BOOK REVIEW: HIDDEN LINES: THE SECRET JOURNAL OF A U.S. HOSTAGE IN IRAN
By Michael Howland / Self-published
Reviewed by: Thomas Twetten
The Reviewer — Tom Twetten is a retired CIA clandestine service officer. From 1988 to 1991 he was the second-ranking officer in the Agency's clandestine service and from 1991 to 1993 led it as Deputy Director for Operations. About half of his career was overseas and he was involved in several important covert action programs. In 1993, he and then-Director James Woolsey started the Predator drone program that became so important after 9/11.
REVIEW: This is the tale of an intrepid State Department officer who was one of the American hostages held in Iran from 1979 to 1981. Mike Howland was an assistant Regional Security Officer and had the daunting job of working with, and fending off, the Iranian militia that was supposedly in charge of Embassy security. He had been told a Tehran tour would be good for his career. Yes, it is an old tale of events some 46 years ago. But it is pertinent today because we are again at war with Iran, and also because this is an inspiring story of successful resistance by one captive.
Howland tells his story in “Hidden Lines: The Secret Journal of a U.S. Hostage in Iran” a book made possible by a secret daily journal, running more than one thousand pages, that he wrote during his captivity and eventually smuggled out Iran.
On the day the Khomeini-inspired activists took over the Embassy compound, Howland was acting as bodyguard to the chargé d'affaires. The chargé and another Embassy officer were at the Foreign Ministry, attempting to stir the Iranian government into action to expel the invaders at the Embassy. That diplomatic effort was not successful. The three Americans found themselves captives in a large reception room of the Foreign Ministry, with three hostile guards inside the room.
The two diplomats sharing the captivity continued their diplomatic negotiations. Mike Howland was determined to resist, every day. He felt it necessary for his personal honor, and that he owed it to his country. I am not going to give you all the details because this is his story which you should read. I will tell you he established a "rat line." As a former CIA operations officer, I would call it an intelligence collection network. Eventually that network would provide him with information on the whereabouts and well-being of the other hostages after the failed U.S. military rescue mission. He then taught himself how to compose a secret writing (SW) message to provide that information to Washington. His information was soon shared with President Carter. Howland also played a key role in getting six Embassy employees into safe Canadian hands. They were later exfiltrated in a daring CIA operation that you may know of from the movie “Argo.” Mike's activities were smart risk-taking. Daring. Frightening. Brave.
He was thinking on his feet, like improv without the comedy. His radical captors knew he was resisting, but they knew little of what he was up to. As a former operations officer, reading his book I was hoping for more detail on his "rat line" and who helped him. But the author has learned what professionals would call "protection of sources and methods." Even today he is protecting the Iranian families of those who worked with him.
Mike Howland paid a heavy price for his patriotism. He still has sharp pain in his back every day. Unknown to him at the time, another State Department captive, apparently attempting to curry favor, incorrectly told the captors that Howland was a CIA officer in charge of a group in Tehran that was carrying out successful drive-by shootings of clerics. In fact, neither CIA nor Howland had any information on or involvement with that assassination squad. When the Americans were finally released and ready to be flown out on an Algerian aircraft, a gauntlet of radical toughs formed and severely beat Howland as he made his solo walk to the aircraft. They got their revenge on someone they mistakenly thought was a CIA officer.
He made it out. After 444 days he was out of danger and proud of his innovative resistance. But then a friend in the State Department told Mike he was in trouble. State was more than a little miffed that he had cooperated with CIA in covert activities. He was outside his State Department diplomatic lane. Although President Carter thanked him for his courage in a private meeting in Frankfurt, he was in the cellar when he arrived at the State Department. Literally! He was assigned to a basement office without a chair and told he might be considered for another overseas job after at least a year. His diplomatic security colleagues asked him questions. But the word did not filter up to higher ranks in the Department. They were unaware of how much he had done for his fellow hostages, or for the six colleagues who were not taken hostage because of his actions. He deserved a State Department commendation. He still does.
This story has a happy ending. He was invited to CIA headquarters for a daylong debrief. At the end of the day, he was introduced to the Deputy Director of Operations, who asked, "Oh, by the way, would you like a job here?" A month later he was sworn in by the new Director of Central Intelligence, Bill Casey. Mike Howland had already proven his self-taught operational skills. He subsequently had a distinguished Agency career, including several postings as Chief of Station.
I first met Mike when he finished his ops training and joined Near East Division, where I was the Deputy Chief. Many years after my retirement, and after his 26 years of CIA service, we became friends. I knew some of his story, but found this book a gripping, inspiring narrative that I could not put down. It feels like it just happened because it is based on his clandestinely written diary, which he arranged to smuggle out of Iran.
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