Replies to post #126407 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[StephanieVanbryce]

Thanks IKE & England ! for Ayatollah Khomeini and Thanks Carter/Reagan for Osama Bin Laden.

........it's time to mend our own country. This other shit has bankrupted our country. AND it has bankrupted OTHER countries right along with us... also

Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was NOT a communist! unless you consider Sarah Palin is one because she got a cut out of the oil companies for the Alaskan people .. Please don't smear his name again. He was a wonderful respected leader who only wanted an independent Iran, one that was not encumbered to 'foreign corporations & countries'. The communists hated Dr. Mossadegh! ...

In the Fifties .. everyone was smeared with the red scare!

........the sad thing is the people you side with are still smearing people with that same tactic..

The CIA operation to overthrow Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh was motivated by oil but sold to the public as an attempt to stop the Iranian Communist Tudeh Party. --Kermit Roosevelt

How the CIA Toppled Mossadegh and Put the Shah in Power http://www.suite101.com/content/kermit-roosevelt-and-the-iranian-coup-of-1953-a134760#ixzz1CqhjKjyL

Kermit Roosevelt - Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt (1916–2000) Kermit Roosevelt, Jr. was the mastermind of the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Operation Ajax, which orchestrated the coup against Iran's democratically-elected Mohammed Mossadegh administration, and returned Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, to Iran's Peacock Throne in August 1953 for the purpose of returning Western control of Middle Eastern oil supplies

........it's the same damn thing you teabaggers are trying to do to Obama ! .. stop it.

[StephanieVanbryce]

The spectre of Operation Ajax

Britain and the US crushed Iran's first democratic government. They didn't learn from that mistake

Wednesday 20 August 2003 12.29 BST

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.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/aug/20/foreignpolicy.iran

[fuagf]

hap, how about tightening your grip on facts .. you appear as a simple propagandist with a cemented ideological fix .. you, hap,
from here look like the naked emperor guy on the horse .. you know the one .. anyway, here is a nice simple third one for you ..

Original Thread: Mohammad Mossadeq and Operation Ajax
Author: MoROmeTe

Mohammad Mossadeq and Operation AjaxI have just watched Syriana for the third time and this time a little bit of a connection (electrical signal between two or more neurons) between the fictional scenario portrayed in the movie and a real life historical moment, which happened not to long ago. This is the story of Mohammad Mossadeq, Prime Minister of Iran, and of CIA's Operation Ajax...

A Short Prelude

Well, Iran is a country with a long and convoluted history. Want proof of the old? There are settlements here dating back to 18 000 BCE and there have been jars of wine excavated that are 7 000 years old. Proof of convoluted? Just take a look here at all the dynasties that at one point or another ruled this land: Tahirid dynasty (821–873), Alavid dynasty (864–928),
Saffarid dynasty (861–1003), Samanid dynasty (875–999), Ziyarid dynasty (928–1043), Buwayhid dynasty (934–1055), Ghaznavid Empire (963–1187), Ghori dynasty (1149–1212), Seljukid Empire (1037–1187), Khwarezmid dynasty (1077–1231), Muzaffarid dynasty (1314–1393), Chupanid dyansty (1337–1357), Jalayerid dynasty (1339–1432), Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans (1407–1468), Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans (1378–1508), Hotaki Ghilzai dynasty (1722–1729), Afsharid dynasty (1736–1802), Zand dynasty (1750–1794), Qajar dynasty (1781–1925), Pahlavi dynasty (1925–1979).

Fortunately for us the only ones relevant to this story are the two last ones, the Qajar and the Pahlavi dynasties. Here is why...

The Qajar dynasty brought to the throne, in 1896, Mozzafar-e-din. He is the stereotyphical inneffectual ruler, borrowing heavily for lavish trips, granting Russians and Brits concessions in exchange for money and no paying any attention to the requests of the clerics, merchants and farmers of Iran. So after a fair bit of social unrest in 1906 a constitution was enacted. It created a legislative, the Majilis, curbed royal power, ensured a degree of freedom of speech, press and religion. Of course it could not last...

The son of Mozzafar, Mohammad Ali Shah tried, with Russian help, to restore the royal predominance. Civil war errupted. Then, in 1907, Russia and Britain partitioned the country into zones of influence. Then World War I ensued and the country was occupied by Ottoman, British and Russian forces. In 1921 Reza Khan, officer in the Cossack Brigade, couped the failing dynasty and in 1925 he was instated as Reza Shah Pahlavi, ruler of Iran.

Then came the occupation, yet again, by British and Soviet forces during World War II, on August 25th 1941. The reasons were pragmatic: the Shah kinda liked the Germans, the British had a big refinery in Iran and the Russians saw the Trans Iranian Railway as a good track for badly needed supllies. On September the 16th of 1941 the Shah was replaced by his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which became known as Mohhamad Reza Shah, untill the 11th of February 1979 when the Islamic Revolution deposed him.

Birth and rise

Mohammad Mossadeq (variants include Muhammad, Mohammed with Mossadegh) was born in Teheran on the 19th of May, son of a Qajar dynasty princess and finance minister. He was well educated, studied in Paris at Institut d'études politiques de Paris and then received a PhD in law from the University of Neuchatel, in Switzerland.

