Crap for the late response... and thank you Salimi, for explaining the concept of democracy, one which appears to be lost on U.S. foreign policymakers in the modern age.
Well, let's take this one step at a time.
Mossadegh nationalized all the oil in the country. Yes, really, how dare the elected leader of Iran decide what the country should do with its own economic resources. Especially when the Iranian people had been clamoring for exactly that for years. What a concept. Maybe the UAE should have funded a military coup in Washington when we kicked out Dubai Ports World, too.
Mossadegh declared Britain a national enemy. There's a reason for that; Britain WAS a national enemy. They'd already occupied the country (jointly with the Soviets) for the duration of World War Two. Prior to that, it was a British-backed coup that had created the Pahlavi dynasty in the first place. And the AOIC had shown that it was willing to go to any lengths to preserve their domination over Iranian oil - which the Iranians were getting little if anything for in return.
Mossadegh "stamped out all opposition". Not only untrue, but Mossadegh RESIGNED. The "opposition", i.e. Qavam, then returned to the negotiating table with the British, resulting in such a popular outrage that the Shah dismissed him and re-appointed Mossadegh. "Emergency powers"? That's what you have when you're the leader of a country mired with foreign interests who are doing everything they can to undermine your democracy.
My favorite, though, has to be this: "Classic spin-doctoring to justify the acts of the Islamic Revolution in Iran." Ah yes, the knee-jerk reaction of the idiot who thinks anyone who opposes U.S. policy must be a terrorist sympathizer.
First of all, much of the reactionary clergy supported the Shah, not Mossadegh, because they were afraid of losing their power under his more secular government. Second, it's a good bet that the Iranian revolution would never have happened if not for the quarter-century of dictatorship that followed this coup - Khomeini might still have been pissed, but would have had a much harder time rallying the entire Iranian people. Third, if you could be so kind as to go back into my original post and show me where I indicated support for the revolution? What's that? You don't see any? Well, color me shocked. Looks like you're full of crap.
Moving on.
"We'll assume you're referring to Thiệu, who although probably corrupt and more interested in hanging on to his position than effectively repelling the North was hardly a "dictator", and was elected freely." Correction please; Thieu came to power in a military coup. To his credit, he did run for office in a free election in 1967 (more than any of his predecessors had done); however, in the next election (1971) he ran conveniently unopposed, somehow shooting up from 38% in 67 to 94% in 71.
"As for the Vietnamese people themselves, they were hardly dispassionate victims of two super-powers slugging it out, no, many in the South did not want to live under the oppressive communist regime which is why literally millions of Vietnamese fled the country after the fall of Saigon". Of course they didn't want to live under communism, few people do. Did they like their own regime better? Eight years of Diem had already poisoned the well, and none of the governments that followed were much more representative. Saigon was the devil they knew, nothing more.
If you want people to support your government when it takes extraordinary measures, they have to have some hope that their freedom will be back after the end of the emergency. The Americans had that in the Civil War as the Iranians did with Mossadegh, because they remembered a time before the war when government functioned democratically and responded to their will. The South Vietnamese never had that, not when their first independent government had been under Diem and the following ones all had their power base in the army, not the people.
"People like to view history as a sort of operatic battle between black hats and white hats, but unfortunately it's just not that simple."
My agreements. Please pass that on to the people who think anyone to the left of Ayn Rand is a communist and must be destroyed at all costs, regardless of how he/she got into power and whether or not it's in America's interests.
Denny Crane.
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