Ayn Rand's 'The Failed Hostage Rescue'

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An example of the text providing a US based perspective is in Chapter 13, page 248. It is under the title “The Failed Hostage Rescue.” The author describes the limited negotiations that took place before the US launched a rescue mission that would end in failure. Where I see US leaning perspective is when the author states “Clearly diplomacy was not the answer.” He wrote this in reply to ever increasing militant demands in return for the hostages being released. While we attempted negotiations with the militants, we did it in our fashion. I believe that using Muslim intermediaries, friends in the region, or even adopting similar tactics would have yielded more results. The militants were highly religious, and negotiating with the US would be …show more content…

It is under the “Quick War” title. The author states that “it was perhaps fortunate that the whole aid/bribery process failed, as it demeaned both countries.” While the failure of a friend, such as Turkey, to come to the aid of the US can cause embarrassment, this is why I believe the author thought it demeaned both countries. If one were to look at the situation from a Turkish point of view, their opinion might change. The US wanted to send a large invasion force through Turkey, and into Iraq. This would require immense infrastructure to facilitate. Not only would infrastructure be stressed, but local supply lines would have to be drawn to move and supply these soldier. Apart from the military aspect, the US invasion would likely cause Turkey to have a large refugee crisis. Turkey likely, apart from some likely inflated costs estimated, thought that it needed the $32 billion to justify the invasion through its territory. The text, however, makes it appear as if the US opinion was that of a “sore loser,” in that it did not gain the route it had wished.

The authors clearly differed in their analysis of the 2003 Iraq War. Chapter 15, page 283, details the UN inspection of Iraqi sites by the UNMOVIC program. The author details the lack of Iraqi cooperation in the late 1990s, and then skips to asking why Saddam did not give in at the last minute and allow full inspections. Chapter 19, page 359,

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