Ken taylor and the canadian caper on november 4, 1979, a mob of iranians, mostly radical university students and supporters of ayatollah khomeini, surged over the wall around the united states compound in tehran and occupied the american embassy. In the history the story is known as the canadian caper. Pelletier has provided a full account of the unfolding of events and of his own role in the canadian caper toronto, 1981, coauthored by claude adams. Mark j lijek the movie argo was fake before it was real. Sogar anzeigen in zeitschriften wurden gedruckt, um dem unterfangen glaubhaftigkeit zu verleihen. Central intelligence agency operative tony mendez, the master of disguise, and the 2007 wired article by joshuah bearman, the great escape. The years leading up to the autumn of 1979 in iran proved to be turbulent, resulting in a radical transformation of the nation. This book was a fascinating look behind the scenes of the cia in the 60s through 80s, a world of dead drops, micro dots, double agents, secret codes, fake passports, etc. The escape was engineered by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency cia. Did they really hold a trial interrogation the night before they left. Jean pelletier and claude adams 1981 book the canadian caper is subtitled the inside story of the canadian rescue of six american diplomats trapped in iran. Like sweeping brushstrokes of pink and green, the belcher islands meander across the deep blue of the james bay portion of the hudson bay. Argo, american political thriller, released in 2012, that was based on events that took place during the 197981 iran hostage crisis.
Argo movie true story meet the real tony mendez and the 6. The canadian caper jean pelletier, claude adams on. They were published in the bestselling book the canadian caper, coauthored by jean pelletier and me, and published by macmillan of canada. The idea for the canadian caper, as mendezs mission came to. A classic case of deception central intelligence agency.
The canadian exit visas and passports issued to the americans were forgeries made on authentic documents and passports that were supplied by the canadian government not the cia. His first book was lauded in 2002 by john hollister hedley, former chairman of the cia s. The book published in 2012 gives a comprehensive account of the famous rescue mission, canadian caper. Professionalismcanadian caper wikibooks, open books for an. S had backed the semiabsolutist monarchy of mohammad reza shah pahlavi, even when the increasing popularity of islamic fundamentalism, iranian nationalism, and opposition to western influence exploded, culminating in protests against. I decided to read it after watching the film argo and it fills in many of the blanks and offers a more detailed version of events. Jean pelletiers book, canadian caper, published in 1980, mentions that canadawhose diplomats in tehran had hidden and cared for the six american houseguests after iranian militants seized the us embassyhad received cia help in the form of forged entries in canadian passports to enable canadian ambassador to iran kenneth taylor to. The canadian caper was the popular name given to the joint covert rescue by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency cia of six american diplomats who had evaded capture during the seizure of the united states embassy in tehran, iran, and taking of embassy personnel as hostages by islamist students and militants on november 4, 1979. John chambers remembered telling the joke and recalled the meaning behind the name argo. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about canada 2020 should be addressed to the cia.
Find information about the actuarial profession, or the canadian institute of actuaries. Argo is a 2012 american historical drama thriller film directed by ben affleck. The canadian caper was the joint covert rescue by the canadian government and the cia of six american diplomats who had evaded capture during the seizure of the united states embassy in tehran, iran, on november 4, 1979, after the iranian revolution, when islamist students took most of the american embassy personnel hostage, demanding the return of the usbacked shah for trial. How the cia and hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history 2012, with matt baglio, a more lengthy account of the canadian caper. Tony mendez, the cia disguise expert whose daring rescue of six americans from iran was immortalized in ben afflecks oscarwinning movie argo, has. Instead, a man named roger lucy, who was housesitting with the four americans staying at the. The incident brought about an outpouring of procanadian sentiment in the united states. The concept art was created by world famous comic book artist jack kirby. The houseguests a memoir of canadian courage and cia. A cia agent remembers the political drama argo is based on the real story of a ciaplanned rescue in revolutionary iran. Mendez created the canadian caper, the plan under which six u. The canadian caper tells for the first time the complete behindt.
Kenneth douglas ken taylor, oc october 5, 1934 october 15, 2015 was a canadian diplomat, educator and businessman, best known for his role in the 1979 covert operation called the canadian caper when he was the canadian ambassador to iran. Ken taylor sets the record straight about argos take on. Mar 18, 20 the account of the americans absconding from iran appeared as a canadianamerican coproduction madefortelevision movie cryptically called escape from iran. How the cia and hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history antonio mendez. How the cia used a fake scifi flick to rescue americans from tehran. The canadian caper as it is known is the rescue effort by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency of six american diplomats who evaded capture during the seizure and hostage taking of the united states embassy in tehran.
Argos claim that it was a completely a cia operation is untrue and an insult to the canadians who helped the americans to evade capture and escape from iran. The secret cia tactics that helped america win the cold war was again coauthored by his wife and released few months after his death in 2019. Canadian caper wikipedia bahasa indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas. Cia agent antonio mendez and matt baglios 2012 book argo is subtitled how the cia and hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history. Canadian caper project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Jan 20, 2019 tony mendez, the cia disguise expert whose daring rescue of six americans from iran was immortalized in ben afflecks oscarwinning movie argo, has died.
Canadian caper international diplomatic incident britannica. The canadian caper tells for the first time the complete behindthescenes story of canadas most daring diplomatic exploita truetolife thriller of great narrative power and fascinating detail. This book is very collectable and in my adventures i have found them in the wild. How the cia used a fake scifi flick to rescue americans from. Professionalismcanadian caper wikibooks, open books for. But it wasnt until masterthespian star of daredevil and gigli and now directorunhistorian benjamin geza affleck decided to make a movie about the. This is the story of the original argo and of the six americans who escaped the capture of the american embassy in. The idea for the canadian caper, as mendezs mission came to be known, was born out of. After some reallife drama the plan worked, but the mission, now known as the canadian caper, wasnt declassified until the late 1990s. The incident brought about an outpouring of pro canadian sentiment in the united states. May 11, 2018 no antiauthority bravery by a lonewolf cia agent.
