It’s unfair to compare Jimmy Carter’s management of the Iran hostage crisis with President Joe Biden’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
That’s because Carter’s leadership example then was far superior to Biden’s now.
Carter faced a hostage crisis with very few options. He authorized a high-risk military operation that failed but eventually secured the hostages’ release under the Algiers Accord. In contrast, Biden has the leverage he needs to rescue Americans and allies, likely without even using force. Instead, Biden chooses to kneel before the Taliban’s diktats.
The Taliban have two key interests in Afghanistan: consolidating their sovereign power and translating that power into a recruitment motif for their ideology. The medieval Islamist extremist group wants to show the Sunni-Islamic world that Allah has chosen them to establish a durable emirate.
Over the longer term, this emirate will pose counterterrorism challenges to the West by its safe harbor for terrorist groups such as al Qaeda. However, in the short term, the Taliban’s desire for consolidation affords Biden significant leverage. Were the president to extend the withdrawal evacuation deadline from Kabul beyond Aug. 31, as America’s closest allies have requested, the Taliban would face a difficult choice. They would have to decide whether to contest that new timeline and risk U.S. military action, which destroys their new presence and prestige. Or, they could accept the extended timeline in the understanding that a few more weeks would be all it took to give them their emirate, unchallenged.
In 1979-1980, Carter could have only dreamed of the leverage to offer such a choice.
Unlike Biden in Kabul, Carter lacked a defensible military footprint in Tehran from which to operate. Instead, Carter faced Islamic fanatics holding 52 American hostages. Carter attempted negotiations, but they failed. Five months later, Carter authorized an extraordinarily high-risk rescue attempt.
Operation Eagle Claw centered on a multistage infiltration of more than 100 Americans just outside of Tehran. The rescuers would drive into Tehran from a mountain staging post, raid the embassy and another government building, and rescue the hostages. As Navy fighter jets and gunships provided cover from above, they would then travel to a soccer stadium where helicopters would transfer them to an air base that had been captured by Army Rangers. From there, everyone would be flown to safety. As we now know, the operation failed, with the loss of eight Americans. Still, the lessons learned did shape the formation of Joint Special Operations Command. Today, that Command provides the most advanced and versatile special operations capability of any nation on Earth.
Carter deserves great credit for authorizing the failed rescue mission. He knew it was high risk but he was committed to bringing Americans home and defending the country’s global credibility.
Biden appears far less interested in both those critical concerns.
The commander in chief has allowed the Taliban to set the terms of this evacuation, and to repeatedly break their word to allow passage to the airport. Biden has disparaged Afghan allies who fought and died alongside Americans and foreign allies who have sought U.S. leadership in support of a common objective. Biden has refused to do what any president should not hesitate in doing: standing resolute in defense of American lives and liberty.
In short, Biden’s leadership in Afghanistan has made Carter’s leadership in Iran look heroic by comparison.
