Ex-Hostages Say Iran Leader-Elect a Captor

[FUZO]

TweetWASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday that "many questions" have been raised by allegations of some former American hostages that Iran's president-elect was one of their captors in the late 1970s.



"I have no information," Bush said in an interview with foreign reporters ahead of a trip to Scotland next week. "But obviously his involvement raises many questions."

Afterward, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said that Bush was referring to reports suggesting Iranian president-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's involvement in the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.

McClellan said the White House is taking the allegations seriously and "looking into them to better understand the facts."

Former hostages Chuck Scott, David Roeder, William J. Daugherty and Don A. Sharer told The Associated Press that after seeing Ahmadinejad on television, they have no doubt he was one of the hostage-takers. A fifth ex-hostage, Kevin Hermening, said he reached the same conclusion after looking at photos. A close aide to Ahmadinejad denied the president-elect took part in the seizure of the embassy or in holding Americans hostage.

The hostage-taking, which came in reprisal for Washington's refusal to surrender ousted Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi for trial there, contributed substantially to then-President Jimmy Carter's defeat by Ronald Reagan in the 1980 election.

Militant students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The shah had fled Iran earlier that year after he was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution.

Another former hostage, retired Air Force Col. Thomas E. Schaefer, said he doesn't recognize Ahmadinejad as one of his captors. Several former students among the hostage-takers also said they did not believe that Ahmadinejad had taken part in it.

Bush suggested these questions are not his primary concern since Ahmadinejad was elected. Instead, he said, he wants to ensure that Britain, France and Germany, who have been negotiating with Iran to stop its alleged nuclear ambitions, make absolutely clear to Ahmadinejad that a nuclear-armed Iran will not be tolerated.

"We've got a got a new man who's assumed power and he must hear a focused message," the president said. "That's where my attention is focused right now."

Several of the former hostages insisted they were certain that the president-elect was among their captors. Daugherty said it's further evidence that the State Department should stop defending Iran's immunity from lawsuits filed by the former hostages seeking reparations.

In April 2002, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by the hostages seeking $33 billion in damages. The State Department intervened, arguing the lawsuit would violate the U.S.-Iranian agreements that freed the hostages and would damage U.S. credibility.

"This puts the Bush administration in an interesting position," Daugherty said. "You know how he said, `You're either for us or you're for the terrorists.' Well, now the leader of Iran is a terrorist."

Ahmadinejad was a member of the Office of Strengthening Unity, the student organization that planned the embassy takeover, but he was opposed to taking the U.S. Embassy, several of his associates said.

The aide, Meisan Rowhani, told the AP from Tehran that Ahmadinejad was asked during recent private meetings if he had a role in the hostage taking. Rowhani said he replied, "No. I believed that if we do that the world will swallow us."

Mohammad Ali Sayed Nejad, a longtime friend of the president-elect, said that in 1979, "Ahmadinejad had focused his fight against communism and Marxism and he was one of the opponents of seizing the U.S. Embassy. He was a constant opponent."

Rowhani, the aide to Ahmadinejad, said Ahmadinejad said during the recent meeting that he stopped opposing the embassy seizure after the revolution's leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, expressed support for it. But the president-elect said he never took part.

"Definitely he was not among the students who took part in the seizure," said Abbas Abdi, the leader of the hostage-takers. Abdi has since become a leading supporter of reform and sharply opposed Ahmadinejad. "He was not part of us. He played no role in the seizure, let alone being responsible for security" for the students.

Another of the hostage-takers, Bijan Adibi, said Ahmadinejad "was not involved. There was no one by that name among the students who took part in the U.S. Embassy seizure."

Some former hostages couldn't be sure about their captors. Former Marine embassy guard Paul Lewis of Sidney, Ill., said he thought Ahmadinejad looked vaguely familiar when he saw a picture of him on the news last week, but "my memories were more of the gun barrel, not the people behind it."

"I cannot postively identify the individual. When I was interrogated, I was blindfolded and shackled," said Alan Golancinski, one of the former hostages who is retired and now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. "He does look familiar, but I have no way of postively identifying the individual," he said.

Daugherty, who worked for the CIA in Iran and now lives in Savannah, said a man he's convinced was Ahmadinejad was among a group of ringleaders escorting a Vatican representative during a visit in the early days of the hostage crisis.

"It's impossible to forget a guy like that," Daugherty said. "Clearly the way he acted, the fact he gave orders, that he was older, most certainly he was one of the ringleaders."

