>From: Charlie Stross <charlie@antipope.org>
>Which is why the CIA organised a coup in 1953 that ousted a
>democratically elected prime minister (in Iran) and installed
>an hereditary dictatorship, huh? (Clue: the previous Iranian
>government was not a Soviet proxy.)
>It had a hell of a lot more to do with cheap oil, and taking
>over the former British and French spheres of interest in the
>middle east (acquired during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire
>in the 1918-1930 period) than with anything as long-term and
>enlightened as combating communism.
You need to go back and check the facts, it was the British who
were worried about possible nationalization of the oil industry in
Iran who first conceived of the operation and cajoled the U.S into
helping.
>_That_ particular pigeon came home to roost with a vengeance
>in 1979 (although the signs suggest that Iran is settling
>down again).
Iran isn't exactly a good neighbor.
>The picture of "democracy vs totalitarianism" is a cosy,
>comforting one but by no means universally true. In fact, much of
>what went on during the Cold War was more along the lines of an
>imperial power-grab, as US companies moved into the power vacuum
>left behind by the withdrawl of the former colonial powers and
>then lobbied for backup from the State Department.
Instead of conjecture, bring up a real incident and lets check out
the facts.
>This isn't to exculpate the Soviets -- who were in it for
>whatever they could get -- but if you look at a polar projection
>map of the world, centred on the North Pole, as it looked in 1960
>in terms of alliances, it looks *very* different from the Mercator
>projection so common in Western school rooms. Clue: which
>projection do you think was hanging in the Kremlin?
I'll let the audience help.
>Absolutely! And the sad fact is, history as taught in the US
>appears to be about as accurate as the history taught in Japanese
>or German or Russian schools, or preached in mosques ... i.e., not
>very.
Apparently British history books leave out a few things too like
British involvement in 1953 Iran coup.
Brian
Member:
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