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View Full Version : Former Tx Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes blabs about clandestine trip to convince Iran to keep US hostages in jail



Winehole23
03-23-2023, 12:21 PM
John Connolly went with him. They met with William Colby, then Reagan's campaign chairman, upon their return.

I guess a lot of y'all weren't alive at the time. Sometimes conspiracy theories turn out to be true.

Iran probably got a much better deal than Carter would have given them, 3000 TOW missiles. In return, the US received covert funding needed to support death squads, er, freedom fighters, in Nicaragua.


What happened next Mr. Barnes has largely kept secret for nearly 43 years. Mr. Connally, he said, took him to one Middle Eastern capital after another that summer, meeting with a host of regional leaders to deliver a blunt message to be passed to Iran: Don’t release the hostages before the election. Mr. Reagan will win and give you a better deal.https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/18/us/politics/jimmy-carter-october-surprise-iran-hostages.html

Winehole23
03-23-2023, 12:28 PM
The hostages remained in captivity for nearly five more months -- about one-third of their captivity -- after the Barnes-Connolly trip.

They were released on Jan. 20, 1981, just as Carter was leaving office.

Winehole23
03-23-2023, 12:37 PM
"I don't recall"

88 times.

https://images.c-span.org/Files/e7e/011635-m.jpg