Quote:
Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Jimmy Carter let a friend of the US be thrown out. By the time Reagan got in, "knocking the place over" would have meant invading an established country.
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Yep. But I fail to see the scenario where supporting the Shah, and continuing to prop up his authoritarian government and almost KGB-esqe security services in the face of a true popular rebellion, would have led to a better result in the long run.
P.S. This assumes, of course, that we could have helped the Shah crush the revolution with Saddam-like efficiency. Point is -- it would heve taken lots of U.S. help, because a lot of Iran's military favored the overthrow.
P.P.S. Who knows, after that, maybe we could have convinced the Shah to turn Iran into a true parliamentary democracy, and all those former regime opponents could have run for election?
Democratization in the Middle East had to start somewhere. Either Iran was it, or Iran is a real good example of why we should encourage democratization.
S_A_M
