Guests Of The Ayatollah: The Iran Hostage Crisis (95 page)

8 The Cure Is an Airline Ticket Out of HereOn the embassy grounds…“out of here,” Queen (interview and IO), Hall. The Mushroom Inn…three times a day, description of Hamid from Koob, Queen (the list of library rules is from IO, p. 130), Scott, Roeder, Golacinski, Rosen, DH, Sharer, Persinger, Royer. They were beginning…across the room, Golacinski, Roeder, Scott (interview and PG).

9 EscapeBill Belk had been moved…Christmas holidays, Belk (my interview and Wells interview). The approach of Christmas…on her “tree,” Koob.

10 Captivity PageantOn Christmas morning…entirely at ease, Hermening, Subic, Lauterbach, videotape from the Carter Center Library, Ebtekar, TT. In what the students…cut into her skin, news reports, videotape from the Carter Center Library, Kupke, Ebtekar, TT, Keough, Scott, PG, Koob. Several days…as its captives, Laingen, Tomseth. Vice consul Bob Ode…“not prayers,” Ode (interview and his diary), news reports. Despite its obvious…he was crushed, Limbert, Scott (interview and PG), Hall, Golacinski. Michael Metrinko…for two weeks, Metrinko, Ebtekar.

11 Invasion and OpportunityCharlie Beckwith decided…everyone around them understood, Burruss, Fitch, Beckwith, DF. Two other things happened…the president’s ear, news reports, Jordan, C, Associated Press chronology, Brzezinski, P&P, Salinger’s America Held Hostage (AHH). In the second week…dangerous business in Iran, news reports, Jordan, C.

Part Three

Waiting

1 They Started It, We Ended ItAfter his questioners…eyes fell shut, Ahern. Some background information about Simon Farzami came from http://home.online.no/~hhakimi/album/abolhassan/abh.htm, National Security Archives, news reports. Ahern’s colleague Bill Daugherty…ended the interview, Daugherty, Schaefer, National Security Archive, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, Ahern, newspaper reports.

2 We Know What Route That Bus TakesCIA officers…“That’s it,” Limbert, Precht. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Roeder…should he take it? Roeder.

3 Happy New YearAfter more than…several times, Kirtley, Lopez (Wells interview and my interview), Gallegos, Sickmann, Royer, Persinger, Cooke, Golacinski, Roeder, Sharer, Koob, Scott (interview and PG), Queen (interview and IO), Belk, Hall. Queen’s condition…whatever it was, Queen (interview and IO), Hall.

4 That’s Illegal!On January 25…might finally be breaking Carter’s way, Jordan, C, Sick’s All Fall Down (AFD), Associated Press chronology. There was now…he was in on it, Kupke, news reports, Lopez, Sickmann, Persinger, Graves.

5 A Marvelous CoupBill Belk’s combative…his next meal, Belk, Hohman, Ebtekar, TT. Next door, Limbert…“marvelous coup!” Limbert, Belk.

6 A New and Mutually Beneficial RelationshipWith a secret process…“lawless dictators,” news reports, videotapes from the Carter Center Library, Burruss, Fitch, Beckwith, DF, Kyle, GT, Schaefer. The students were feeling…even kind, Subic, Hermening, Lauterbach.

7 SAVAK! SAVAK!Inside Iran…future of Iran, Hashemi, Asgharzadeh. Their frustration…wanted to do, Limbert, Hall, Queen (interview and IO), Scott (interviews and PG), German, Ode, Kupke, Rosen (interview and DH), 444 Days to Freedom, Belk, Sharer, Englemann, Lopez, Keough, Cooke, Golacinski, Persinger, Roeder, Royer, Kennedy. After being assured repeatedly by Mohammad Hashemi and other former hostage takers that their captives had been treated gently and with respect at all times, I asked him about the mock execution. He said it never happened, that such stories were “lies.” “I have been interviewing former hostages all over the United States, dozens of them,” I told him. “And their memories about the incident are all in agreement, and agree with accounts they gave in interviews twenty years ago. They are all lying?” Hashemi said that he couldn’t vouch for every guard who took care of the hostages and every moment. “So now you are saying it might have happened?” I asked. He shrugged off the question. The mock execution…other guards, Kupke, Scott (interviews and PG). After the mock execution…and did, Hall, Scott, Keough.

