Post by Rob W. Case on Jun 25, 2009 15:45:06 GMT -6
Iran is one of the most hostile regimes in the world. It is hellbent on annihilating Israel and America, and it is a fierce theocracy, which means that the government of Iran is rooted in the fundamentals of the religion of Islam. The Mosque and the State are virtually in compatibility with one another. What makes Iran hate America as much as it does? There are many components that contribute to Iran’s disdain for America, some of which are contrasted by principle, and some of which are rooted in their religion. Iran is not about the people. Despotism never is about people. It is about doing what it wants to do whenever it feels like doing it for the purpose of empowering itself and controlling the people who reside within its geographical limits.
Iran was once a strong supporter and ally of the United States, but it is no longer. There is ample reason for this, and the root cause stems from the consequences from the policies of the administration of Jimmy Carter.
Iran was once governed by the Shaw, a government that was pro-American and an ally of the West in its struggle against the Soviet Union. The Shaw also implemented Western type policies in his program called the White Revolution, which included land reform, the extension of voting rights to women, and the elimination of illiteracy. The Shaw combined modernization and Westernization along with his own Imperialistic Dictatorship. The Shaw also, despite the Arab boycott in the 1970’s, supplied Israel with oil. As the United State’s strongest guardian of U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf, the Nixon-Ford administration promised the Shaw that he could purchase whatever weapons in whatever quantities he wanted, despite the Shaw’s dictatorial Imperialism and use of their secret police to spy on and suppress Iranian student protesters. The whole point in allying with the Shaw was to keep an ally, friend, and partner to the United States outside of Israel in the heart of the Middle East.
The Rise of the Militants and Jimmy Carter’s Role in this:
During the Shaw’s Rule, militants were angry and upset. Religious leaders felt that their authority was diminishing, and students were in disarray. During the mid to late 1970’s, opposition from the people were mounting and the Shaw’s government was collapsing. The only hope for the Shaw to restore order and strength was the United States. In 1976, Jimmy Carter won the election over Gerald Ford causing a fundamental change in the political environment. Carter’s liberal utopian views prompted him to, in his own words, “reduce the sales of offensive weapons throughout the world…”
On November 4th, 1977, the Shaw was asked what scenarios he feared the most. The Shaw replied, “Growing terrorism, permissive societies, democracy collapsing through lack of law and order. If things continue on their present track, the disintegration of Western societies will occur much sooner than you think under the hammer blows of fascism and communism. Freedom is not something that does not have a breaking point, and your enemies would like you to reach that point.” Those are the things that the Shaw of Iran feared the most!! Those were and still are American fears and concerns!!!
The Shaw looked to the United States for help numerous times, hoping to gain the support that the Nixon-Ford administration promised him, but Carter’s liberalism prompted him to demand certain conditions. Carter drew some guidelines that he felt needed to be enacted if the Shaw was to gain support from the U.S. Extremely hesitant to in his mind “promote violence,” the Carter administration was dwindling towards it’s support for the Shaw, whose power was growing weaker and weaker in defending itself, while the Ayatollah Khomeini, the opposition force was becoming stronger and stronger.
Revolution: Revolution finally broke out. The Shaw’s health was deteriorating because of cancer, so he appealed to the United States for medical attention. As the Ayatollah overthrew the Shaw Government, the Shaw went away quietly, only to seek medical attention and move to Egypt where he eventually died from cancer.
On November 4th, 1979, a group of fanatic Islamic students (one of which was the future Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) invaded the U.S. Embassy (yes, the Shaw allowed the United States to have an Embassy in Iran) in Tehran holding 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration sought plans to negotiate with the Ayatollah, but they did not budge. Meanwhile, the days, weeks, months, and a year passed and no progress was made. Carter imposed sanctions on Iran as punishment, but it fueled the fire even more.
