You left the part out where Nixon withdrew any US internal collection in Iran. All “intel’ on conditions in Iran would come through SAVAK.I think it was part of a deal for the purchase of F14s. So with SAVAK controlling the USA “window” into Iran, its no wonder that the US was caught with its pants down when things went “squirrelly” there. Now yes there was “other reporting” outside official collection channels that said things are not good. “Official Washington” pretty much ignored those! Of course at the “end game” having Jumping Jimmy sitting in the place ‘where the buck stops” was icing on the cake!
I remember one of the “outside” channel reports pointed out that our 50,000 personnel footprint (I think I remember the number right. I know it was a number that shocked me in its size!) was very irritating to the common Iranian. It made the propaganda of an “American Colony” look true! So if Iran ever comes back to normal lets remember that!
Regarding SAVAK, SAVAK was certainly not worse then Iraqi secret police or the Syrian, or the Turkish, or the Egyptian! Go be a dissident in Jordan and see if you get thrown roses!
They were rather typical for any Mideast despot.
The reason its “popular” to think of them as “super bad” is because of the 1970s demonstrating Iranian students & and our lazy “disinterested in the facts” western media and delusional literati.
The West is not the East or Mideast and vice versa!
Too many people believed 7 still believe that stupid Coca-Cola commercial! The one where all join hands and sing, “I’d like to teach the world to sing...etc”, etc. Every time I saw that commercial I would think , ‘and these people vote!’.
And let's be ready to remind them: "There's a good reason for that."
typo
“... believed 7 still believe ...” = “..believed & still believe ..”
I wish you could edit your posts!
That was not the reality on the ground when I was there 1977-79. I will leave it at that.