ABSTRACT
In contrast to dictatorial governments, most Western democracies value human life well above anything else. is is an obvious by-product of a form of government whose structure and strength are dependent upon votes cast in a free and secret electoral process. is fact was clearly manifest to the world in the spring of 1980 when the Iranian Embassy in London was taken and held for 6 days by six Iraqi-sponsored terrorists. While this drama was being played out in Great Britain, a similar scenario was in its sixth month in the Middle East. e reactions of these embassies’ mother countries, one a Western democracy and the other a Middle Eastern theocracy, were markedly di§erent.
