Different times
When I was a teenager, Jimmy Carter was president. Some people stormed our embassy in Tehran, Iran and took a bunch of Americans hostage. There was a disastrous attempt to mount a rescue mission, where things went horribly wrong in the desert. What finally brought about a resolution to the situation was an election.
Ronald Reagan was president, and on the campaign trail he made it abundantly clear what was going to happen if the hostages were not released. As he took office, the hostages were on their way to the Army hospital in West Germany. The Iranians took Mr. Reagan seriously.
When all that happened, one of the things that was done was that Iranian assets in the United States were frozen. That included large sums of money on deposit at financial institutions inside our country. A lot of people don't seem to remember that, and it's important that we do.
Since then, a lot of things have changed in the world. Iran became powerful. We took out the Government in Iraq. Maybe it was the right thing to do. Maybe it wasn't. Whether or not doesn't really matter anymore. To quote a popular saying: It is what it is.
A couple of days ago, a despicable man was blown up by a US drone. It will probably start a war. Things like this have in the past. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is said to have started WW1. People were so concerned about this that the Selective Service website crashed; largely because people were looking for information on how the United States drafts military members. The answer, by the way, is that the Government can't without Congress passing a law.
Something like this needed to be done. Forty years ago. Before the world became the mess that it is now. And one hopes that our Government has a plan going forward. One has to hope that. If not, we could be in for some things that were unintended. Sadly, only time will tell.
I've seen a little bit of stupid on social media. I expect that. I've come to realize that friends I've had for years just don't take time to think before they speak. I quit trying to change their minds about things a while ago. But one of the things I saw was people speaking about pallets of cash that were given back to the Iranians as part of the settlement agreement for the now-torn-up Nuclear deal. We, in fact, gave the Iranians back pallets of cash. It was their cash. It was given back in cash because the banking laws in the United States prohibited a wire transfer to the Iranians. We gave them back their own money.
Sometimes, you need to remember history. It can keep you from doing things over that aren't smart.
Ronald Reagan was president, and on the campaign trail he made it abundantly clear what was going to happen if the hostages were not released. As he took office, the hostages were on their way to the Army hospital in West Germany. The Iranians took Mr. Reagan seriously.
When all that happened, one of the things that was done was that Iranian assets in the United States were frozen. That included large sums of money on deposit at financial institutions inside our country. A lot of people don't seem to remember that, and it's important that we do.
Since then, a lot of things have changed in the world. Iran became powerful. We took out the Government in Iraq. Maybe it was the right thing to do. Maybe it wasn't. Whether or not doesn't really matter anymore. To quote a popular saying: It is what it is.
A couple of days ago, a despicable man was blown up by a US drone. It will probably start a war. Things like this have in the past. The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand is said to have started WW1. People were so concerned about this that the Selective Service website crashed; largely because people were looking for information on how the United States drafts military members. The answer, by the way, is that the Government can't without Congress passing a law.
Something like this needed to be done. Forty years ago. Before the world became the mess that it is now. And one hopes that our Government has a plan going forward. One has to hope that. If not, we could be in for some things that were unintended. Sadly, only time will tell.
I've seen a little bit of stupid on social media. I expect that. I've come to realize that friends I've had for years just don't take time to think before they speak. I quit trying to change their minds about things a while ago. But one of the things I saw was people speaking about pallets of cash that were given back to the Iranians as part of the settlement agreement for the now-torn-up Nuclear deal. We, in fact, gave the Iranians back pallets of cash. It was their cash. It was given back in cash because the banking laws in the United States prohibited a wire transfer to the Iranians. We gave them back their own money.
Sometimes, you need to remember history. It can keep you from doing things over that aren't smart.
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