Did You Ever Hear the Real Story About Iran?

Iran used to sell the u.s. a barrel of oil for $10 for many years. A gallon of gas in the u.s. used to cost around 45¢ in the fifties. President Eisenhower, on December 21, 1953, at the instigation of our troublemaker ally, Great Britain, sent in the CIA to overthrow Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran and installed the Shah of Iran, a ruthless dictator. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, felt that "the blowback from our actions was in large part responsible for the extremist Iranian Revolution of 1979, the taking of our hostages," etc. Mossadegh had threatened to nationalize its oil, and Great Britain and our robber barons couldn't have that. We backed Saddam Hussein in the '80s in a war we iritposed on them with Iran. Iranians resented this interference in their lives as do countries we illegally police all over the world. Prior to the invasion, American and British forces stormed the streets of Tehran in military trucks, throwing out hashish, the favorite weapon of the CIA, used in order to kill any spirit the youth may have left. University students who were religious, of course, didn't take the drugs - others, less fortunate, might have fallen prey. (I learned this from my husband, an Iranian, and you won't hear this in our revisionist history books.) The u.s. then trained the Shah's Savak (secret police) to torture at our School for the Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Noriega, too, was a student there. In Tehran, shattering screams could be heard. During the reign of the Shah, the U.S. maintained a medical school there and exchanged students. The Shah, Reza Pahlavi, was a fine puppet for the U.S. and allies. Barrels of oil at $10 wasn't too bad. But the U.S. and its robber barons wanted it all, so Henry Kissinger (wanted for war crimes at the Hague) was sent in to ask the Shah to raise the price on the barrels of oil. Since Pahlavi wanted to be loved by Americans, he said "no." The 1979 revolution ensued, and Khomeini, whom the people of Iran did not want, came to power. Iran did not like our alliance with Israel, and the rest is history. George Bush, 41, bombed Iraq. Then Clinton bombed Iraq and George W. Bush continued ­ pretending to protect the no-fly zone. And Americans call Moslems 'terrorists.' For God's sake, wake up and stop sending your sons and daughters to fight for robber barons.