Iran now hated the United States with a passion so fierce, it wanted it completely destroyed, and it all started with Jimmy Carter. When Carter talked of the Shaw, he said, “The cause of human rights is one that is shared deeply by our people and the leaders of our two nations.” That infuriated the militancy. Carter’s refusal to supply the Shaw with what they needed provided the opportunity for the Ayatollah to take over, and after the takeover, Carter tried to punish the Ayatollah, thus fanning the image that the United States was suppressing the very things that the Ayatollah was fighting for, and his friendliness with the Shaw seemed to have sparked the image that the U.S. endorsed the Shaw’s dictatorial style. Strikes and protests broke out and the Shaw’s forces ended up killing hundreds of people, causing chaos and mass death in the region.
The 444 Days:
The Ayatollah’s power was exploiting Carter’s weakness. Each and every day that the hostages were in Iran, it was a blow to the strength and resolve of the U.S. Presidency. As this occurred, the Soviet Union was on the move, also exploiting the weakness resulting from Carter’s liberalism. While Carter was stumped, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and was moving to invade more regions. Former Secretary of State to President Nixon Henry Kissinger stated that the United States was in a “window of vulnerability,” while chaos seemed to be winning abroad and the morale of the American people (paying massive taxes and having an enormous unemployment rate) was the epitome of disappointment, America seemed as though its best days were behind her.
Now, it seems that we are repeating many of the old habits once again, but with a new twist. Here is the new twist. You have heard the popular slogan “history repeats itself.” Well, history does repeat itself, but this time, it is repeating itself with a few changes due to the presidency of George W. Bush.
The War in Iraq:
In 1980, Iran and Iraq was at war with each other due to various conflicts between Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2009, that is not at all likely. Due to many threats lodged by Saddam Hussein, and his defiance with the United Nations, George W. Bush, especially after 9/11 saw it vital to have Saddam Hussein removed from power and eventually did it in 2003. This occurred, and now with Saddam dead and with its own Constitution and Democracy in place, Iraq is now a Democratic country. But something else is at play here, and that is the fulfillment of something George W. Bush said years ago.
"Iraq's progress toward self-determination and democracy brings hope to other oppressed people in the region and throughout the world. It is the rise of democracy that tyrants fear and terrorists seek to undermine.
The people who yearn for liberty and opportunity in countries like Iran and throughout the Middle East are watching and they are praying for our success in Iraq."
--George W. Bush August 26th, 2003
That is exactly what happened. Iraq became a Democracy, and now the people of Iran seek and desire a fair election in their country. Bush’s strategy is continuing to work, but as it was in 1976, so it became once again in 2008, as there came a fundamental change in the political environment, causing, (at the worst possible time imaginable), a chance to win Iran back as an ally of the United States via its young citizens who yearn for Democracy.
Many of the very people who want a fair election in Iran at this particular time were either not born, or they were babies who could not remember the revolution of the Ayatollah Khomeni over the Shaw. Now, some 30 years after this event, we have a new, younger generation who want the freedom their neighbor Iraq has. They want change from the old order of things. They want to be able to have the freedom to choose their leaders, their religion, and be able to choose their own routines in their daily lives. But it doesn’t look as though they are going to get anything out of the United States of America. Sure, they are going to get lip service, but they are most likely going to get the cold shoulder, the same way Carter gave the cold shoulder to the pro-American Shaw. Sure, there will be lip service by the president, expressing some sort of “outrage, sadness, sympathy, heartbreak, anger”—or whatever target word gets him passed the moment of political pressure, but the overall message of “that’s not our problem” will communicate throughout the Arab world, all while we continue to fund and support the Democracy in Iraq, causing a contradiction in principle for the purpose of playing politics.
Making Future Enemies:
Since George W. Bush decided to take out Saddam Hussein, and fight Al Qaeda, his critics went around saying that he endangered America by creating more enemies. The truth is that fierce despots had a fear of George W. Bush because they did not know how he would respond if they tried something damaging against the United States. What is going on now is exactly what really makes terrorists. One could say that the nation of Iran more or less was a nation that hated the United States during 1979 and throughout 1980. The good Iranians who once supported America during that time turned sour and hated the United States because we turned a cold shoulder to them in their hour of deepest need. Now, we have the wrong man occupying the Oval office, at the wrong time, and he is turning a cold shoulder to them in their hour of need just as was done 30 years ago. As death closes in on the people at the hands of their government, and with no moral support behind them, they are left to the mercy of the government they so desperately want freedom from. The avenues of hope are closing on them, and if they survive, then the pro-American Iranians are likely to grow bitter and hate America just like the fascist ones.
