I am hoping someday to hear the liberated women of Iran come to America and say a loud "thank you" - "NOT" to all the American feminists who stayed silent during the brutal regime of the mullahs.
Posted on 02/25/2007 9:38:01 AM PST by freedom44
When making a radical change, good sense requires that you consider the alternative. In 1978, the coalition that overthrew the Shah of Iran consisted of the bazaar merchants who disliked the Shah's move to modernize the economy, including the merchandising sector; representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization who objected to Iran's recognition of Israel; the Tudeh, Iranian communist party; the Mujadin, composed of students following their fashionable new-left ideology and the misled intelligentsia; all these under the leadership of the Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers, fundamentalist Muslims who hated the Shah's regime for its tilt toward secularism, modernism, Westernization and America.
If these were his enemies, the Shah doesn't seem that bad. The severity of his regime pales by comparison to what followed. The revolutionaries held one-day secret mock trials, followed by next-day executions. Government officials and army officers went first, followed in short order by the Tudeh. Next came the suppression of the Bahai and the Zorastorians.
Of course, a large part of the Khomeini supporters, the majority of the students and the intellectuals, never expected such a violent purge. The Ayatollah had deceived them.
Of the many factors that eventually make for a better life, the Shah's record was quite good. Economic growth is always spotty, leaving some people behind. Nevertheless, the growth in Iranian per capita real income averaged around 6 percent a year over the 25 years of his government. It reached a peak of $6,700 in 1976, $6,400 in 1977, and fell to $5,400 in 1978, the year of the revolution. It averaged well below this level in all the years that followed. Now, with oil prices at a high 30 years later, it has reached the 1976 level.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
So, when the revolution came, Jimmy Carter sniffed and turned his back on the Shah. And that's how Islamic Fundamentalists got a real foothold in the Middle East -- and learned that taking Americans hostages is no big deal, with no real consequences.
Of course, once Khomeini was in power and the full repression of his Islamic theocracy began to be apparent, the media's attention drifted to Nicaragua where another US-backed political group was being ... Brutal! People were being tortured! ... and I seem to remember Jimmy Carter helping our enemies down there as well (as an ex-President).
And of course, don't forget Jimmah Carter...and his great support for the Shah....
Big BUMP
Credit to the Peanut Farmer for the past and current fiasco.
Both Pahlevi Shahs were the right men at the right time. Reza Pahlevi (1925-41) catapulted Iran from the medieval Islamic world into the 20th century and fought Sharia and the Islamic Clergy at every turn. His son directed Iran on a western, pro-American way. He was an ally of Israel and in his own words the only stronghold in the Middle East against Communism and Islamism.
Thank you Jimmy Carter for betraying him in favour of the Ayatollah!
Yeah, the Ayatollah put a few SAVAK agents in jail and just issued new uniforms to the rest of them and turned them loose again on the population. The Shah wasn't perfect but he was the only friend we had in the region besides Israel. Jimmy Carter did more damage to the U.S. and our allies than any president in history.
Sounds like most revolutions, including France and Russia.
Wonder what historians will say about the US after 2008?
If there is to be a vote for the ONE person who put the world into the mess in Iran/Iraq that we have today, I nominate:
Jimmy Carter
Hands down still the worst president we have ever had, with Bill Clinton trying to take over that status.
Jimmah what a cheap cowardly commie and a lying fool...if there is justice for this scumbag, he will hang from a lampost.
I still feel bad for the troops that were sent on a mission seemingly designed to fail.I would not be surprised one bit if Crater knew it all along.No,I did not mis-spell Crater.
How in the world did a dirt poor cleric spend tens of millions on tapes and videos across Iran in the late 70's?? The entire revolution makes about as much sensed as martins from outer space.
I remember when the Shah was deposed. My father said it was a huge mistake. He's gone now, but Daddy was right.
Jimmy Carter's policy has been a rolling catastrophe through the years. If he could get his mind off himself and contemplate the opportunity he blew and the results, old Jummuh would go out and hang himself in despair.
But then, its all been about him and his anti-American 'Nobel' policy....so that's not likely to happen...
I am hoping someday to hear the liberated women of Iran come to America and say a loud "thank you" - "NOT" to all the American feminists who stayed silent during the brutal regime of the mullahs.
The Shah of Iran built on what his father had started, and what the Allies are trying to do now. A balance. Iran under the Shah had balance and the benefits of both modern society and an understanding of the requirements of Islam.
The SAVAK was much more about Islam than western mores.
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