His rise on the political scene was constant. In 1920 he was appointed Governor General of the Iranian province of Fars by Ahmad Shah Qajar. He then held the post of Finance Minister, in the government of Ghavam os-Saltaneh in 1921, and then Foreign Minister, in the government of Hassan Pirnia Moshir od-Dowleh in June 1923. Later in 1923, he was elected to the Iranian parliament, the Majilis, and he voted against the selection of Reza Khan as Reza Shah Pahlavi. For this we was sent on internal exile beginning with 1928. The decision will later have other momentous consequences on his political carreer and his life...

After his exile ended in 1941 when the Shah gave way to his son, Mohammad Mossadeq was elected to represent Teheran in the Majiles in 1944, representing the National Front of Iran (Jebhe Melli), a nationalist party of Iranian politicians and intellectuals that sought to limit the outside, especially British, influences on Iran and develop the country. One of the main points of contention was the fact that Iran received a limited share, 16%, of the profit the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company was making selling the oil extracted from Iran. Oil seems to have then as now an issue with relation to Iran...

Mossadeq becomes Prime Minister

Negociations between the Iran and Britain for higher oil royalties failed. The Majilis began consdering a nationalization of the oil industry. After the then Prime Minister, a General, who opposed the bill, was assasinated on the 7th of March on the 15th of March 1951 the Iranian Parliament voted to expropriate the assets of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. On the 28th of April Mohammad Mossadeq was appointed Prime Minister, with 79 votes to 12. He decided to go ahead with the nationalization.

Of course the British were not too happy about it, even if Mossadeq assured them that compensation for the nationalization will be paid, oil will be sold at the same price to all buyers and that the Soviet Union would not get a bigger share or other concessions. A blockade of shipping was instituted, technicians were withdrawn and all Iranian oil exports were prohibited. Economic war was looming...

For a while it seemed to be working. The Shah and his Prime Minister quarelled about emergency powers wich Mossadeq requested to limit the social unrest sparked by the economic crisis. When the Shah outright refused to consider them, Mossadeq resigned. A new Prime Minister was named in Ahmad Quavam, and he pledged to reverse the Oil Industry Nationalization Act. But the protests in the streets intensified. It seemed that Iranis saw their national pride as more important that economic hardship. It was looking as the Shah would be soon ousted...

To save his seat, he dismissed Quavam and Mossadeq was re-appointed and granted emergency powers, including the power to man the Defense portofolio himself and name a Chief of Staff. An Ayatollah, named Kastani, representing the Islamic parties, was named Speaker of Parliament. The Tudeh Communist Party was also kept close, through the decision to nationalize land and institute collective farming, as a replacement to the almost feudal system that still remained deeply rooted in rural Iran. The rights of women were to be discussed, as was freedoms that were severely limited untill then...

Plot - Operation Ajax

Britain was still unhappy with the oil situation, as most of its needs have been quenched by the cheap Iranian oil which was now gone. It sought military help from the Truman administration, but it was not forthcomming. So the Brits began to spread the idea that Mossadeq was leanning towards Communism. Some of his measures, like the nationalization of the oil industry and the establishement of collective farms, supported the rumour. But there was no official contact with the Soviet Union that supported the notion and Mossadeq himself headed a Nationalist and not a Communist party. However, in the global context of the emerging Cold War, the United States started to listen, especially when an enraged Mossadeq severed all diplomatic ties with Britain in October 1952 and called it "an enemy". The new President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, began to consider Iranian Prime Minister Mossadeq a threat and, with the United States Army heavily engaged in Korea, instructed Secretary of State Foster Dulles to deal with the situation otherwise. Dulles' answer was to instruct, in March 1953, the Central Intelligence Agency, headed by his little brother, Allen Dulles, to start a policy of intervention...

On the 4th of April a million dollars were made available by Allen Dulles. The operation was to be codenammed Ajax. The CIA agent allegedly implicated was Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt. The man who helped Kermit Roosevelt was Norman Schwarzkopf, father of the much more famous General Norman Schwarzkopf. Operations began in June. It seems that threats were made against the Islamic parties as coming from the Nationalists and Communists. Also rumours about a connection to the Soviet Union continued to appear. Yet the Shah did not have the nerve to again move against Mossadeq and popular feeling was still behind him. He began acting like an authoritarian ruller, extending his emergency powers and dismissing the Majilis, the Parliament, for an indefinite period. He also began an alleged crackdown on opposition. The Communist Tudeh party and the Islamic factions desserted him...

INSERT: hap, am sure you know .. KERMIT ROOSEVELT was quoted something like, 'The Shah is the CIA's jewel in the Middle East.'

Downfall of Mohammad Mossadeq

Mossadeq tried to eliminate the Shah from the power struggle by making him leave the country. The Shah refused and dismissed Mossadeq. The stage was set for a fight. Some say he saw a Republic as more adequate to the situation at hand. Some say he dreamt of more power. We might never truly know...

