US and UK destroyed democracy in Iran
- From: "Dr Evil" <drevil@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 9 Feb 2006 01:12:16 +0800
US and UK destroyed democracy in Iran
*** The US and UK overthrew the democratic Iranian government in 1953, when
the democratically elected leadership attempted to end the unfair monopoly
of the Anglo-American oil corporation. The CIA installed the unelected
Islamic elite which continues to exert great power over the nation's elected
leaders today. As usual, the US and UK are the source of the world's
greatest problems, yet expect us to forget what they have done, and it is
the ordinary people who must pay the price.
***
The spectre of Operation Ajax
Britain and the US crushed Iran's first democratic government. They didn't
learn from that mistake
Ignoring international law, Britain and the US opted for the high-risk
strategy of regime change in order to pre-empt a volatile enemy in the
Middle East. It was not Iraq, however, that was in the firing line but Iran,
and the aftershocks are still being felt.
Fifty years ago this week, the CIA and the British SIS orchestrated a coup
d'etat that toppled the democratically elected government of Mohammad
Mossadegh. The prime minister and his nationalist supporters in parliament
roused Britain's ire when they nationalised the oil industry in 1951, which
had previously been exclusively controlled by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.
Mossadegh argued that Iran should begin profiting from its vast oil
reserves.
Britain accused him of violating the company's legal rights and orchestrated
a worldwide boycott of Iran's oil that plunged the country into financial
crisis. The British government tried to enlist the Americans in planning a
coup, an idea originally rebuffed by President Truman. But when Dwight
Eisenhower took over the White House, cold war ideologues - determined to
prevent the possibility of a Soviet takeover - ordered the CIA to embark on
its first covert operation against a foreign government.
A new book about the coup, All the Shah's Men, which is based on recently
released CIA documents, describes how the CIA - with British assistance -
undermined Mossadegh's government by bribing influential figures, planting
false reports in newspapers and provoking street violence. Led by an agent
named Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, the
CIA leaned on a young, insecure Shah to issue a decree dismissing Mossadegh
as prime minister. By the end of Operation Ajax, some 300 people had died in
firefights in the streets of Tehran.
The crushing of Iran's first democratic government ushered in more than two
decades of dictatorship under the Shah, who relied heavily on US aid and
arms. The anti-American backlash that toppled the Shah in 1979 shook the
whole region and helped spread Islamic militancy, with Iran's new hardline
theocracy declaring undying hostility to the US.
The author of All the Shah's Men, New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer,
argues that the coup planted the seeds of resentment against the US in the
Middle East, ultimately leading to the events of September 11.
While it may be reaching too far to link Mossadegh's overthrow with
al-Qaida's terrorism, it certainly helped unleash a wave of Islamic
extremism and assisted to power the anti-American clerical leadership that
still rules Iran. It is difficult to imagine a worse outcome to an expedient
action.
The coup and the culture of covert interference it created forever changed
how the world viewed the US, especially in poor, oppressive countries. For
many Iranians, the coup was a tragedy from which their country has never
recovered. Perhaps because Mossadegh represents a future denied, his memory
has approached myth.
On yesterday's anniversary, there was no official government ceremony
honouring Mossadegh's legacy. Deemed too secular for the Islamic Republic,
the conservative clergy never mention him. But at a time when the Bush
administration expresses impatience with diplomacy and promotes "regime
change" as a means of reshaping the Middle East, the anniversary recalls
some unwelcome parallels.
The mindset that produced the coup is not so different from the premises
that underpin the current doctrine of "pre-emption" or the belief that the
war on terror can justify ignoring the Geneva convention, diplomacy and the
sentiments of a country's population.
Veterans of the cold war in President Bush's administration are cultivating
relations with Iranian monarchists in exile while Congressmen are calling
for a campaign to undermine Iran's clerical leadership. Washington's tough
rhetoric and flirtation with the Shah's son are a kind of nightmarish deja
vu for the embattled reformists and students struggling to push for
democratic change in Iran.
"Now it seems that the Americans are pushing towards the same direction
again," says Ibrahim Yazdi, who served briefly as foreign minister after the
Shah fell. "That shows they have not learned anything from history."
The reformists allied with President Khatami believe their country now faces
another choice between despotism and democracy, and they worry that the
combination of outside interference and internal squabbling within their own
ranks could once again defer their dream. The more neo-conservatives attempt
to pile pressure on Iran, the more ammunition they provide for the most
hardline elements of the regime.
Beyond Iran, America remains deeply resented for siding with authoritarian
rule in the region. It would be comforting to think "reshaping the Middle
East" means promoting democratic rule. But if it merely allows for the ends
to justify the means, then the spectre of Operation Ajax will continue to
haunt the region.
· Dan De Luce is the Guardian's correspondent in Tehran
The Guardian, "The spectre of Operation Ajax", 20 August 2003.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1022065,00.html
FURTHER INFORMATION
BBC Radio 4, "Today programme", 06 February 2006.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/listenagain/zmonday_20060206.shtml
[Interview with an expert on Middle Eastern politics specialising in Iran,
New York Times reporter Stephen Kinzer, about the history of modern Iran, at
0840 GMT.]
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