8 Ham, They Are CrazyOn the same day…“for years,” news reports, Jaffe, Rupiper, Lewis, Gallegos. There was reason to be more optimistic…“polls are accurate,” Jordan, C, Carter, KF, memo from Carter Center Library, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, The Iran Hostage Crisis, a Chronology of Daily Developments, Associated Press chronology.

9 Fie on Them All Laingen, Howland, Tomseth, news reports, 444 Days to Freedom.

10 The Atmosphere of Restraint Cannot Last ForeverOn March 13…to poison him, Jordan, C, Carter, KF, letter from the Carter Center Library, The Iran Hostage Crisis, a Chronology of Daily Developments, Sick, AFD.

11 I’m Not Going to Answer Questions from Anyone Wearing a Dress!On March 19…avenue of approach, Queen (interview and IO), Hall. John Limbert was moved…no one disputed, Limbert. The interrogations…him in months, Metrinko, Sharsar.

12 I Think We’re ReadyAs the month…Carney’s dirt bike, Carney (interviews and No Room for Error [NRE],…with some e-mail assistance from Bud McBroom). Over the same days…“I think we’re ready,” Burruss, Fitch, Schoomaker, Beckwith, DF.

Part Four

One Hundred and Thirty-Two Men

1 Bunny SadrForcing grown men…he went home, Queen (interview and IO), Hall, Ode, Sickmann, Lopez, Gallegos, Golacinski, Laingen, Metrinko. Jimmy Carter’s patience…his choice of words, Jordan, C, Carter, KF, Associated Press chronology, Precht.

2 A Beginning of the Dawn of Final VictoryEaster in Tehran…for punishment, news reports, Rupiper, Strabala’s Prophets Without Honor (PWH), Koob, Golacinski, Hermening, Morefield, Gallegos, Queen, Hall. The successful, stealthy…seemed doable, Burruss, Fitch. President Carter’s crackdown…had traveled there on their own, Christopher’s Chances of a Lifetime (CL), Vance, HC, Jordan, C, Carter, KF, Brzezinski (interview and P&P), Powell interview, newspaper reports. ColonelBeckwith…April 24, Beckwith, DF, Carter, KF, Brzezinski, P&P, Jordan, C, Burruss, Fitch, Schoomaker. One morning, for no reason…spirits for days, Metrinko.

3 You’ve Got a MotherThe punishment…His mom? Hermening, Golacinski. In an epic gesture…misled and manipulated, Timm. She was not…aggravated suspicion, Barbara Rosen, DH. Timm was appalled…canceling them, Timm, news reports. Then, in mid-April…“how to get them out,” Powell, McFadden’s No Hiding Place (NHP). The travel ban…“do not oppose it,” Barbara Rosen, DH, Penne Laingen, news reports. Opposition was…she refused, Timm, Ebtekar, TT. Hermening was blindfolded…day of his release, Hermening, Timm, Golacinski, Ebtekar. Bruce Laingen…sky faded into darkness, Laingen (interviews and YR), Carter, KF, Howland.

4 Welcome to World War Three Burruss, Beckwith, Uttaro, Fitch, Carney, Holloway Commission Report, photos taken by mission members, Cheney, Smith, Savory, Schoomaker, Kyle, GT, Sanchez, Brenci, Bancroft, Byers, Rowe, Doyle, Long, Ishimoto, Carter, KF, Jordan, C, Brzezinski, P&P, Powell.

