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Thursday, August 28, 2003 Destroying democracy in Iran Fifty years ago this month, the CIA and British intelligence orchestrated a coup d’etat that toppled the democratically elected government of Iran. It's a fascinating story that shows just how little respect the US government can have for democracy, especially when another country is achieving that democracy in a way the US doesn't like. In 1951 Prime Minister Mossadegh roused Britain's ire when he nationalized the oil industry. Mossadegh argued that Iran should begin profiting from its vast oil reserves which had been exclusively controlled by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The company later became known as British Petroleum (BP). After considering military action, Britain opted for a coup d'état. President Harry Truman rejected the idea, but when Dwight Eisenhower took over the White House, he ordered the CIA to embark on one of its first covert operations against a foreign government. The coup was 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. Kermit Roosevelt had help from Norman Schwarzkopf’s father: Norman Schwarzkopf. The CIA and the British helped to undermine Mossadegh's government through bribery, libel, and orchestrated riots. Agents posing as communists threatened religious leaders, while the US ambassador lied to the prime minister about alleged attacks on American nationals. -clip- 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. None of this was publicly acknowledged until about three years ago. Now, author Stephen Kinzer has written a book entitled All the Shah’s Men, An American Coup And The Roots of Middle East Terror, detailing the coup and its repurcussions across the Middle East. There's an interview with him here and the excellent first chapter of his book can be found here. Via Cursor. posted by chris at 12:37 PM   ------------------

    

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