Ahmadinejad, the hard-line mayor of Tehran, was declared winner Wednesday of Iran's presidential runoff election, defeating one of Iran's best-known statesmen, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. The stunning upset put conservatives firmly in control of all branches of power in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

In a first-person account on the British Broadcasting Corp. Web site, world affairs editor John Simpson said he, too, recognized Ahmadinejad, saying there was something "faintly familiar" about him. "I realised where I must have seen him: in the former American embassy in Tehran," Simpson wrote.

Scott, Roeder, Daugherty and Sharer said they have been exchanging e-mails since seeing Ahmadinejad emerge as a serious contender in Iran's elections.

"He was extremely cruel," said Sharer, of Bedford, Ind. "He's one of the hard-liners. So that tells you where their government's going to stand for the next four to five years."

A memory expert cautioned that people who discuss their recollections can influence one another in reinforcing false memories. Also, it's harder to identify from memory someone of a different race or ethnicity, said psychologist Elizabeth Loftus of the University of California, Irvine.

"Twenty-five years is an awfully long time," Loftus said. "Of course we can't say this is false, but these things can lead people down the path of having a false memory."

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[Equalizer]

TweetBush has "no information" what a fucking suprise.....just like everything else they dont want out there but when it comes time for something to their benefit they have tons of bullshit information......I've been reading about this, they have some pics of the guy on cnn I think from then and now.

[Skarhead]

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Bush has "no information" what a fucking suprise.....just like everything else they dont want out there but when it comes time for something to their benefit they have tons of bullshit information......I've been reading about this, they have some pics of the guy on cnn I think from then and now.

Lol exactly!.. Just like there were tons of leads and proof there were WMDs in Iraq and we needed to go to war. BULLSHIT. the red neck was just looking for an excuse to go to war -- and he used terrorism.

Bush is by far the worst president ever. The only ppl to support him are the uneducated red necks. Even most republicans cant back this ass clown up. You simply just cant!

[Equalizer]

TweetThe reason Bush was so sure there were WMD's in Iraq is because his dad has the receipt for them.

[T-Man007]

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Lol exactly!.. Just like there were tons of leads and proof there were WMDs in Iraq and we needed to go to war. BULLSHIT. the red neck was just looking for an excuse to go to war -- and he used terrorism.

Bush is by far the worst president ever. The only ppl to support him are the uneducated red necks. Even most republicans cant back this ass clown up. You simply just cant!

Screw you! I'm not a redneck and I've got an IQ of 144 so I'm technically a genius, not uneducated. You really pissed me off with that one! Do you have any idea how many CEO's of fortune 500 companies support Bush? There is a multi millionaire Real Estate guru here in my home town who supports Bush, I guess he's uneducated and a redneck too, right?

Furthermore, the WMD intell came from Britain, not us. We acted on bad info we got from them. And incase you forgot, they acted on it too. But as we all know, no one in the last 7 decades have won a war without our help, so we went.

You need to watch the name calling. If you don't agree then don't agree but don't call me uneducated. I'm more intelligent than 80% of the worlds population. The average IQ is 110, at my age 130 or higher is genius. You do the math.

Sorry bro, but I'm really pissed at your comment.

[Skarhead]

TweetWell, your intelligence quotent doesnt really measure your education level, but congrats on the 144 IQ -lol.

They probably support Bush for $ reasons and or/ they don't follow much news and fell into his scare tactics. Yeah a lot of red necks are scared that Iraq was actually a threat to the US (LOL!) and want us to blow the whole Mid-East. I guess just b/c somebody got rich off finding his niche in real estate and supports bush, bush must be a good president?

Lets not forget, our red neck president had no good credentials except being born into wealth and his father. He drove just about everything else he ran straight into the ground.

Now, fellow bush supporter, please tell me something REDEEMING about Bush. so far hes responsible for thousands of deaths off of bullshit information. and i dont CARE if it was british intelligence, dont you think it should of been investigated a little bit more considering DECLARING WAR? Now we're in this mess and not anyone -- even the dumbass himself has no clue how to get out LOL... and now hes trying to scare us again trying to get support for the war. i just say a commericla the other day "have a terrorist emergency plan it could happen any time!" LMFAO!!!! Bush sucks dick anyway you slice it.

ooh and for the record -- im not a liberal. so dont even play that card. just tell me what redeeming things george bush has done in comparision to all the shitty things hes done

Sorry bush is a red neck, the majority of his followers are dumb and/or red necks too. I dont take anything back.

Screw you! I'm not a redneck and I've got an IQ of 144 so I'm technically a genius, not uneducated. You really pissed me off with that one! Do you have any idea how many CEO's of fortune 500 companies support Bush? There is a multi millionaire Real Estate guru here in my home town who supports Bush, I guess he's uneducated and a redneck too, right?

