11/4/1979

“On November 4 [1979], student radicals in Iran stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Officials in the State Department at first declared that the takeover was ‘a peaceful demonstration’ and denied that the captive U.S. personnel were ‘hostages.’ Within days, though, newspapers began carrying photographs of the captive Americans, blindfolded and with their hands bound […]

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11/4/1979

“In November [4] 1979, Islamic extremists led a coup in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The Iranian revolution showed to bin Laden and his generation of Islamists that their dream of a Koranic theocracy was actually possible.”  – Richard Miniter, Losing Bin Laden, Page 8 […]

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11/4/1979

“On November 4, 1979, militant students–responding to a decision by [President Jimmy] Carter to allow the deposed Shah [of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi] to enter the United States for cancer treatment–seized sixty-six Americans, thirteen of whom were freed over time. The rest were freed 444 days later, the day [Ronald] Reagan took office.”  – Tyler […]

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7/22/1979

Beginning on July 22, 1979, shortly after Saddam became president of Iraq, “a plot against Saddam by senior Ba’athists in league with the Syrian faction of the Ba’ath Party was supposedly uncovered. This resulted in the execution of twenty-two senior Ba’athists, including four members of the Revolutionary Command Council. Some were close friends and associates […]

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7/17/1979

“British, French, American, Austrian, German, Swiss, Danish, and Swedish companies all contributed expertise to the Akashat/Al Qaim project, all believing that they were helping with the construction of a fertilizer production plant [in Iraq]. But the project turned out to be a classic example of dual-use technology. American and British intelligence officials have since confirmed […]

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7/16/1979

“In July [16] 1979, Saddam was elected secretary general of the regional leadership of the Baath party in Iraq, chairman of the Revolution Command Council, president of the Republic of Iraq and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.”  – “Profile: Former Iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein,” China Daily, June 30, 2004 […]

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7/16/1979

“Immediately after seizing the presidency [of Iraq, on July 16, 1979], he [Saddam Hussein] convened an assembly of all Baath Party leaders, read the names of sixty-eight members whom he labeled ‘disloyal,’ and had them arrested. Twenty-two were later sentenced to death.”  – Ricardo S. Sanchez with Donald T. Phillips, Wiser in Battle, Page 37 […]

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7/16/1979

“On 16 July, 1979, [Ahmad Hassan] al-Bakr announced his resignation as president [of Iraq] in a move widely interpreted as being instigated by Saddam, who then became president.”  – Ali A. Allawi, The Occupation of Iraq, Page 29 […]

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7/3/1979

National Security Advisor Zbigniew “Brzezinski and his aide Robert Gates from CIA, on July 3, 1979, persuaded [President Jimmy] Carter to send secret aid to Islamist militants in Afghanistan, six months before the Soviet invasion in December 1979. Brzezinski has since…said that he explained to Carter that in his opinion ‘this aid was going to […]

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7/3/1979

“On July 3, 1979, [President Jimmy] Carter scrawled his name on a presidential ‘finding’ required under a recent law intended to ensure White House control over CIA operations. …Carter’s finding authorized the CIA to spend just over $500,000 on propaganda and psychological operations, as well as provide radio equipment, medical supplies, and cash to the […]

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