I blame Jimmy Carter...
To ensure a free flow of oil, the west drew arbitrary borders and installed dictators who put an end to at least hundreds of years if not a thousand years of tribal warfare. Many lives were saved in the region at the expense of a relatively small number killed by the dictatorships.
Now the region is back to tribal warfare. With the new twist of tribal warfare with the west.
The attempt to bring modern democracy to medievals wasn't worth one American life, never mind thousands. Carter should never have thrown the Shah of Iran under the bus.
"Jimmy Carter Can Only Blame Himself"
"Facing an Islamic revolution, the Shah appealed to Carter for help. On November 4, 1978 U.S. National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski called the Shah and said the United States would "back him to the hilt." This would never be the case. Brzezinski insisted to Carter that the U.S. must encourage the Shah to "brutally suppress the revolution". State Department officials believed Carter should reach out to the Revolutionaries in order to smooth the transition to a new government. This was a deciding moment in world history. Carter decided not to take either recommendation and to this very day, the world is suffering the consequences of his indecisiveness."
Carter had wanted a construction project to be awarded to one of his buddies. Might have been Bert Lance. I don't recall and can't find the actual link. He needed the approval from the Shah.
For some reason the Shah didn't approve the project apparently it wasn't what the country of Iran needed at the time.So Carter did what he did to the Shah destorying the country of Iran in the process.
He is totally to blame for the mullahs regaining power in a country that has done more to destabalize the Mid-East than any other than perhaps the Saudis.
http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/35-years-ago-an-iranian-revolution-thanks-to-jimmy-carter/
The escape clause giving the president more decision-making latitude lay in the words “extraordinary circumstances exist which necessitate a continuation of security assistance for such country.” This allowed a sitting president leeway to determine what aid to which countries was in the national interest of the U.S. Such wording made it possible for Carter to launch his campaign against the Shah of Iran while simply ignoring other abusive regimes such as the one in Indonesia and ultimately being instrumental in the Shah’s ouster.
Only one of the links pointing to Carters massive incompetence.
With the election of Jimmy Carter and his stance against the Shah, the U.S. was suddenly deprived of level heads that would have provided access to Persian Gulf oil. A relationship that for decades had been friendly had become adversarial. A deviously clever, manipulative fanatic was suddenly in control of all decision-making in Iran, an old man who had no desire to negotiate with his sworn enemy—the “Great Satan.”