When The ‘Good’ Goes Bad:
As we all know, recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ruler of Iran who was elected as President in 2005, just won re-election, but the people revolted against the results. The reason being is because his challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi was supported so strongly by the Iranian people that they felt that something wasn’t right when he lost so big to Ahmadinejad. Obama said that he did not want to meddle into their affairs, and that can be understood up to a point, but the president aside from turning a cold shoulder to them, made an ignorant statement, implying that both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi were one in the same. Mousavi wrote a letter to Obama regarding his outrage at him….
From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi
To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of a kind,” we consider this as a grave and deep insult, not just to Mr. Mousavi but especially against the judgment of the Iranian people, against our moral conviction and intelligence, especially those of the young generation that comprises a population of 31 million.
It is a specially grave insult for those who are now fighting for democracy and freedom, and an unwarranted gift and even praise for Mr. Khamenei, whose security forces are now killing peaceful Iranians in the streets of every major city in the country.
Your statement misled the people of the world. It was no doubt inspired by your hope for dialogue with this regime, but you cannot possibly believe in promises from a regime that lies to its own people and then kills them when they demand the promises be kept.
By such statements, your administration and you discourage the Iranian people, who believe and trust in the values of democracy and freedom. We are pleased to see that you have condemned the regime’s murderous violence, and we look forward to stronger support for the rightful struggle of the Iranian people against the actions of a regime that is your enemy as well as ours.
Mousavi is right. Not only is he right, but this entire situation strikes a strong resemblance to the situation between the Shaw and Jimmy Carter. Obama is much like Jimmy Carter in his idealism and approach, and we are going to acquire a new generation of Iranian enemies as a consequence unless Obama turns a 108, strengthens the morale of the Iranian people, supports them in their efforts, and shows them that we actually care, as well as not make stupid statements that will anger the pro-Democratic ones even further. Some of our problems with other nations cannot be controlled, but some can. President Obama turned an opportunity into a challenge thanks to his ignorant remarks, his cold shoulder, and his weakness to Ahmadinejad.
Iran was once a strong supporter and ally of the United States, but it is no longer. There is ample reason for this, and the root cause stems from the consequences from the policies of the administration of Jimmy Carter.
Iran was once governed by the Shaw, a government that was pro-American and an ally of the West in its struggle against the Soviet Union. The Shaw also implemented Western type policies in his program called the White Revolution, which included land reform, the extension of voting rights to women, and the elimination of illiteracy. The Shaw combined modernization and Westernization along with his own Imperialistic Dictatorship. The Shaw also, despite the Arab boycott in the 1970’s, supplied Israel with oil. As the United State’s strongest guardian of U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf, the Nixon-Ford administration promised the Shaw that he could purchase whatever weapons in whatever quantities he wanted, despite the Shaw’s dictatorial Imperialism and use of their secret police to spy on and suppress Iranian student protesters. The whole point in allying with the Shaw was to keep an ally, friend, and partner to the United States outside of Israel in the heart of the Middle East.
The Rise of the Militants and Jimmy Carter’s Role in this:
During the Shaw’s Rule, militants were angry and upset. Religious leaders felt that their authority was diminishing, and students were in disarray. During the mid to late 1970’s, opposition from the people were mounting and the Shaw’s government was collapsing. The only hope for the Shaw to restore order and strength was the United States. In 1976, Jimmy Carter won the election over Gerald Ford causing a fundamental change in the political environment. Carter’s liberal utopian views prompted him to, in his own words, “reduce the sales of offensive weapons throughout the world…”
On November 4th, 1977, the Shaw was asked what scenarios he feared the most. The Shaw replied, “Growing terrorism, permissive societies, democracy collapsing through lack of law and order. If things continue on their present track, the disintegration of Western societies will occur much sooner than you think under the hammer blows of fascism and communism. Freedom is not something that does not have a breaking point, and your enemies would like you to reach that point.” Those are the things that the Shaw of Iran feared the most!! Those were and still are American fears and concerns!!!
