[freedom44]

The people hated the fact the Shah was a ruthless dictator and replaced a freely elected westernized government under Dr. Mossadegh simply because he wanted to nationalize oil.

If RP can truly disassociate himself from Washington--make this *his* battle, not *ours* then he stands a strong chance of going back. Otherwise, he's doomed.

Some people don't quite get that the Iranian revolution was never about Islam. People of Iran are and have always been far closer to Shah's ideological outlook than to the Ayatollahs. It's just that the Shah was an absolute dictator with absolute power.

Mullahs hiijacked the revolution towards the end and murdered all the groups who got together to overthrow a dictator.

[tkathy]

I remember articles, even after the Shah was deposed, of people in his presence having to walk backwards, bow and scrape, etc.

[xJones]

Some people don't quite get that the Iranian revolution was never about Islam. People of Iran are and have always been far closer to Shah's ideological outlook than to the Ayatollahs. It's just that the Shah was an absolute dictator with absolute power.

I met dozens of Iranian students at the Texas university I attended during the mid-1970s. The subject of religion never came up in conversation, but the subject of the Shah frequently did. Every one of them hated the Shah, and feared the Savak. It's too bad the revolution was hijacked by the mullahs.