5 What the Hell Is This?Already the eight…they turned back, Schaefer, Kyle, GT, Holloway Commission Report. At the desert…Carter said softy, Schaefer, Burruss, Beckwith, DF, Kyle, GT, Walton, Fitch, Smith, Schoomaker, Long, Brzezinski (interview and P&P), Jordan, C, Carter, KF, Christopher, CL, Vance, HC, Martin (Newsweek, “Inside the Failed Mission” [IFM]), 444 Days to Freedom.

6 Two Loud, Dull ThunksAt Desert One…no second chance, Haney’s Inside Delta Force (IDF), Martin, IFM, Fitch, Walton, Cheney, Schaefer, Beckwith, DF, Bancroft, Doyle, Rowe, Smith, Byers, Uttaro, Burruss. Word reached…rescue the hostages, Jordan, C, Vance, HC; the White House statement was reprinted in the Washington Post.

Part Five

Haggling With the Barbarians

1 A Prison-like Place Hashemi, Asgharzadeh, Keough, Royer, Barnes, Jones, Ahern, Limbert, Metrinko, Daugherty, German, Koob, Ode.

2 Any Possibility of Failure Should Have Ruled It OutBarbara Timm…was not friendly, Timm, news reports, videotapes of TV news from the Carter Center Library. Most Americans…steady months-long decline, Associated Press–NBC News poll. In the final meeting…“I don’t change it now,” Barbara Rosen, DH, Timm, Brzezinski (interview and P&P); the roundup of newspaper editorial reactions was compiled by AP in the week after the mission. It was a dejected…spirited ovation, news reports, Fitch, Burruss, Beckwith, DF, Martin, IFM.

3 S-E-N-D-N-E-W-SAfter the rescue attempt…six months before, Laingen, news reports. John Limbert…alone for a long time, Limbert, Sharer, Kalp. Summerturned…a big apology, Metrinko, Roeder, news reports, videotape from the Carter Center Library, 444 Days to Freedom.

4 Moral SadnessAt home during…“into a catastrophe, Schell (The New Yorker, June 2, 1980). Some of the…in private, Barbara Rosen, DH. In light…“live with the hostages, news reports, videotapes from the Carter Center Library. Despite the dearth…“you thought of the hostages today?,” Carter, KF, Jordan, C, Washington Post, McFadden, NHP, Associated Press chronology, Sick, AFD, TV news tapes from the Morefields, 444 Days to Freedom, Dorothea Morefield, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, New York Times. The obstinacy…“if it doesn’t work,” The Iran Hostage Crisis, a Chronology of Daily Developments, news reports, Laingen (interviews and YR), Howland, Bani-Sadr.

5 I’m GoingOthers responded…like torture, Limbert, Kalp, Belk, Subic. The logistics…a good sign, Lopez, Hall, Kirtley, Persinger, Koob. Kathryn Koob…was gone, Koob. Queen, Miele…Zurich, Switzerland, Queen (interview and IO), Ode (interview and diary), Hohman.

6 The Braying of Donkeys Limbert, Scott (interviews and PG), Holland.

7 Buy Iraqi War BondsSummer is long…fearless response, Howland. Laingen saw…for emergencies, Laingen, Holland, Limbert, Scott (interview and PG), Sharer, Daugherty, Metrinko, Roeder. Suddenly, Iran…“Stop shooting at it,” Laingen, YR. None of the hostages…war with Iraq, Limbert, Belk, Koob. The window to the cell…dried black, Golacinski, Morefield. Tom Ahern…back in solitary, Ahern, Sharer, Scott. The question of who told what to the Iranians continues to be a source of confusion and dissension among the hostages twenty-five years later. One sweltering night…started to laugh, Keough, Daugherty, Roeder, Rosen, DH, Schaefer. The guard Abbas…own divising, Cooke. Not long…pointless, and cruel, Metrinko, news reports (Metrinko gave me a copy of the letter).