Furthermore, the WMD intell came from Britain, not us. We acted on bad info we got from them. And incase you forgot, they acted on it too. But as we all know, no one in the last 7 decades have won a war without our help, so we went.

You need to watch the name calling. If you don't agree then don't agree but don't call me uneducated. I'm more intelligent than 80% of the worlds population. The average IQ is 110, at my age 130 or higher is genius. You do the math.

Sorry bro, but I'm really pissed at your comment.

[solidground]

Tweeti just say a commericla the other day "have a terrorist emergency plan it could happen any time!"

just wondering what channel you saw this on, if you remember ..thats crazy

[Equalizer]

TweetI do believe an attack is coming, but I also believe that someone in the govt (CIA) had involvement in 9/11, which Bush's grandfather(prescott bush) help found what is now the CIA and his father(Sr) was in the CIA when he was running for Govt offices, he says he wasnt in the CIA until he was appointed director and that is bullshit and govt documents can prove it especially documents involving JFK, George Bush Srs name is in quite a few documents that are now public. Point being Im sure our current president is involved in the CIA and not just as a normal president would be and im sure SR is still very much a part of the CIA, I dont care how old the man is he is still very aware of his surroundings. Point being he is losing support and I think its almost enevitable that something will happen and it be very very shady like 9/11 was. I just cant get see how people think some cavemen pulled off the crime of the century, it was too easy they had alot of help from inside. Money makes the world turn, thats what it all comes back to in the end.

[Skarhead]

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i just say a commericla the other day "have a terrorist emergency plan it could happen any time!"

just wondering what channel you saw this on, if you remember ..thats crazy

I forget, but i couldnt stop laughign when i saw it... honestly bro WTF can you do when a terrorist attacks? lmfao... OK when a terrorist attacks... uh.... RUN!! (if u're not dead). That is by far the worst scare tactic the dick has ever tried!

Equalizer since we set foot in iraq it wsa NEVER about of WMDs or Terrorist, ever!

[Equalizer]

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I forget, but i couldnt stop laughign when i saw it... honestly bro WTF can you do when a terrorist attacks? lmfao... OK when a terrorist attacks... uh.... RUN!! (if u're not dead). That is by far the worst scare tactic the dick has ever tried!

Equalizer since we set foot in iraq it wsa NEVER about of WMDs or Terrorist, ever!

I know bro......I was pointing out one example of how fucking dirty they are.

[T-Man007]

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Well, your intelligence quotent doesnt really measure your education level, but congrats on the 144 IQ -lol.

Intelligence
1: the ability to learn and to cope.
Syn: brain, brains, mentality, mother wit, sense, wit
2: a person with great intellectual powers.
Syn: intellect, brain, intellectual

Intellect: the power of the mind by which man attains truth or knowledge.
Syn: Reason, understanding.

Educated: acquired knowledge or skill.
Syn: taught, disciplined, instructed, schooled, trained.

The difference is simple, the educated person is told how and what to think while the Intellectual has the ability to think, learn, reason and cope for them self. The intellect, as you can see, has reason and understanding. While, the educated person simply has what they were taught or instructed to think. Notice, there is no "reason" or "understanding" associated with "education".

However, without intellect is probably very difficult for one to understand or even cope with what I just wrote.

[Skarhead]

TweetSo u're saying a by definition "mentally challenged" human with a very high IQ is very educated? There's a lot of debate with IQs out there -- but thats a whole new can of worms. 144 is great though. Either way, it doesnt hold that much leverage over someone with lets say 110-120 IQ, or in some cases 100 IQ. Bush could have a 150 IQ and hes still a dumbass.. you still havent mentioned anything bush has done to redeem himself from allt his shitty things hes done. I feel soem people blindly follow him.

Intelligence
1: the ability to learn and to cope.
Syn: brain, brains, mentality, mother wit, sense, wit
2: a person with great intellectual powers.
Syn: intellect, brain, intellectual

Intellect: the power of the mind by which man attains truth or knowledge.
Syn: Reason, understanding.

Educated: acquired knowledge or skill.
Syn: taught, disciplined, instructed, schooled, trained.

The difference is simple, the educated person is told how and what to think while the Intellectual has the ability to think, learn, reason and cope for them self. The intellect, as you can see, has reason and understanding. While, the educated person simply has what they were taught or instructed to think. Notice, there is no "reason" or "understanding" associated with "education".

But, without intellect is probably very hard for one to understand or even cope with this.

[T-Man007]

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So u're saying a by definition "mentally challenged" human with a very high IQ is very educated? There's a lot of debate with IQs out there -- but thats a whole new can of worms. 144 is great though. Either way, it doesnt hold that much leverage over someone with lets say 110-120 IQ, or in some cases 100 IQ. Bush could have a 150 IQ and hes still a dumbass.. you still havent mentioned anything bush has done to redeem himself from allt his shitty things hes done. I feel soem people blindly follow him.

