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	Podcast:		Battleground: Ukraine
	Episode:		374. Operation Eagle Claw: Disaster in the Desert
	Category:		History
	Duration:		00:37:53
	Publish Date:		2026-02-25 00:30:00
	Description:		In the latest instalment of our Battleground: Special Forces series, Saul David and Patrick Bishop deconstruct one of the most ambitious and ill-fated missions in modern military history: Operation Eagle Claw. In April 1980, with 53 American diplomats held captive in the US Embassy in Tehran and President Jimmy Carter’s political future hanging by a thread, the newly formed Delta Force was called upon for its first-ever mission. The plan was a daring, multi-stage rescue involving clandestine desert airstrips, sea-stallion helicopters, and CIA agents. But between the sandstorms of the Great Salt Desert and a series of mechanical failures, the mission spiralled into a tragedy that would leave eight servicemen dead at the site known as Desert One. As Saul notes, while the mission was a devastating blow to American prestige, it provided the hard-won lessons that would later enable the success of operations like the raid on Osama bin Laden. If you have any thoughts or questions, you can send them to - podbattleground@gmail.com Producer: James Hodgson X (Twitter): @PodBattleground Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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