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Khamenei Crosses the Rubicon, Becomes the 'Great Satan'
Saturday, June 20, 2009
By Paul Abrams
The Huffington Post
By reaffirming the legitimacy of President Ahmadinejad's election victory yesterday, the so-called Ayatollah Khamenei placed his theocracy on the same (im)moral plane as the 'Great Satan' that had deprived the Iranian people of its duly elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, in 1953.
In order to understand the significance of Khamanei's decision, it helps to recall what the United States did in 1953 to earn the moniker of the 'Great Satan'.
For decades Iran had supplied Britain's and much of Europe's oil under an agreement very favorable to British oil companies. Mossadegh's campaign to become Iran's Prime Minister included a stated intent to nationalize its oil industry. Mossadegh's admittedly populist appeal was to stop the pillage of Iran's precious resource by Western powers.
To thwart nationalization after Mossadegh's victory, the British planned a coup d'état to restore the Shah to power. It was to be hatched in their Teheran embassy by intelligence operatives. Mossadegh learned of the plot, and shut down the embassy.
The British then turned to the US. To his everlasting credit, Truman rebuffed them.
Upon the election of Eisenhower, and most importantly the appointment of John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State, the US government changed character.
Dulles's brother, Allen, was the Director of the CIA. Under the Dulles boys the US overthrew Mossadegh in 1953 [and then, for good measure, Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954]....(Remainder.)
The Huffington Post
By reaffirming the legitimacy of President Ahmadinejad's election victory yesterday, the so-called Ayatollah Khamenei placed his theocracy on the same (im)moral plane as the 'Great Satan' that had deprived the Iranian people of its duly elected Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadegh, in 1953.
In order to understand the significance of Khamanei's decision, it helps to recall what the United States did in 1953 to earn the moniker of the 'Great Satan'.
For decades Iran had supplied Britain's and much of Europe's oil under an agreement very favorable to British oil companies. Mossadegh's campaign to become Iran's Prime Minister included a stated intent to nationalize its oil industry. Mossadegh's admittedly populist appeal was to stop the pillage of Iran's precious resource by Western powers.
To thwart nationalization after Mossadegh's victory, the British planned a coup d'état to restore the Shah to power. It was to be hatched in their Teheran embassy by intelligence operatives. Mossadegh learned of the plot, and shut down the embassy.
The British then turned to the US. To his everlasting credit, Truman rebuffed them.
Upon the election of Eisenhower, and most importantly the appointment of John Foster Dulles as Secretary of State, the US government changed character.
Dulles's brother, Allen, was the Director of the CIA. Under the Dulles boys the US overthrew Mossadegh in 1953 [and then, for good measure, Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954]....(Remainder.)
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