The Shaw looked to the United States for help numerous times, hoping to gain the support that the Nixon-Ford administration promised him, but Carter’s liberalism prompted him to demand certain conditions. Carter drew some guidelines that he felt needed to be enacted if the Shaw was to gain support from the U.S. Extremely hesitant to in his mind “promote violence,” the Carter administration was dwindling towards it’s support for the Shaw, whose power was growing weaker and weaker in defending itself, while the Ayatollah Khomeini, the opposition force was becoming stronger and stronger.
Revolution: Revolution finally broke out. The Shaw’s health was deteriorating because of cancer, so he appealed to the United States for medical attention. As the Ayatollah overthrew the Shaw Government, the Shaw went away quietly, only to seek medical attention and move to Egypt where he eventually died from cancer.
On November 4th, 1979, a group of fanatic Islamic students (one of which was the future Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) invaded the U.S. Embassy (yes, the Shaw allowed the United States to have an Embassy in Iran) in Tehran holding 52 Americans hostage. The Carter administration sought plans to negotiate with the Ayatollah, but they did not budge. Meanwhile, the days, weeks, months, and a year passed and no progress was made. Carter imposed sanctions on Iran as punishment, but it fueled the fire even more.
Iran now hated the United States with a passion so fierce, it wanted it completely destroyed, and it all started with Jimmy Carter. When Carter talked of the Shaw, he said, “The cause of human rights is one that is shared deeply by our people and the leaders of our two nations.” That infuriated the militancy. Carter’s refusal to supply the Shaw with what they needed provided the opportunity for the Ayatollah to take over, and after the takeover, Carter tried to punish the Ayatollah, thus fanning the image that the United States was suppressing the very things that the Ayatollah was fighting for, and his friendliness with the Shaw seemed to have sparked the image that the U.S. endorsed the Shaw’s dictatorial style. Strikes and protests broke out and the Shaw’s forces ended up killing hundreds of people, causing chaos and mass death in the region.
The 444 Days:
The Ayatollah’s power was exploiting Carter’s weakness. Each and every day that the hostages were in Iran, it was a blow to the strength and resolve of the U.S. Presidency. As this occurred, the Soviet Union was on the move, also exploiting the weakness resulting from Carter’s liberalism. While Carter was stumped, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and was moving to invade more regions. Former Secretary of State to President Nixon Henry Kissinger stated that the United States was in a “window of vulnerability,” while chaos seemed to be winning abroad and the morale of the American people (paying massive taxes and having an enormous unemployment rate) was the epitome of disappointment, America seemed as though its best days were behind her.
Now, it seems that we are repeating many of the old habits once again, but with a new twist. Here is the new twist. You have heard the popular slogan “history repeats itself.” Well, history does repeat itself, but this time, it is repeating itself with a few changes due to the presidency of George W. Bush.
The War in Iraq:
In 1980, Iran and Iraq was at war with each other due to various conflicts between Saddam Hussein and the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2009, that is not at all likely. Due to many threats lodged by Saddam Hussein, and his defiance with the United Nations, George W. Bush, especially after 9/11 saw it vital to have Saddam Hussein removed from power and eventually did it in 2003. This occurred, and now with Saddam dead and with its own Constitution and Democracy in place, Iraq is now a Democratic country. But something else is at play here, and that is the fulfillment of something George W. Bush said years ago.
"Iraq's progress toward self-determination and democracy brings hope to other oppressed people in the region and throughout the world. It is the rise of democracy that tyrants fear and terrorists seek to undermine.
The people who yearn for liberty and opportunity in countries like Iran and throughout the Middle East are watching and they are praying for our success in Iraq."
--George W. Bush August 26th, 2003
That is exactly what happened. Iraq became a Democracy, and now the people of Iran seek and desire a fair election in their country. Bush’s strategy is continuing to work, but as it was in 1976, so it became once again in 2008, as there came a fundamental change in the political environment, causing, (at the worst possible time imaginable), a chance to win Iran back as an ally of the United States via its young citizens who yearn for Democracy.
