Here is the context of Pinochet/Allende. Needless to say, Allende destroyed Chilean democracy before the 73 coup with his movement towards authortarianism. Pinochet saved Chile from becoming another Cuba. It is funny how Dave regurgitates Left wing talking points against America without mentioning context.
Was the CIA right to overthrow the Iranian government in 1953, or how do you view that particular cout d'etat?
ReplyDeleteCraig,
ReplyDeleteHere is a good person for you to read on this. His name is Abbas Milani. He wrote a great article in the New Republic called "The Great Satan Myth" which dispels a lot of the myths about the US involvement in Iran in 1953. A little known fact is that the Shah was within his constitutional powers in Iran to remove Mossadegh in 1953 who by the way was originally appointed to the PM post by the Shah.
http://www.tnr.com/article/world/the-great-satan-myth
ReplyDeletehttp://pjmedia.com/michaeltotten/2011/02/01/the-iranian-revolution-echoes-in-egypt/
Milani was a political prisoner of the Shah, so keep that in mind when you read his work. He does a great job of portraying the Shah in a fair light.
CRAIG SOWDER SAID:
ReplyDelete"Was the CIA right to overthrow the Iranian government in 1953, or how do you view that particular cout d'etat?"
I don't think we should topple a gov't just to fetch a better price for oil. However, as Fouad Ajami points out, there were also national security concerns involving cold war alliances:
"...there were worries that Mossadegh might be just a stalking horse for Iran's Communists."
http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/08/books/a-history-writ-in-oil.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
That's a more principled rationale.
It also depends on whether you're asking if that was reasonable at the time, or whether it was prudent in retrospect.