8 It Has Become a QuagmireIraq’s invasion of Iran…have to wait out this war, Tabatabai, Christopher, CL, Associated Press chronology, Carter, KF, Jordan, C, AP, Sick, AFD, McFadden, NHP. As the American…exposure and pull, news reports, TV videotapes from the Carter Center Library. In Tehran…“Boom!” Roeder. All through October…January 21, 1981, Carter, KF, Associated Press chronology, Jordan, C, Christopher, CL, UPI, AP, TV news tapes from the Morefield family and the Carter Center Library, McFadden, NHP. After Reagan’s victory…other mullahs, Laingen (interviews and YR), Tomseth, Howland, news reports. Month by month…written a year earlier, McFadden, NHP, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, 444 Days to Freedom.

9 Weren’t You Fed Amply?In the interregnum…for the first time in more than a year, Turner’s Terrorism and Democracy (TD), McFadden, NHP, Associated Press chronology, Carter, KF, Jordan, C, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, Sick, AFD. At the end…suite in groups, Daugherty, Scott, Ahern, Laingen, Tomseth, Howland, Koob. For the hostages’…flicker of hope, Hall, TV videotapes from the Carter Center Library, Metrinko, Roeder. Kathryn Koob and Ann Swift…terminates the conversation, Koob, Ebtekar, TV videotapes from the Carter Center Library, 444 Days to Freedom, Metrinko, Roeder, Morefield, Laingen, YR.

10 We Don’t Do Stuff Like ThatBefore Laingen…were solid, Laingen. If the students believed…sense of completion and accomplishment, McFadden, NHP, Carter, KF, Christopher, CL, Associated Press chronology, Sick, AFD, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library. Two days before…interrogator departed, Daugherty. Sheikh-ol-eslam…he said, Ahern. John Limbert…on their way, Limbert, Koob, Golacinski, Howland, Hermening, Laingen, Sickmann, Metrinko, Kupke. Carter had reluctantly abandoned his plan…waiting for news from Tehran, Carter, KF, Christopher, CL, McFadden, NHP, Sick, AFD, Brzezinski, P&P, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library, Jordan, C, AP. Mehrabad Airport…he felt relaxed, videotapes from the Carter Center Library, Sickmann, Hermening, Royer, Tomseth, Koob, Limbert, Laingen, Hall, Belk, Scott (interviews and PG), Lopez, Roeder, Metrinko, Gallegos, Ahern, Kupke, Golacinski. President Reagan made the announcement…they started to dance, TV news tapes from the Carter Center Library and the Morefield family, 444 Days to Freedom.

I have never had so much help in writing a book, and I’m afraid now I have been permanently spoiled. I would like to thank Morgan Entrekin, David Bradley, and Scott Rudin for their enthusiastic and generous support of this project. Michael Oreskes and Vivian Schiller of The New York Times (and Discovery-Times) made the companion documentary possible.

My research assistant Terrence Henry has been invaluable. He joined me in this project soon after I started it, and over the years I came to lean on him more and more. I might have been able to write this book without him, but it would have taken me twenty years and it would still be missing bits and pieces of information he cleverly unearthed from the National Archives and the Carter Center in Atlanta. My cousins David and Arcadia Keane, and my son Aaron Bowden (along with the rest of the talented folks at Wild Eyes Productions) signed on early to make the companion documentary for the Discovery-Times channel, and effectively became my collaborators. David and Arcadia made one reporting trip to Tehran, and David accompanied me on my two trips, and I owe them a great debt for their help, companionship, and a terrific place to stay in Hermosa Beach. Aaron wrote the documentary and chipped in on a lot of the interviewing, traveling all over America, and my gratitude toward him is mixed with a huge helping of fatherly pride.

I would also like to thank Tim Wells for the extraordinary early reporting he did on this story, all of which is deposited in a special collection at the Duke University Library, where my own notes, transcripts, and files will be donated. Wells was gracious and extraordinarily generous in sharing his work. Ramin Mostaqim was our guide and translator in Tehran, and he threw himself into the work like the talented journalist he is. I would also like to thank Michael Hornburg for his careful and patient copyediting, Ron Bernstein, Christina Asquith, Jennie Dunham, Scott Manning, Jamison Stoltz, Kaveh Ehsani, and Nikki Faratsatpour.