Many of the very people who want a fair election in Iran at this particular time were either not born, or they were babies who could not remember the revolution of the Ayatollah Khomeni over the Shaw. Now, some 30 years after this event, we have a new, younger generation who want the freedom their neighbor Iraq has. They want change from the old order of things. They want to be able to have the freedom to choose their leaders, their religion, and be able to choose their own routines in their daily lives. But it doesn’t look as though they are going to get anything out of the United States of America. Sure, they are going to get lip service, but they are most likely going to get the cold shoulder, the same way Carter gave the cold shoulder to the pro-American Shaw. Sure, there will be lip service by the president, expressing some sort of “outrage, sadness, sympathy, heartbreak, anger”—or whatever target word gets him passed the moment of political pressure, but the overall message of “that’s not our problem” will communicate throughout the Arab world, all while we continue to fund and support the Democracy in Iraq, causing a contradiction in principle for the purpose of playing politics.
Making Future Enemies:
Since George W. Bush decided to take out Saddam Hussein, and fight Al Qaeda, his critics went around saying that he endangered America by creating more enemies. The truth is that fierce despots had a fear of George W. Bush because they did not know how he would respond if they tried something damaging against the United States. What is going on now is exactly what really makes terrorists. One could say that the nation of Iran more or less was a nation that hated the United States during 1979 and throughout 1980. The good Iranians who once supported America during that time turned sour and hated the United States because we turned a cold shoulder to them in their hour of deepest need. Now, we have the wrong man occupying the Oval office, at the wrong time, and he is turning a cold shoulder to them in their hour of need just as was done 30 years ago. As death closes in on the people at the hands of their government, and with no moral support behind them, they are left to the mercy of the government they so desperately want freedom from. The avenues of hope are closing on them, and if they survive, then the pro-American Iranians are likely to grow bitter and hate America just like the fascist ones.
When The ‘Good’ Goes Bad:
As we all know, recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the ruler of Iran who was elected as President in 2005, just won re-election, but the people revolted against the results. The reason being is because his challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi was supported so strongly by the Iranian people that they felt that something wasn’t right when he lost so big to Ahmadinejad. Obama said that he did not want to meddle into their affairs, and that can be understood up to a point, but the president aside from turning a cold shoulder to them, made an ignorant statement, implying that both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi were one in the same. Mousavi wrote a letter to Obama regarding his outrage at him….
From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi
To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of a kind,” we consider this as a grave and deep insult, not just to Mr. Mousavi but especially against the judgment of the Iranian people, against our moral conviction and intelligence, especially those of the young generation that comprises a population of 31 million.
It is a specially grave insult for those who are now fighting for democracy and freedom, and an unwarranted gift and even praise for Mr. Khamenei, whose security forces are now killing peaceful Iranians in the streets of every major city in the country.
Your statement misled the people of the world. It was no doubt inspired by your hope for dialogue with this regime, but you cannot possibly believe in promises from a regime that lies to its own people and then kills them when they demand the promises be kept.
By such statements, your administration and you discourage the Iranian people, who believe and trust in the values of democracy and freedom. We are pleased to see that you have condemned the regime’s murderous violence, and we look forward to stronger support for the rightful struggle of the Iranian people against the actions of a regime that is your enemy as well as ours.
Mousavi is right. Not only is he right, but this entire situation strikes a strong resemblance to the situation between the Shaw and Jimmy Carter. Obama is much like Jimmy Carter in his idealism and approach, and we are going to acquire a new generation of Iranian enemies as a consequence unless Obama turns a 108, strengthens the morale of the Iranian people, supports them in their efforts, and shows them that we actually care, as well as not make stupid statements that will anger the pro-Democratic ones even further. Some of our problems with other nations cannot be controlled, but some can. President Obama turned an opportunity into a challenge thanks to his ignorant remarks, his cold shoulder, and his weakness to Ahmadinejad.