By now Ajax was in full swing. The Shah flew to Bagdad and the Rome, nominating General Fazlollah Zahedi as Prime Minister, as requested by the CIA. Once again, massive protests broke out across the nation. Anti- and pro-monarchy protestors violently clashed in the streets, leaving almost 300 dead. The pro-monarchy forces, led by retired army General and former Minister of Interior in Mossadeq's cabinet , Fazlollah Zahedi, gained the upper hand on 19 August 1953. His son claims he, independent of Operation Ajax. Interesting fact is that the Prime Minister was not to be seen during the clashes, prompting some to say that he was not ready to overthrow the Shah and that he renounced to fight on. He surrendered to General Zahedi. On the 22nd of August the Shah returned and Mossadeq was put on trial for high treason. He was sparred the death sentence, but he received a sentence of 3 years in solitary confinement, at a military jail, and was exiled to his village, not far from Tehran, where he remained under house arrest until his death, on 5 March 1967.

Legacy

The Shah became a tyrant and ruled with an iron fist until 1979 when the Islamic Revolution ousted him and created the theocrtic regime that still stands today. He was backed by the West, hungry for Iranian oil and content he was not drawn to the Soviet Union, and was given a whole lot of military material and even a nice start for building a nuclear program. The effects of those actions can be seen today...

It is easy to look at Mohammad Mossadeq as one of the first if not the first to rise up against the economic imperialism of the Western powers. He was made a victim for wanting more money for his country and for wanting to drive it forward, on a road not Communist and not Capitalist, on a road which one can speculate could have made Iran a very different country from the one it is today. It is easy to look at the CIA, at Britain and the United States of America as the aggressors, immoral powers only seeking economic gains at the expense of the Iranian people...

It is also easy to see it all as a necessary act, driven by economical and political needs in the complex situation of the beginning of the Cold War. Mossadeq can be cast in the role of the political animal, wanting power, ever more power, being undemocratic and nationalistic to the extreme. Britain and the United States did the right thing against a Farsi speaking nobody who wanted a shot at power...

Neither one of those views are correct. Mossadeq was a complex man, well educated, with will and ideas. If he was a visionary or a power monger we can never know. Britain and the United States did what the context told them needed to be done. We can not judge it right or wrong using our moral standards and our hindsight. What the above story clearly demonstrates is the complexity of history and how forgotten facts can say something relevant to the present...

Mossadeq, as Ajax, wanted to reach for that which belonged to one greater, Britain, oil wealth, and was struck down by opposing Gods...

Extended reading:
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, The Shah's Story, M. Joseph, 1980
Stephen Kinzer, All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror, John Wiley & Sons, 2003
Amin Saikal The Rise and Fall of the Shah 1941 - 1979, Angus and Robertson (Princeton University Press)

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Iran
http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html
http://www.cais-soas.com/articles/history_articles.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pahlavi_dynasty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qajar_dynasty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Soviet_invasion_of_Iran
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Reza_Pahlavi
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/25/1534210&mode=thread&tid=47
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/1542249
http://www.iranian.com/FereydounHoveyda/2003/September/Mossadegh/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Front_of_Iran
http://www.ardeshirzahedi.org/cia-iran.pdf
http://www.hirhome.com/iraniraq/iran-coup.htm[/QUOTE]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59552

The next time you feel like slandering Mohammed Mossadegh's memory here, consider that you
are not telling the truth and that these three, and others, will just come to you again.

Do the right thing, hap .. cheers ..

[fuagf]

hap, shh .. secrets .. happy birthday, here is a fourth .. just to get them together .. so attached to you .. lol ..

Secrets of History: .. The CIA in Iran
By James Risen, New York Times, April 16, 2000

The Central Intelligence Agency's secret history of its covert operation to overthrow Iran's government in 1953 offers
an inside look at how the agency stumbled into success, despite a series of mishaps that derailed its original plans.

Written in 1954 by one of the coup's chief planners, the history details how United States and British officials plotted
the military coup that returned the shah of Iran to power and toppled Iran's elected prime minister, an ardent nationalist.

The document shows that:

• Britain, fearful of Iran's plans to nationalize its oil industry, came up with the idea for the
coup in 1952 and pressed the United States to mount a joint operation to remove the prime minister.

• The C.I.A. and S.I.S., the British intelligence service, handpicked Gen. Fazlollah Zahedi to succeed Prime Minister
Mohammed Mossadegh and covertly funneled $5 million to General Zahedi's regime two days after the coup prevailed.

• Iranians working for the C.I.A. and posing as Communists harassed religious leaders and staged the bombing of
one cleric's home in a campaign to turn the country's Islamic religious community against Mossadegh's government.

• The shah's cowardice nearly killed the C.I.A. operation. Fearful of risking his throne, the Shah repeatedly refused
to sign C.I.A.-written royal decrees to change the government. The agency arranged for the shah's twin sister, Princess
Ashraf Pahlevi, and Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the father of the Desert Storm commander, to act as intermediaries
to try to keep him from wilting under pressure. He still fled the country just before the coup succeeded.

continued .. http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=36826505&txt2find=kermit|roosevelt