Page 6 - Church of God Publications

AMERICA-
A ~~PAPER TIGER''?
The United States stood by helplessly as frenzied rnobs storrned its ernbassy in Iran, capturing its
citizens as hostages. A rnonth befare, President Carter capitulated to the Soviet Union over the
stationing ofRussian troops in Cuba. Why is the greatest power the world has ever known so weak
and ine.ffectual? There are definite reasons-and you need to know the answers.
T he crowds whooped it up in a
mixture of hatred and wild
glee. Pl acards proclaimcd
"Death to America ls a Beautiful
Thought" and "Khomaini Struggles,
Carter Trembles." Presiden! Carter
was burned in cffigy many times
over. American ftags were set ablazc
time and again.
In the most humiliating episode of
all, lranian "students" were secn
using "Oid Glory" to haul trash on
the besieged U.S. embassy grounds,
finally stuffing the vcry symbol of the
4
by Gene H. Hogberg
United States into the trash bin like
any dirty, oil-soaked rag.
And No Help Carne
lnside the bcsieged United States
cmbassy compound in Tehran,
lran- a slice of sovereign American
territory-ovcr sixty U.S. citizcns
waited for thcir release or rescue.
After over two weeks of imprison–
ment, th i rteen captives were rc–
leased- leaving 49 possibly facing a
mock trial as spies.
Seventy-five years ago, their or-
deal would have been a short one.
The might of the U.S. military undcr
Commandcr-in-Chief and Prcsident
Teddy Roosevelt would have quickly
been brought to bear in the situation.
More likely than not, the ugly inci–
dent would never have erupted in the
first place. lf U.S. prestige- respect
for American power-were as high
in 1979 as it was in 1904, the zealots
of l ran 's Ayatollah Khomaini would
not have darcd scale the walls of the
diplomatic compound.
The issue quickly boils down to the
The PLAIN TRUTH