Dr. Mossadegh

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Honest Hassan
by Honest Hassan
04-Mar-2008
 

Great patriot? Yes!

Hero of Oil nationalization? Yes!

One of the most popular political figures in our history, at one time, and overall? Yes!

Did we all (and the whole Middle East) cheer when he lead us to victory against the British empire in Hague? You bet!

His patriotism and untouchability is unparalleled in the last 100 years in Iranian history.

There are a few things, though,that are puzzling to me. I was not alive then, so I get my information from books, as well as some eye witnesses, and things just don't add up. I am old enough to remember the extreme popularity of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. A coup against him would have resulted in a huge bloodshed, even if successful; thousands would have died for him at the time.

In regards to Dr. Mossadegh, I don't understand how his one time massive support folded so easily. Maybe you can help me understand, because I know many of you have a rational view, and not an emotional one.

Imagine this for a moment: In 2004, GW Bush, just elected President, was popular. By law, he took office and has been there since (We have another year to suffer!).

What if Bill Clinton, still very popular in the U.S., lead a military operation against GW and took over as Commander in Chief. Would this be legal (though popular)? Democracy, and the rule of law, do not work like that. Popularity is not the same as the law!

In 1952, when the Shah removed Mossadegh ( well, Mossadegh kind of quit on the Shah), and appointed Ghavam, thousands got on the streets everywhere, 30-40 got killed in clashes with the armed forces. Shah, by the power vested in him by the Constitution, removed Ghavam consequently, and reappointed Mossadegh.

By summer of 1953, some say, Mossadegh had lost much of his popularity (we know it happens, as we see it every day. G Bush Sr. was enjoying approval ratings of 85% right after the first Gulf war, but it sank to 40's a year later. It happens in politics).

In absence of the Majlis, under the previous Constitution, the Shah had the power to remove the Prime Minister, and appoint a new one; and this is exactly what he did. Mossadegh did not want to go, so the Army ( with , or without the foreign intervention) removed him. Where is the coup ??

Not even 50 people got killed in the clashes, which is unheard of (compared to thousands in, say, Chile). Where was everybody? Or was it, that the average person on the street was tired of instability, unemployment, chaos, emotional speeches, and the constant fear of the Northern neighbor, the almighty Soviet Union,that was always ready to swallow us!?

Public opinion changes constantly. Churchill and De Gaulle were national heros of their times, but were booted out of office in a matter of years. Is it just remotely possible, that the crowd who hailed Mossadegh in 1951 shrunk by 1953?

Mossadegh got 3 years in jail, and then was exiled to his house. His hardcore supporters, Jebeh-eh-melli members, just about all got pardoned, and held high jobs, many in the government, until the 1979 revolution.

14 (I believe 14; don't quote me on this, but definately under 20) communist members of the armed forces got executed for treason ( This is what it is called, weather we like it or not, anywhere in the world, if you are a member of the armed forces and you conspire to overthrow the government; even here in the good old U.S. It's treason, and you are court marshalled, and if you are convicted, you face the firing squat. Period!)

Had his government survived, chances are, we would have been the diamond of the Middle East, first real democracy in the region. But again, there are those who argue, we would have fallen in the skirt of USSR just like half of Europe, Korea, Vietnam and Cuba did. The Russian tanks would have come, just like they did in Hungary in 1956, in the Czech republic in 1968, or like they did earlier in 1945 in Iran's Azerbaijan .

And today, with the fall of the wall, we'd have a position like North Korea or Cuba or Kazakhstan, and we'd be reading articles published by "Borat Rot Wine"!

God bless Mossadegh

God bless Iran

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Anonymous4now

Great article!

by Anonymous4now on

My father, as a young medical officer of the army, was jailed for 3 months for distributing jebhe melli literature, but was freed and rose to the rank of sartip.  He was a vehement supporter of Mossadegh who has, as he puts it, wised up and put emotions aside to think logically about the events, and has concluded that had Mossadegh's government not fallen, Iran would have been delivered to the Russians by the Tudeh party.  Mossadegh had realized that, towards the end, and asked his supporters to not join demonstrations on the streets, which were run entirely by the Tudeh party.  His letter to Eisenhower, to ask for financial assistance, was fast becoming a deficit for him, as the Tudeh party started propagating propaganda about his desire to replace one imperial power (England) with another (America).  Had his government survived, it would have become the victim of the leftist, treasonous propaganda, the same way the Shah was characterized as a nokar of the West. 

