David Stirling was the founder of SAS. Stirling was born in Scotland on November 15th, 1915. He was the son of Archibald Stirling who coincidently was a British Army Brigadier General and Margaret Fraser. He had attended 3 colleges including Ampleforth, Trinity and Cambridge University. The way Stirling thought he has assumed that a highly skilled unit would be able to operate behind enemy lines and make a horrendous impact (Significant Scots). He worked alongside with Jock Lewis, a British officer of the Welsh Guards, who thought similarly as Stirling which has led to the formation of the SAS itself. There first mission had ended up being a disaster, Stirling’s parachute caught on the tail of the plane and was injured in the fall and ended up spending 2 months in the hospital. On May 5th, 1980 the world was watching as the SAS was about to perform a life-taking raid on the Iranian Embassy in London against a six-man team known as the 'Democratic Revolutionary Movement for the Liberation of Arabistan' (DRMLA for short) (Barnes). The goal of this team or terrorist association was to draw attention to its demands for the self-determination of the Arab population of Khuzestan. The SAS had gotten into the Embassy by rappelling from the top of the roof into the windows of the Embassy. Surprisingly, the raid had only lasted nearly seventeen minutes long. The raid was a huge success for the rescuing of nineteen of the twenty hostages with all but perfect military performance, although two soldiers were killed by the terrorist’s. In fact, Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister of London at the time, had stated that it was “a brilliant operation” (Barnes). Out of an average intake of 125 candidates, the grueling selection process will cle... ... middle of paper ... ...e the house and were being monitored by Arabic-speaking translators. The house was identified as a base for suicide bombers and had indeed had the presence of 3 suicide bombers that had home-made explosives strapped to their chests (Elite UK Forces). The SAS had really thought about breaking into the building but knew it would be too risky with the homemade explosives exposed to soldiers (Elite UK Forces). Instead of letting them blow the whole building to pieces, it was decided to take on the bombers as they left the building and was absolutely key to shoot all 3 bombers at the same time to prevent any of them from detonating their explosives. Just past 8am the targets exited the house and the command was given over the radio to engage the enemy’s. Immediately, three SAS snipers opened fire. Each bomber was hit in the head and killed instantly (Elite UK Forces).
Currie, however, was not a professional soldier. He was born in Strathroy, Ontario, on December 5, 1875 and raised, he had moved to Canada’s west coast in his late teens. As an adult, he movedto Victoria, British Columbia, he had become a schoolteacher, and insurance salesman, and, a real-estate speculator, an occupation that
The battle began to go wrong from the start of the operation. While moving into position Razor 03 began to take fire from al Qaeda soldiers on the ground. Razor 03 was hit by an RPG which severely damaged the aircraft a...
The book, Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History, written by Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio, is a first-hand account of the dangerous but successful mission, aided by Hollywood and the Canadian government, to rescue six US diplomats from Iran after they escaped the US embassy during the Iran Hostage Crisis. Even though this is a non-fictional story, it still has themes. This story about courage and problem-solving conveys many important messages to the reader. The most meaningful message that Antonio Mendez and Matt Baglio are trying to convey to the reader is that no matter how difficult it seems to solve a certain problem, you can solve any problem as long as you put your mind to it, and are confident
Before the revolution when Dumas and her family first moved to Whittier, California, a mother and her daughter kindly helped Firoozeh and her mother find their way home, inattentive to the fact they were Iranian. “This kind stranger agreed to take us back to our house” (Dumas, 7). On the other hand, after eradicating the Shah, Iranian terrorists had a substantial motive to capture American hostages, and the country began to develop hostility towards all Iranians. Dumas recalls, “During our stay in Newport Beach, the Iranian Revolution took place and a group of Americans were taken hostage in the American embassy in Tehran. Overnight, Iranians living in America became, to say the least, very unpopular. For some reason, many Americans began to think that all Iranians, despite outward appearances to the contrary, could at any given moment get angry and take prisoners” (Dumas, ). Ignorance and xenophobia became the prime factors that led to this intense discrimination. The author describes the injustice her father experienced while searching for a job, “At the sight of the Iranian passport, the lawyer turned pale, ‘I am so sorry, but the government of Saudi Arabia does not accept Iranians at this time.’” (Dumas, 120). Contradicting with what Dumas’s father assumed America would provide for him, a job, he was turned down by many of them by the
For decades, U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East had depended on a friendly government in Iran. The newly appointed leader, the shah of Iran, began Westernizing the country and taking away power from the Ayatollah, powerful religious leaders. The United States poured millions of dollars into Iran’s economy and the shah’s armed forces, overlooking the rampant corruption in government and well-organized opposition. By early 1979, the Ayatollah had murdered the Shah and taken back power of the government. A group of students who took the American embassy hostage on November 4th, 1979, turned the embassy over to the religious leaders. Carter knew he must take action in order to regain the American embassy and the hostages, but with all of the military cutbacks, the rescue attempt was a complete failure and embarrassment. It took the United States 444 days to rescue the hostages. This was the final straw for many Americans, and enough to push them to the “right” side of the political spectrum, Republican.
speaks for it self. That was exactly how the bomb was. No one saw anything or
The IC decided that the first thing that needed to be done was to contain the fire and get it extinguished as soon as possible. Then the IC divided the situation into three primary sections Tower 1, Tower 2 and the Vista Hotel. The bomb had detonated right below the Vista Hotel and thick black smoke was quickly filling the two towers. He then c...