No, I'm not saying people who are mentally challenged have hihg IQs. That would be an oxymoron. Think about it. If intellect means the ability to learn, reason and cope and you have someone who is "mentally challenged" then they clearly do not have the ability to learn, reason and cope. Therefore they are not intellects.

And actually, 144 does have much more leverage than 110-120. You need 130 just to get in Mensa. Those ranges you listed would not make the grade. 90-110 is average. 130 is where genius starts (for my age group), and it goes up from there. 110-120 is nothing more than average to slightly above average.

Here's what Bush has done: He drove Osama into hiding, he crushed Al-Qieda, he got Sadam, he achieved in killing Sadams two brothers, and that's just in the middle east.

I live in Colorado Springs, which has 2 Air Force Bases, the Air Force Academy and an Army base, so I know a lot of people who's family members are in Iraq and none, I repeat none, of them are disappointed in the fact their family is over there. They are worried, but they are proud. The only people I see *****ing about our presence over there is everyone else. I've meet men who have returned from there and they have nothing but positive stories and pictures but thats not what the media is selling you, no, they are selling you lies and you are buying them at full price. I've seen dozens upon dozens of pictures of Iraqi families having soliders into their homes for dinner, with their kids kissing and hugging them, with signs that read "thank you Mr. Bush". I have seen the real story and heard the real story from the horses mouth. What have you see directly, not indirectly?

Some of the men I've met can't wait to go back and are willing to die so these people can have what we have. That's what the media wont tell you. Instead they get some little cry baby ***** who is upset because he actually has to fight. I've asked some of the men I've meet about the stories and they all say the same thing "the media has it all wrong". Period.

As for everything else, I'm glad Bush fights abortion, I'm glad he fights same sex marriage, I'm glad he thinks with conviction instead of what people pay him to think. I don't agree with everything he does, but he's a hell of a lot better than Captian Flip-Flop. Let's face it, if it was about oil Bush and his family would have fought for Alaska, but its not. It's about a dictator who Bush was led to believe had WMD. If I was in his shoes I would have went in a lot harder than he did, but that's me. If I was in his shoes I would have been more worried about going to war and being wrong than not going to war and bing wrong. Can you imagine that scenerio? Let's say Bush doesn't go and the UN finds no WMD and then two years later NYC get destroyed by a detonated nuke that got smuggled into the US by terrorists and it comes out that the nuke was from Iraq. Better safe than sorry.

I can't explain it but I agree with it. When you are dealing with irrational people you have to think irrational, not rational. If you are wrong, so what. It's better than explaining why you didn't stop it. Just like know, people are saying he intentionally didn't stop 9/11. What if it was true except he did stop them? What then? I'll tell you what. You have this huge internationally problem of us saying we have in custody some "would be" terrorists and the world would hate us for once again havign no proof. The so called evidence that suggests he knew the attack was coming would be the very evidence that people would be crticizing as not enough evidence to hole these men. No matter what he loses.

So, I say, better to be at a loss with Osama and Sadam out of the picture than to be ahead with those two phukin psychos on the loose. IMO

[solidground]

Tweetskar- the reason i wanted to know is because thats the epitome of our media conditioning us- its the medias/govts reminder that we should be scared so they can do what they want with the majorities cooperation

[Skarhead]

TweetWow he forced osama bin laden into hiding... A+ dude lol

Big deal if he crushed al-qaeda terrorism is INCREASING every month.

T-Man, I agree. the war is doing good, I Know many bros who WANT to go and fight.

Im not saying it's for Oil, but there if its not for oil -- thres no fuckin way it was for terrorism, and theres absolutely no way was it b/c Bush wanted everyone in Iraq to have what we have or else he would of stated that when we first went to war. He also would also invest in liberating a shit load of other countries that are probably worse off than Iraq. Either way hes a liar.

That is crazy that people aren't disappointed their family is over there, if i ever HAD to go, I wouldnt be able to. Family, friends of the family , and friends wouldnt let me -- they would be paying me to stay in another country. I wouldnt want anyone i know over there in iraq either.

as far as saddams brothers being killed -- much like osama is hiding -- big deal.

Either way, we're in a mess, no idea how to solve it and no idea how to get out of it. The cons of bush far exceed the pros.as far as abortion and same sex marriage thats just another debate for another time,, this one is too big and hard to rebuttle already lol

T-man i agree. saddam is a phsyco and he did a bunch of bad shit to his own countruy. but in no way shape or form was he even CLOSE to being a threat to US. the gulf war lasted 100 hours for fucks sakes!