  

Ali Dashti describes him also as a patriot but a man not skilled enough in politics.

 

 

Clearly, when he had a chance to take a 50-50 offer for oil, from the World Bank, and he refused, urged by the Tudeh party, he demonstrated his political immaturity.  The deal would have been a first step in the eventual victory of Iran (by 1973 Iran had a 75-25 share), and it would have salvaged the economy also, which had ground to a halt as a result of the oil embargo, by the British.     


jamshid

Re: Kinzer?

by jamshid on

Since when this buffoon called Kinzer has become an authority on Iran? The guy himself admits that only recently the 1953 issues of Iran was "brought up to him" and that he was unaware of the facts until recently.

And now suddenly in the span of one year he has become an authority on the subject?

Kinzer is a buffoon. Just look at his face! But he is making good money writing garbage. We disregard our own Iranian researchers and authors who were even alive and in the scene during those times, and instead turn to Stephen Kinzer for info?

This is pathetic! Aboslutely pathetic.


asghar62

Emmy Goodman Interview with Stephen Kinzer

by asghar62 on

Dear Honest Hassan, to answer your question I just refer you to the interview of Emmy Goodman with Stephen Kinzer here:

//www.democracynow.org/2008/3/3/stephen_kinzer_on_the_us_iranian

Just tak 30 minutes and watch this interview, it might answer some historical question regardin the 1953 Coup in Iran


Ali P.

Good points!

by Ali P. on

  You have raised good points. The dissolve of parliament indeed was a very unusual action, and cost him much support, even amongst his friends. One branch of government disbanding another branch! It just undermines every  democratic values and every "seperation of powers" principles we hold dear.

 Another thing I have noticed, though Dr. Mossadegh's supporters blamed the CIA and ultimately the U.S. for his downfall, never have I read anywhere he blamed the Americans. He did dislike the British ( or their policies in and towrads Iran) with a passion, but never said an unkind word about the U.S., even after his fall.

 Despite every mistake he might have made, he had the best interest of Iran in heart, and there's hardly any debate over that. 


default

Lets not forget the "terror" that CIA endowed on Iran

by . (not verified) on

Lets not forget the "terror" that CIA endowed on Iran. With a terrorist act, a terrorist kiils may be 10, 100, 1000 or in the case of "9/11", 3000 people. Actions of CIA in 1953 (an agency of US Government) destroyed the life for millions of Iranians. US government is the worst terrorist there is on the face of earth.


jamshid

Mosadegh was a patriot...

by jamshid on

... but a poorly skilled politician. I do not see Mosadegh's era as a true democracy, and Mosadegh as a true democrat, unless someone can successfully resolve the following delima for me:

1. We consider Mosadegh to be a "democratically elected" prime minister. Althoug he was not elected in a national refrundum, he was elected by a "democratically elected" parliament. It was this parliament that gave Dr. Mosadegh his legitimacy and the title of "democratically elected prime minister."

Then later after that same parliament disagreed with Mosadegh on several important issues, Mosadegh ordered the military to shut the parliament closed. The very same parliament that elected him. This is analogous to president Bush ordering the military to shut down the Senate and Congress because its members opposed him.

This rendered Dr. Mosadegh no different than a dictator. The only difference with other Iranian dictators is that his term was short lived and therefore became a fertile ground for romanticizing him and his government. I myself was one of those who romanticized him in the past.

True democracy can only be accomplished only when the institutions of democracy are built and ingrained into the culture and thinking process of the people. Iran was no where near that in 1953.

Nevertheless, I still firmly believe that he was a patriot and he had the best intentions for his people in mind. But based on his actions, I cannot consider his era as a true democracy.


default

A man with a short records....

by Setiz (not verified) on

I have respect for dr. mosaddegh, but I am very suspicious of people with limited performance record being praised simply because they were not in a position to oppress people and mismanage the country. Yes, we should remember Khomeini and his crying wolf that shah was corrupt, oppressor, thief, and murderer; and we all know what happened once he came to full power, only to turn shah into a saint comparatively when we got to know the real face of khomeini. We paid a very high cost for our poor judgment: 29 years of backwardness so far.

So, please at least be cautious when praising a dead man with incomplete record. And let's not forget that, dr. mosaddegh violated the constitutional laws of the land which were in effect at the time, irrespective of if they were good or bad, many times for his own objectives. No offense to dr. mosaddegh, but his lectures from his bed were hardly professional and more like those of fidel castro at the beginning of cuban revolution.