Firoozeh Dumas’ home country of Iran was, both prior and during the Iranian Revolution, vastly different than the capitalistic and also increasingly xenophobic United States, which had both its benefits and drawbacks. During each period of time that Dumas lived in the U.S. she faced hatred on the basis of her nationality and religion, most notably during the Shah’s visit to Washington, D.C. where her entire family and other Iranian families were threatened and many even violently beaten (113). Although she faced no physical trauma, Dumas was reminded of the negative attitudes towards Iranians that were even further inflamed during the hostage crisis in Tehran, leading to her hiding her heritage and her father struggling to find a job (117). On one occasion, her father was fired from a position after his employer realized that Kazem was Iranian, proving that for some ethnicity was more important than merit or skill level.
However, this attack on the commander and launch sites came as an immediate response to heavy Palestinian rocket fire over the previous weeks and prevention of other “Palestinian factions from building up their arsenals further. In a statement made by the Israeli Defense Force spokesman, he justifies the assassination of Ahmed Jabari stating “The first aim of this operation is to br...
The late 20th century was a very turbulent time in American history. In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected to the presidency, and he had many goals to help better America. However, on November 4th, 1979, a group of radical students seized the United States’ embassy in Tehran, Iran. This completely altered the course of American history and relations with the Middle East. This crisis had many impacts on the United States. It caused the Energy Crisis which in turn caused the Recession of 1979. The Iran Hostage Crisis also had political consequences for President Carter. It was a major factor that contributed to him losing the election of 1980 to Ronald Reagan. Additionally, this crisis led to many instances of racial discrimination toward Iranian-Americans and Iranian immigrants. Even after the Hostage Crisis was resolved, the bad blood between the two countries continued; the United States helped Iraq in the war against Iran, and the Iranians backed a second hostage situation in Lebanon. The Iran Hostage Crisis was a very important event that impacted America in many ways and destroyed our relationship with Iran. The consequences of this event are still felt today and continue to our foreign policies toward Iran.
Mark was placed in SEAL Team 5. After that Mark was Immediately sent off to Iraq to attempt to clear out terrorist threats. This was Mark's first mission and he was ready to finally be a part of the fight. When Mark and his team arrived at their objective the went in and stormed the house Mark and his team had to clear the rooms. Mark's team was able to capture an Iraqi Air Force Officer who was hiding out in the house. Mark and his team was only halfway complete with their mission that was only the First Floor, Mark and his team still had to clear the second floor. As mark approached the stairs a terrorist began unleashing rounds of AK-47 bullets. The barrage only lasted so long and the terrorist ran out of ammo attempting to hide. Once Mark and his team got to the second floor all they found was an AK-47 lying on a bed. Mark couldn't figure out where the terrorist had gone at first but Just as they were about to give up mark spotted the terrorist tucked in a windowsill with a piece of furniture for cover. Mark Busted the terrorists lip with the butt of his M4 knocking the terrorist to the floor. Mark and his team safely made it out of the house with 2 prisoners. It turned out the the terrorist was the Iraqi Air Force Officers son.
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
Within in minutes of the first attack news people and all emergency personnel were on the scene trying to help evacuate the building and get medical treatment to those injured. One person who was on the scene was Lieutenant Terri Tobin who was sent to be the department’s spokesperson for the news media, but quickly became involved in the r...
The British Empire ultimately had beneficial effects for its people; they did so through military, and economic aspects. Many advancements and benefits of these aspects led to a stronger empire and better lifestyle of its people. The main reason these advancements occurred was because the British Empire, and the most of the other European countries, were much more technologically advanced. While they enjoyed many years of advancements and developments, they still underwent periods of upheaval and detriment. Overall, the British Empire furthered the livelihood of its people and the world that followed it.
Fifty-one countries established the United Nations also known as the UN on October 24, 1945 with the intentions of preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Over the years the UN has grown in numbers to include 185 countries, thus making the organization and its family of agencies the largest in an effort to promote world stability. Since 1954 the UN and its organizations have received the Nobel Peace Prize on 5 separate occasions. The first in 1954 awarded to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, for its assistance to refugees, and finally in 1988 to the United Nations Peace-keeping Forces, for its peace-keeping operations. As you can see, the United Nations efforts have not gone without notice.