The Siege of the Iranian Embassy
On April 30th 1980 a six man Iraqi terrorist group burst into the
Iranian embassy. The embassy in Princes Gate, London, contained 20
people, which included a police constable. The terrorist wanted the
release of 91 political prisoners from jail in Iran and a plane for
them to escape. If their demands were not met they would execute all
the hostages and blow up the Embassy. The Metropolitan Police invited
B Squadron, 22 SAS onto the scene. Within hours of the siege starting
they had set up observation posts and where monitoring the terrorists.
Major Jeremy Phipps who had been in the SAS for 15 years, and had
fought in Borneo and Oman now commanded B squadron. He started
developing plans to break into the embassy and free the hostages. A
high-ranking group of government ministers and officials decided that
it would be best to negotiate. For five days the SAS practiced their
plans for the siege as the negotiations dragged on.
On May 5th the terrorists' patience cracked and they shot dead a
hostage, Abbas Lavasani. Listening devices inserted by the SAS picked
up the terrorist plans, which included killing more hostages. The time
for talk was over. The order to attack came from the top, the Prime
Minister Margaret Thatcher, 'The Iron Lady'. The police handed
responsibility for the operation to the SAS at 19:07. Fourteen minutes
later the assault began, operation 'Nimrod' was now underway.
Four SAS men broke into the front of the Embassy after jumping over an
adjoining balcony. They blew out the armoured windows with a 'frame
charge' (A long strip of C4 explosives). An eight-strong rear team
abseile...
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...re hostages might have died. The
demands could have been met but this would leave the door open for
further terrorist demands. The SAS had to protect the innocent and
they did it. Even though some of the terrorists could have been
arrested there was no practical way of doing this without them still
being a risk to the hostages and SAS members. 39 bullets is a lot to
kill one man, but if fired from more than one soldier in the heat of
battle 39 isn't that many. Terrorists are dangerous; they have a
single aim and their target has to be met without regard to life or
property.
Terrorists lose their right to a fair trial when they use innocent
people in an attempt to get their demands meet. I believe the actions
of the SAS and the fact that they are still active and operational
allows people like us to sleep soundly.
of importance to him. He begins by describing to you the feeling of being shot
Murder is a reprobate action that is an inevitable part of war. It forces humans into immoral acts, which can manifest in the forms such as shooting or close combat. The life of a soldier is ultimately decided from the killer, whether or not he follows through with his actions. In the short stories The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty and Just Lather, That's All by Hernando Téllez, the killer must decide the fate of their victims under circumstantial constraints. The two story explore the difference between killing at a close proximity compared to killing at a distance, and how they affect the killer's final decision.
It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk” (O’Flaherty 1). Another scene where suspense was shown in “The Sniper” was when the Republican sniper had been curious to know who the man was that he killed and decided to risk taking a look at the man, “..He felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper whom he killed..He wondered did he know hi,..He decided to risk going over to have a look at him” (O’Flaherty 2). In both scenes the sniper decided to take risks which showed suspense throughout the
the soldier who kills the most enemy or the pilot who bombs the most targets that are the
...me soldiers refuse to fire a shot due to the great personal conflict within them to kill another human being. Normal human beings cannot kill in cold blood. Normal human beings usually can’t even think about killing somebody. To not feel remorse after killing a fellow human being would be inhuman.
The soldiers soon realize that the men around the fire are the only ones that Sartoris
I guess that is why the American Civil War was called the bloodiest war of all time. Not only are you trying to kill your opponent, you are trying to kill a fellow American. This must of been tougher. Also, if we adopted the Gatling gun, I feel that the war would have been a lot faster than it was. Being able to fire 250 to 300 rounds in one minute is devastating.
