[Old Teufel Hunden]

"The Khomeinist revolution in Iran was a complex and very multi-layered event. So sorry to interject."

That's what I was trying to explain to him! I was responding to his statement (originally) that went something like "if the Iranians were so western, how come they didn't defend the Shah when he was overthrown". The short and simple reason is because he ran a totalitarian oppressive regime and under those conditions, anyone else is not such a bad option. Just because he was our allay does not mean he wasn't a dictator. We had a lot of those type of allies during the cold war.

[odds]

The short and simple reason is because he ran a totalitarian oppressive regime and under those conditions, anyone else is not such a bad option. Just because he was our allay does not mean he wasn't a dictator.

You know what my regret is? That he wasn't a true enough dictator by your definition or any other definition. Had he been a real totalitarian dictator, there would've been no Islamist today in Iran, and we would not be having this discussion.

IOW, my regret is that Islamists mostly, and the Communists secondarily were not annihilated in Iran. They should have been, completely. No too bits given what others think.

One more point, an "ally" works two ways. I personally have no time for an ally that pretends to be an ally, then topples you at the earliest chance it gets. Alliance is fleeting, isn't it.