Changes

Due to the criticism Carter received for ignoring the safety of American citizens, he finally ordered a small-scale rescue mission on April 24, 1980, after 173 days of captivity. [[Operation Eagle Claw]], as it was codenamed, was a total and complete failure due to poor leadership and management.<ref>The mission was overly complex and lacked an overarching organizational structure to assume command and control of operational forces. These factors, coupled with a lack of planning and other operational mishaps encountered during the deployment phase, led to the mission being aborted at the initial landing site that was designated as “DESERT ONE.” [http://www.apc.maxwell.af.mil/text/excur/eagle.htm The Air & Space Power course] - U.S. Military</ref>

Due to the criticism Carter received for ignoring the safety of American citizens, he finally ordered a small-scale rescue mission on April 24, 1980, after 173 days of captivity. [[Operation Eagle Claw]], as it was codenamed, was a total and complete failure due to poor leadership and management.<ref>The mission was overly complex and lacked an overarching organizational structure to assume command and control of operational forces. These factors, coupled with a lack of planning and other operational mishaps encountered during the deployment phase, led to the mission being aborted at the initial landing site that was designated as “DESERT ONE.” [http://www.apc.maxwell.af.mil/text/excur/eagle.htm The Air & Space Power course] - U.S. Military</ref>

Carter had received memos indicating that:<ref>http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:67hJq9Z_RBUJ:sobek.colorado.edu/~isaacson/Research_files/Isaacson-%2520National%2520Interest%2520vs.%2520Re-election.pdf+%22Ted+Kennedy%22+%22Jimmy+Carter%22+%22Operation+Eagle+Claw%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us</ref>

There is some speculation that since in late April 1980, President [[Jimmy Carter]] was losing ground to challenger [[Ted Kennedy]] in a close primary for the Democratic nomination for president.  Carter's main weakness was the ongoing [[Iran Hostage Crisis]], and Operation Eagle Claw was an attempt to free (or at least appear to try to free)those hostages.<ref>http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:67hJq9Z_RBUJ:sobek.colorado.edu/~isaacson/Research_files/Isaacson-%2520National%2520Interest%2520vs.%2520Re-election.pdf+%22Ted+Kennedy%22+%22Jimmy+Carter%22+%22Operation+Eagle+Claw%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us</ref>

:The impetus for the rescue mission was not, as Carter had often claimed it would be, that the lives of the hostages were in immediate danger; in fact, Carter and all of his advisers believed that the hostages would be kept alive and unharmed for at least three months, as indicated by the memo above. Again, on April 23rd, only hours before the rescue mission was to commence, Carter received a last-minute intelligence report which Carter states in his memoirs that the heart of the memo was that "there was little prospect of the hostages' release within the next five or six months" (Carter 1982, pg. 513). Why was this time frame of five to six months so important to Carter? It is at least interesting to note that at the time of Carter’s decision, the November election was just over six months away.

:The impetus for the rescue mission was not, as Carter had often claimed it would be, that the lives of the hostages were in immediate danger; in fact, Carter and all of his advisers believed that the hostages would be kept alive and unharmed for at least three months, as indicated by the memo above. Again, on April 23rd, only hours before the rescue mission was to commence, Carter received a last-minute intelligence report which Carter states in his memoirs that the heart of the memo was that "there was little prospect of the hostages' release within the next five or six months" (Carter 1982, pg. 513). Why was this time frame of five to six months so important to Carter? It is at least interesting to note that at the time of Carter’s decision, the November election was just over six months away.