(A good book on the subject is All the Shah's Men by Stephen Kinzer.)
It's a very good book. Just finished reading it. If anyone ever doubted the following, Kinzer puts that doubt to rest.
1. That the CIA was responsible for the overthrow of Mossadegh. Absolutely compelling evidence thar Kermit Roosevelt as the CIA operative in Iran did so, with little or no help from the British.
2. That Mossedagh wished to establish a social democracy in Iran and was well on his way to doing so by countering the influence, even deleting the influence, of the Shah.
3. That the British oil company practiced a brutal form of colonial rule in Abbadan, the area in which the refinery was built.
4. That the deals struck between various Iranian governments and the British oil company were flagrantly unfair and were accepted only by virtue of payoffs to various Iranians.
Kinzer also argues that the overthrow of Mossadegh had two long term unfortunate consequences:
1. It emboldened the Dulles brothers and future incarnations at the CIA to practice the same religion in other future places, Guatemala, Chile, Africa, etc. And against democractice regimes, just not ones that favored US business interests.
2. It contributed to deep anger in the Iranian population against the US, a population which was very pro US before this. That anger lasted into the 70s and not only contributed to Khomeni's revolution but accounts for the takeover of the US embassy because it was fears of a replication of 53 that led to that. And, by taking another leap, Kinzer argues that the present shape of the ME would have been remarkably different, more democratic regimes. |
