling in too many details, Carter’s Presidency was a mediocrity, which has only been exceeded by our present pResident.
I have disagreed with most everything Carter has done and his post Presidency has been very graceless. That said, I cannot but wish him well in his fight against cancer. No one who has seen someone die of slow-acting cancer, as I have, can have anything but compassion for a person so afflicted.
“Carter, for all his many faults and post presidential meddling in foreign affairs, did not hate his fellow Americans. ”
Not unless they were Jewish. Carter is a fanatic, virulent antisemite on a par with Buchanan, Duke and Farrakhan. It goes far beyond his animus towards Israel. I saw him a few years back being interviewed by Bill Moyers. After the usual Israel-bashing he began to castigate American Jews, derisively calling them “the Chosen People” with nothing but venom and hatred dripping from his mouth and flashing in his eyes. I could not believe that a former President of the United States was spouting off like David Duke. And to think I voted for him – twice. Stupidly.
Carter is a loathsome human being. Obama is worse.
As to Carter himself? All I have to say about such men, to try to say only good things is… isn’t he dead yet?
As to military use by Democrats in particular, though seemingly many politicians these days of both parties, is that they aren’t very good at it. Instead of using the military as employees, and telling them the objectives and supplying what they request as needs, then getting out of the way, they do what Carter did here, Clinton did in Somalia, and Zero is doing everywhere he sends our forces, if more just getting locals murdered… or diplomats.
On Bush’s side, both of them, they simply wouldn’t use the military as it should have been used. Both of them were more reluctant to use force, despite how some have revisioned it. Not a fan of either Bush, per se, but if a politician is going to err with regard to military use, it is probably best to err on (slightly) too little. Not, as with Zero and ilk, on either far too much, terribly guided, micromanaged (especially since no Dem in memory (including Kennedy) were militarily competent), and such.
Actually, while the muzzies hate(tm) Bush for the wars, they at least respected honest war. This drone war Zero is foisting is truly causing problems. Mechanical assassination is not the same as war. I do not support it either.
Neo: “I’m going to leave out the question of whether Carter is narcissistic in relating it to his own re-election. ”
I’m not going to do that 🙂
I find it amazing that Carter and Obummer view themselves as Legends in their own minds.
Carter’s bumblings back in 1979 lit the fuse for our present problems in the Middle East. I’ll say it was more like Biden- Incompetent but wielding power.
I believe Obummer is more sinister in insuring both conventional now and nuclear terror in the future.
He desires to fundamentally change us by letting all the “crazies” have the bomb.
It may be selective memory on my part but growing up, aka Ike era, it seemed the politicians never knowingly put the country at present or future risk. How we have changed in 60 yrs. 🙁
I can’t believe that you’ve spilt so many electrons without mentioning what REALLY did in the rescue:
Carter was indecisive.
Vance was TOTALLY against it — and promptly resigned.
Vance was able to get Carter to delay the go signal until AFTER the weather window.
The military had already told the President that Iran’s climate is such that the window of opportunity was actually past!
To spell this out:
Tehran is not at sea level, far from it. To get airborne, the air temperature HAD to be low. Hot air, at altitude kills lift.
The massive desert south of Tehran has truly weird weather — which was fully known by the American military planners.
So the UNEXPECTED dust storm — was actually expected… indeed predicted.
The original time window was for no later than a month PRIOR to the actual attempt.
Of course, looking at the way Carter makes decisions, Vance was probably on to something.
Carter couldn’t make a cup of instant coffee.
Folks, you would NOT believe the level of second-guessing that Carter engaged in. He had the plans worked up back at the White House — not the Pentagon. Like LBJ, he kept inserting himself into astounding levels of detail.
One is reminded of der Furher meddling on the Eastern Front. The man is a disaster, as he could NEVER delegate anything to anyone. His penchant for scheduling the tennis courts at the White House being a particular indictment.
Bush I and Bush II’s military decisions came mostly from their military support staff and generals.
Which is why Gulf War 1 was what it was, Powell ran it, Schwarz carried it out and wanted to invade Iraq to save the Kurds or Shia. He kind of got stomped over, for various political reasons one way or another.
Gulf War II, is the result of VA Shinigami, General Shinseki, who wanted more troops in Iraq and talked about a “broken military”. Broken in the sense that the more troops that would be sent, the more casualties he could have his VA kill at home to make bank. Diversity Casey and other Democrat loyalist generals, were also part of the Pentagon plan. There’s only so much the cabinet level officers can do if their vassal officers are corrupt or basically already turned.
I was on the USSS Carter Protective Detail in the late 80’s; we spent time alone talking about these matters and from what I gathered, the man spoke of these incidents in the 3rd person whereas discussions of Camp David accords were first person. In his home the only photos on the walls were Camp David peace accords. He had a difficult time transitioning from most powerful man to most obscure former official, so he turned to the UN for some power through his Global 2000, Habitat for Humanity and CPC election monitoring initiatives. If we survive these remaining 17 months and can elect and inaugurate a new president I expect BHO to run the new UN.
