[nuconvert]

Sorry, the Shah doesn’t belong on that list. He wasn’t a dictator and he genuinely wanted to modernize and better Iran and the people.

[TigerLikesRooster]

I believe Iran would have been better off if Pahlavi stayed on. He was indeed pushing for modernizing Iran, his authoritarian rule not withstanding.

I bet Tudeh and Mojaheddin Khalq would have been still around, staging regular riots. Most of socialist intellectuals of Iran would be still at home, not in exile in Europe, bitching about U.S. :-)

[papasmurf]

I agree. I have many Persian friends, have known them for many years. The loved the Shah. Told me stories of how he was “sneaking” Democracy into Iran, and the improvements in the daily lives of his Countrymen.

A fine line, he had to tote, no doubt. But, one that he, in the end, miscalculated.