In fact, the essentials of the story are 30 years old. Sep 21, 2012 this account of the socalled canadian caper in which six american hostages were spirited out of tehran is a first person description from one of the escapees. The islands shown in this enhanced satellite image are part of the belcher archipelago, which is comprised of approximately 1,500 islands and covers an area of 3,000 sq km 1,160 sq mi. The movie is about how the production of a fake scifi movie was used to rescue 6 americans from the canadian ambassadors house in teheran in 1980 after they were able to flee from the american embassy when iranian militants stormed it in 1979. Nov 06, 2015 the canadian caper was the popular name given to the joint covert rescue by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency cia of six american diplomats who had evaded capture.
Jan 19, 2019 tony mendez, the former cia technical operations officer who orchestrated the 1980 rescue of six american diplomats from iran and who was portrayed by ben affleck in the academy award winning film. Jan 22, 2019 mendez created the canadian caper, the plan under which six u. Tony mendez, the former cia technical operations officer who orchestrated the 1980 rescue of six american diplomats from iran and who was portrayed by ben affleck in the academy award winning film. The secret cia tactics that helped america win the cold war 2019, with jonna mendez. Before the cia changed the name of the film for the canadian caper the film studio behind the lord of light put out a special binderring book featuring jack kirbys artwork to help drum up interest for the project. Read the latest news and search through our collection of publications and documents. November 4, 1979, began like any other day at the us embassy in tehran. A new book called our man in tehran purports to break the story, after 30 years, that ken taylor agreed to gather information for the cia in tehran during the iranian hostage crisis in 197980. Adapted from mendezs book the master of disguise and joshuah bermans 2007 wired article the great escape, argo goes behind the scenes of what is known as the canadian caper, a highrisk. Yes, but in researching the argo true story, we discovered that unlike what is shown in the film, tony mendez did not act as the interrogator. Canadian caper wikipedia bahasa indonesia, ensiklopedia. Those americans who were rescued by canada through the canadian embassy in tehran.
Oct 24, 2012 the canadian caper as it is known is the rescue effort by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency of six american diplomats who evaded capture during the seizure and hostage taking of the united states embassy in tehran, iran on november 4, 1979. With the cooperation of the american central intelligence agency, taylor helped six americans escape from iran during. Screenwriter chris terrio adapted the screenplay from the 1999 book by the u. Argo movie true story meet the real tony mendez and the. Argo and the canadian caper canadian culture thing. Canadian caper, escape of six americans from tehran during the iranian revolution of 197879. How roger zelaznys lord of light transformed into the cia. But gellers project was ultimately reborn as the cias argo coverstory, an integral part of the canadian caper in which the cia rescued six american diplomats trapped amid the.
The canadian caper was the popular name given to the joint covert rescue by the canadian government and the central intelligence agency cia of six american diplomats who had evaded capture. Jun 27, 2008 jean pelletiers book, canadian caper, published in 1980, mentions that canadawhose diplomats in tehran had hidden and cared for the six american houseguests after iranian militants seized the us embassyhad received cia help in the form of forged entries in canadian passports to enable canadian ambassador to iran kenneth taylor to. Canadian caper, cia exfiltration, ben afflecks argo and. Dec 24, 2019 before the cia changed the name of the film for the canadian caper the film studio behind the lord of light put out a special binderring book featuring jack kirbys artwork to help drum up interest for the project. Tony mendez biography facts, childhood, family life. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of canada 2020 information contained here. But long before that, it was known as the canadian caper a rescue mission coordinated by the cia and the canadian government to rescue six u. Canadian caper adalah nama yang sering disematkan pada operasi penyelamatan gabungan rahasia oleh pemerintah kanada dan central intelligence agency cia terhadap enam diplomat amerika serikat yang menghindari penyanderaan saat penyerbuan kedutaan amerika serikat teheran, iran, dan penyanderaan staf kedutaan oleh mahasiswa dan militan islamis pada tanggal 4 november 1979. Find out which details of the 20 best picture winner were true, and which were hollywood fabrications.
In 2012, ben affleck produced and starred in a movie titled argo, which is based on the book the master of disguise by tony mendez, a cia agent involved in the incident. Ambassador peter towe quickly phoned pelletier, warning him of the danger to the americans should the story be broken and urging him to hold off on. The account of the americans absconding from iran appeared as a canadianamerican coproduction madefortelevision movie cryptically called escape from iran. The staff filtered in under gray skies, the marines manned their posts, and the daily crush of antiamerican protestors. The canadian caper was the joint covert rescue by the canadian government and the cia of six american diplomats who had evaded capture during the seizure of the united states embassy in tehran, iran, on november 4, 1979, after the iranian revolution, when islamist students took most of the american embassy personnel hostage, demanding the return of the usbacked shah for. Cia internal history of argothe canadian caper spy culture. Ken taylor and the canadian caper the canadian encyclopedia. The information regarding canada on this page is republished from the 2020 world fact book of the united states central intelligence agency and other sources. The movie is about how the production of a fake scifi movie was used to rescue 6 americans from the canadian ambassadors house in teheran in 1980 after they were able to flee from the american embassy when iranian militants stormed it. This account of the socalled canadian caper in which six american hostages were spirited out of tehran is a first person description from one of the escapees.
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