[ClearCase_guy]

I've been saying this for years. I remember the media coverage of Iran in the mid 1970's. The Shah was evil! His secret police, SAVAK, tortured and killed people! It was a beastly regime!

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).

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Ah the memories... Madison Wisconsin 1978/79. Crowds parading around the capital square chanting "Hey Hey, Hey Ho, the Shah has got to go!"

[EagleUSA]

And of course, don't forget Jimmah Carter...and his great support for the Shah....

[nuconvert]

Big BUMP

[Maine Mariner]

I also recall quite a few Americans supported the overthrow of the Shah. None of the leaders of the women's movement supported him. In fact one leading feminist, Kate Millet, I believe, was in Tehran cheering when Khomeini arrived from Paris. The Shah was far from perfect but under his rule women held positions in the judiciary and elsewhere. They were removed after Khomeini came to power.
Perhaps, left wing femi-nazis supported Khomeini and his gang because they hated America.

[veronica]

Credit to the Peanut Farmer for the past and current fiasco.

[SolidWood]

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!

[norton]

"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."

Sounds like most revolutions, including France and Russia.

Wonder what historians will say about the US after 2008?

[SoCal Pubbie]

I was a student at Cal State Long Beach at the time. There were a lot of Iranian students there. I remembering thinking at the time that all the anti Shah posters around campus seemed just a bit too coordinated. Too many vibes from the same anti Vietnam crowd that had worked its magic a few years before.

[ridesthemiles]

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.

[Judith Anne]

I remember when the Shah was deposed. My father said it was a huge mistake. He's gone now, but Daddy was right.

[Enterprise]

"Today, Shah's Iran doesn't look so bad."

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.

[ChessExpert]

The growing Iranian middle and professional class should have supported the Shah, but they have told me, they were deceived by Khomeini. Sad. They neglected the ancient Hindu proverb, ''Do not ride to power on the back of the tiger.''
That was unfortunate.

The Shah's American ally under President Jimmy Carter was inconsistent and President Carter proved himself completely inept.
The author goes way to easy on Jimmy Carter, IMO.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

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.

.