Bush Calls Democracy Terror's Antidote

Well, Iran had their chance, but we managed to botch that pretty good.

What am I talking about? Time's Man of the Year from 1951. Doesn't ring a bell? Maybe seeing the cover will jog your memory. Still puzzled? Maybe his name will help: Mohammed Mossadegh. If his name doesn't ring any bells, you're not alone. Until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never heard of him either. Mossadegh was the democratically elected prime minister of Iran until he was outsted with the assistance of MI-6 (British Intelligence) and the CIA. The CIA's meddling is one of the sources of the Iranian people's resentment towards the United States.

I've been sitting on this post for a while, because I wanted to do some research so I could put together a detailed chronology. I haven't gotten a chance to read the books I checked out, so I'll just post a summary here.

Our story starts with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) which had a monopoly on refining and distributing Iranian oil. As with most British companies involved in 'uncivilized' countries, the AIOC was exploitve of Iranians while lining the coffers of the British. The AIOC became quite an issue amongst the Iranian people and Mossadegh gained popularity due to his strong anti-British stance. He helped get the AIOC nationalized, and rode the wave of popularity to the office of prime minister. Clearly the Britsh were upset at losing their most profitable business, and they responded with an embargo and blockade of Iran. They attempted to draw the United States into the conflict, but President Truman was unsympathetic. However, after Eisenhower became president, the British tried a new ploy, and convinced the US government that Mossadegh had Communist ties. Being that it was the 1950s, this was quite an effective tactic, and the CIA soon put operatives into play. The lead operative was Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosvelt. After one botched attempt, Kermit and the rest of the muppets managed to get Mossadegh overthrown and installed the western-friendly monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah. The Shah turned out to be a debacle of a leader and with him at the helm, Iran spiraled into poverty and corruption culminating with the Islamic revolution of 1979.

These events are a good demonstration of why meddling in the affairs of other countries is not advisable. It may seem like a good idea at the time, and might even yield desirable results in the short term, but there can be diastastrous consequences 30-40 years down the road.

It's interesting that my 9th grade World History class spent a period or two discussing Xerxes, Darius, etc., but we didn't spend five minutes discussing US/Iran relations in the 20th century. In light of current events, I hope this is being remedied.