In “The Sniper” the conflict is man vs man, which means main character is tasked with killing his enemy, but it proves to be quite a challenge. Even though there were many challenges the sniper followed through with his job and persevered even after he was shot in the arm. Wanting to kill his enemy, stay alive, and be one step closer to ending the war was his main goals. Being brave, he took off his hat, placed it on his gun, and raised it above the edge of the roof. Instantly the enemy shot at it and the sniper, pretending to be dead, waited until the enemy got up for him to shoot him. He did some quick thinking and, with determination, handled the conflict quite well.
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.
Iran had suffered and prospered through many different rises of power in the 20th century; these changes caused anger in the Iranian people. The time leading up to the revolution was characterized a fight for power between the Western influences and the Islamic people. In 1979 the people of the Iran led by Ruhollah Khomeini considered to be an enemy of the state. He was born in about 1900 in the town of Khomein. He was raised in the tradition of Shiite Islam; because of the death of his father he became more spiritual and faithful. On March 31, 1961, Ayatollah Boroujerdi died and Khomeini was in a position to take up the mantle left by the late religious leader. After publishing his writings on Islamic science and doctrines, many Shi'ite Iranians began to see Khomeini as Marja-e Taqlid (Biography channel website ). He wanted to start the first “government of God” (Berlatsky 26). He was thought to be a threat to the Shah decided that they had enough of his attempts to overthrow the government; he had been exiled for 14 years. With him as the leader of the Islamic uprising people flocked to his side to support. The placement of he Shah by America in the 1960’s was their final straw. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 has been described as one of the most notable events of the twentieth century; it began a period of time in which the Islamic culture was fighting against the modernization in many nations where Islam was the main religion. There is a huge difference between an unsuccessful revolution in which the beginners of the revolution are diminished and their demands not met. But when it is look at, the Iranian Revolution is seen as successful revolution in which all the needs of fight...
Iran was included in the territory of what was then the ancient Persian Empire. For centuries Iran (land of the Aryans) was also referred to as Persia, which was the official name until 1935. Fourteen years had passed before the Iranian government allowed the use of both names. Few groups of people today have significant history like the Iranians, descending from the ancient Persians, who possess one of the world’s richest and oldest cultures. Historically, a variety of other cultures and groups had once occupied the ancient Iranian plateau as early as 4,000 B.C.E, with little importance. Beginning by the third millennium, Persia was ruled by some of the greatest kings of all time, from Cyrus the Great to Darius the III, who turned the Persian Empire into one of the world’s greatest civilizations.
The Iranian revolution of 1979 has been one of the most significant developments in the Middle East and the entire Muslim world since the early years of the 20th century. The revolution brought a big transformation in Iran’s sociocultural society by overthrowing a centuries old monarchical system and establishing an Islamic republic based on the rule of a Shi’a Jurisconsult. The Iranian revolution has a lot of impact on several Islamic countries. There are many revolutions took place in history and the Iranian revolution was one of them. The Iranian revolution turned Iranian society upside down and became one of the defining moments of the 20th Century.
The discovery of oil reserves in the Persian Gulf marked the beginning of the evolution of Iran to a modern industrial nation. (Document A) As the demand for crude oil skyrocketed, the wealth generated by Iran soared. The distribution of this wealth became a matter of contention. Additionally, with the transformation of Iran to an industrial nation, the introduction of western culture posed a problem for the strict Islamic community. The Iranian Revolution was a result of the economic, political, cultural and religious conflict that occurred within its borders.
Bullets, of course, are another big danger in war. The author shows with bullets how close you are to death in a war. In the event where the sniper lights his cigarette, he is twice almost killed with the “enemy” sniper’s bullets! The sniper’s own bullets are quite dangerous, too, as seen when he easily kills the tank commander and citizen woman informer. After shooting them, the “enemy” sniper sees him, and “His fore...
A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values and create a secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come. Although the Iranian Revolution was both a political and religious movement in that it resulted in major shifts in government structure from an autocracy to a republic and that Islamic beliefs were fought to be preserved, it was more a religious movement in that the primary goal of the people was to preserve traditional ideology and in that the government became a theocracy intertwined with religious laws and desires of the people.