Simple Minded Comments Not Helpful in Understanding Iran

Submitted by sutteyo (United States), Dec 26, 2009 at 16:25

The comments by Gonash and Mr. Sadler fall into the fallacious world view that blames the world's problems solely upon Democratic U.S. Administrations. Oh if the world, and Iranian history were so simple!

As Daniel indicates in his critique of Ambassador Sullivan's memoire, there were forces at work in the Iranian revolution that were far beyond our control as Americans. As James A. Bill wrote ("The Eagle and the Lion: the Trajedy of American-Iranian Relations"), the Shah himself realized after his use of force killed thousands of Iranians, that continued strong handed measures would only ensure the doom of his government. There was no military solution to the Iranian Revolution. The people were against the repressive government. The Shah's days were numbered, as was the rule of King George in America.

One would only hope that the violent repression being used by the current government of Iran will also sew the seeds of its own downfall.

The carte blanche fashion in which U.S. Presidents, from LBJ, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, supported the Shah allowed the Shah of Iran to repress and ignore the Iranian people. He could deprive them of their voice, diminish their rights, and ignore their needs. In the end, his downfall only confirmed that the U.S. does not control the affairs of other nations. In the end, that is determined by the people, whose will can be delayed, but only temporarily.

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