APRIL 25, 1980--THE DAY JIMMY CARTER KNEW HE WAS A ONE-TERM PRESIDENT

Thirty years ago this week, James Earl Carter went before the nation to give a speech that would mark the beginning of the end of his presidency. The night before his speech, Carter gave the "green light" to the Iranian hostage rescue mission--Eagle Claw--that ended in disaster at Desert One.

Eight U.S. servicemen died at the site and had to be left behind. At the time, it was by far the worst humiliation the U.S. had ever suffered, and it cost Carter his reelection bid later that year. Ronald Reagan won in a landslide.

An investigation into Operation Eagle Claw cited lack of command and control and inter-service coordination as major reasons for the mission's failure. As a result, SOCOM was established and headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

As a president, Carter was weak; as a former president, he's a disgrace.

The Desert One Debacle: A complete history from inception to disaster.

Our thoughts and prayers will always be with those who gave their lives in service to this nation. May God bless you and your loved ones. To each crew member involved in this mission: thank you for your service.

Mark in Texas writes:

"You might also want to give a thought to the Iranians who were going to cooperate with the Delta Force rescue effort. Their names and addresses were left behind at the Desert One site in the chaos of the evacuation. Bad things happened to those people."

Amen to that, Mark. Thanks for pointing it out. Blessings to all of them.

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