Jeff E…
I don’t know where these nostrums keep coming from:
No permanent member of the UN Security Council may have their citizen appointed a General Secretary to the UN — or any other very high office within the UN.
I can’t remember if this is a soft rule based upon the veto powers they hold or whether it’s in the charter, itself.
Suffice it to say that no candidate has ever been even submitted from any of the five permanent members.
Carter did not need another helicopter, and he shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
The hostages were not in any specific danger when he ordered the rescue attempt! In fact, the attempt put them in danger. Carter knew that many hostages would likely be killed even in a “best case” successful rescue. Furthermore, a successful rescue would endanger hundreds of Americans in Iran who were NOT in the embassy. He probably decided to act due to the recent dramatic loss of public confidence in his handling of the hostage crisis, and the prospect that Iran would still hold the hostages during the election campaign. This is, of course, despicable.
The hasty decision to abort the mission was questionable. Ostensibly six helicopters were needed because RH-53s equipped with internal fuel tanks could only carry twenty passengers. However, Beckwith could have proceeded with five helicopters by removing the internal fuel tanks (RH-53s could easily reach Desert Two from Desert One with external fuel tanks alone) to make room for more people. As each RH-53 could carry 56 people without internal fuel tanks, only four would have been needed to transport 178 people from Tehran to Manzariyeh. If there were any casualties — and 45 to 70 casualties were expected — then three would have sufficed. Alternatively, the sixth RH-53 could have been flown despite its defective backup fuel pump, or could have been quickly repaired with a spare fuel pump from the Nimitz. If the RH-53 that earlier returned to the Nimitz brought the spare pump, Beckwith would have seven helicopters available!
Not to repair the sixth helicopter or improvise a solution using five helicopters was a profound failure of leadership. Also notable is the lack of determination at the highest levels. Carter insisted on establishing a communications capability that would allow him to cancel the mission until the moment the assault force entered the embassy, and deliberated only twelve minutes before ordering the mission aborted at the first sign of difficulty. One must ask, as New York Times columnist William Safire did in 1980, whether Carter ever intended more than a demonstration of resolve to bolster his public image: “Did the President see any advantage in making a feint and then withdrawing?”
See the incisive article: Richard C. Thornton and Alan Capps, “New Light on the Iran Hostage Rescue Mission,” Marine Corps Gazette (December 1991).
No permanent member of the UN Security Council may have their citizen appointed a General Secretary to the UN
That’s not necessarily a difficulty if Carter flips his citizenship to Iran.
Let’s please remember that in early 1975, the newly elected Dem majority Congress stopped funding the US allied S. Viet gov’t.
This loss of aid and support directly enabled the N. Viet victory.
Rep Nixon winning the “war” (1973 Peace Accords), and Dem Congress losing the peace.
Followed by Pol Pot’s Killing Fields in Cambodia (1000 murders each and every day of Jimmy Carter’s first 500 days?)
Where was Jimmy C’s “Human Rights” talk about Red China’s Pol Pot commie Cambodia? only stopped by Soviet N+S Vietnam’s invasion in 1978(?).
The biggest genocide the Baby Boomers lived thru, virtually never discussed (one Great! movie) — since the Dems enabled it.
And Jimmy C enabled the overthrow of the Shah.
His support for Habitat for Humanity was truly great (they are helping Roma build houses in Slovakia, and all over), but so much else he’s touched is terrible.
The USA has not really learned how to do post-WW II nation building; unless the idea is to copy Eastern Europe–first lose the place, let the other (Commie, Islamist) idiot-dictators destroy it, and wait for it to fall apart, hoping for huge rebuilding cronyism programs afterward (like Haiti) and the ex-commie central Europe.
After the Iranian ‘students’ invaded the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Carter should have gone to Congress and asked for a Declaration of War.
That would be my biggest regret, were I Carter.
Now, for the hysterical, a D of W does NOT mean a D Day invasion and occupation in a hopeless quest to turn Islamofascists into good little democrats. It would simply bring clarity to the conflict, and of course, we could legally seize ALL their commerce.
I think desert one was a tragic lesson the first real test of the delta force operation. But if not for it we would have been in a much worse position which didnt resume till the clinton era
It was left to Reagan to tackle the battle in beirut i think foolishly except for admiral ace lyons no one really knew what was going on
I wrote a blog about beirut and the tie to the 2009 iranian election (one of the reformists) obama was the continuation of clinton on steroids, particularly with his iran fixation
Carter as i recall from certain accounts tried to sabotage bush sr on the eve of the gulf war at the un he brought over to the carter center the likes of robert pastor who made all the wrong moves at state (he had been inspired by one of david horowitz old tracts, before he had his awakening)
Clinton was motivated by the mossadegh narrative, that we’ve reviewed in the past. That amir taheri in nest of spies, has debunked to make excuses for the iranianrevolutionary guard
Now W did not measureably improve the circumstance, because of iraq. Sadly as general suleimani became the kingmaker first under liz cheney then her successor who gave us maliki