The CIA recently declassified new documents that reportedly effectively contradicts the story portrayed in Ben Affleck’s 2012 Best Picture winner “Argo”.
Affleck both directed and starred in the film as disguise and forgery specialist Tony Mendez in a true story tale of how the C.I.A. operative led the rescue of six American diplomats in Tehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, getting them out under the facade of filming a fake science-fiction film.
The film scored great acclaim, and three Oscars. Now, the CIA’s podcast The Langley Files (via The New York Times) reports that according to the newly declassified information about the real rescue mission, there was a second officer involved – a linguist and expert in covert extractions named Ed Johnson, who accompanied Mendez on the mission in Tehran.
The film can’t be faulted as the information was just recently declassified. Mendez’s 1999 memoir “The Master of Disguise” did mention being accompanied by a second officer, but used an alias.
Walter Trosis, co-host of podcast, says that Johnson: “Spent his whole life doing things quietly and in the shadows, without any expectation of praise or public recognition.” Because of health issues, he was not able to give the CIA’s podcast another interview.
There are other elements that “Argo” reported gets wrong, mostly artistic liberties for dramatic license like the airport chase which never happened. Even so, it’s still considered a fair representation of the events that happened. Check out the CIA’s podcast at The Langley Files for more details.
