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Iran- Amnesia, Ignorance and Stupidity

Gary Sudborough | 23.06.2009 17:48 | History | World

What is happening today in Iran is a classic example of a CIA destabilization operation and has absolutely nothing to do with democracy as many even on the so-called left believe. Iran has a lot of oil and its strategic location for US imperialism can simply not be overemphasized.

One can send a dissenting letter to any daily newspaper now on the subject of Iran, or an e-mail to any so-called leftist web site and I can guarantee, they will not publish it. Even in calmer times, I once conducted an experiment where I sent radical letters to nearly all the 1600 daily newspapers in the United States and very few were published. Few Americans realize it, but we have a very sophisticated propaganda system in place in the United States. It rose to great efficiency in World War 1, when most Americans were isolationists and didn't want to fight the Germans in Europe. The Creel Committee was established and some of the best propagandists of the day were hired to fire up the American people for war. One of the most effective propagandists was Edwards Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, who later made smoking popular with American women by clever advertising. Another was Ivy Lee, a propagandist for John D. Rockefeller, who helped him cover up some of the damage from the Ludlow massacre of striking coal miners in Colorado. He advised Mr. Rockefeller to give to charities, etc. These propagandists demonized the Germans by calling them Huns, stated they bayoneted babies and made cartoons depicting them as beasts engaged in all sorts of despicable activities. Also, they used a method called repetition, which they are using now, and is not only used to start wars, but also to propagate CIA activities. It is said that a lie stated often enough becomes the truth. Needless to say, the war propaganda for World War 1 worked well and Americans were clamoring for war and war dissenters were sent to prison or deported.

I wrote an article once called the Drums of War and stated that if the United States went to war with Iran a similar propaganda strategy would be used as that with Iraq. That is that all sorts of unfounded assumptions and lies would be made, similar to those used in Iraq, like weapons of mass destruction, uranium from Niger, demonization of the leadership and that these unfavorable articles and TV pieces would grow from a few to an absolute crescendo. Now, one can't turn on any American TV station without tremendous coverage of the elections in Iran and the US wars of aggression on either side of Iran are completely forgotten. I did read of couple of interesting articles yesterday. One said that American and British oil companies were being invited back into Iraq under very favorable terms- 75% of the profits going to the foreign oil companies and only 25% to the Iraqi people. The smoking gun appears at long last. The other story was about a memo leaked to the Observer newspaper in England that illustrated the war planning for Iraq going on between George W. Bush and Tony Blair in 2003, two months before the war started. In the memo Blair and Bush agreed that if the weapons of mass destruction excuse did not work, that another one would have to be devised like having US planes with UN markings fly over Iraq with the probability they would be shot at by the Iraqis or some other provocation would be used.

Remember when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were openly talking about going to war with Iran? Remember when John McCain was singing his little song to Beach Boys music: Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran. There is a disadvantage, however, in going to war with a country with modern missiles that can hit ships and aircraft carriers. The CIA destabilization program is the cheaper and more effective method. Is there anyone out there with a brain who seriously believes that the United States does not want a change of government in Iran? Is there anyone out there with a brain who doesn' t believe that all sorts of US organizations like the CIA, the National Endowment for Democracy and the Agency for International Development are not involved behind the scenes in organizing and financing these street demonstrations and protests in Iran? One expects propaganda out of the mainstream media, but one can go to leftist site after leftist site and one would think this is all an example of the Iranian people's desperate desire for democracy. Even Michael Moore, who I thought had more sense, is displaying bloodied protesters on his site. If Iranians are attempting to influence other Iranians, I find it ironic that their street signs are in English and not in Farsi. I saw this in another place, Venezuela, where the signs were in English and not Spanish. Also, I remember an article about a Venezuelan student who claimed he was paid a lot of money by Americans to stir up trouble. Hugo Chavez is not a popular man with the American ruling class because he nationalized the oil and is spending a lot of it on the poor.

It would be one thing if CIA interference had never happened before in countries with governments unpopular with the corporate elite in the United States. It has happened many,many times. I guess I will have to go through a bunch of them because as Gore Vidal says: "It is the United States of Amnesia." Possibly it is the United States of Ignorance, as I am not sure if the American people ever knew of these things. In 1953 the CIA overthrew Mossadegh in Iran and brought the Shah and his secret police, the SAVAK. to power. The Shah immediately privatized the oil and invited the western oil companies back into the country. In 1954 the CIA overthrew the democratically elected Arbenz government in Guatemala. In 1973, the CIA overthrew the democratically elected leader of Chile, Salvador Allende, and brought the brutal dictator Pinochet to power, who proceeded to conduct mass executions of leftists. In 1965, Sukarno was overthrown in Indonesia in a CIA coup, which cost the lives of several million of the Indonesian Communist Party. There were CIA coups against Goulart in Brazil and Cheddi Jagan in British Guiana. The CIA played a pivotal role in executing Patrice Lumumba and bringing Mobutu to power in the Congo. Needless to say, Mobutu was a very bloody dictator.

If coups and election tampering didn't work, the CIA had a third option. That was to organize a mercenary army from outside the country. Does anyone remember the Contras and their invasion of Nicaragua? This is not the only example. The United States and South Africa financed two terrorist armies called UNITA and Renamo to invade and destabilize the leftist governments in the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique. Renamo destroyed schools, medical clinics, farm cooperatives and anything which could be considered socialistic in Mozambique. They also cut off arms and legs with machetes so that Mozambique has one of the highest rates of amputees in the world. The death toll in Angola and Mozambique runs into the millions. Of course, this has nothing to do with imperialism. This is so the CIA could bring them democracy. This is evidently what all the geniuses on the left believe about Iran. I'm sure the Pentagon dropped tons of depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan so that it will blow around in the dust storms to bring the Iranian people a better way of life too- some more cancers and deformed babies.

Americans simply can not get it through their thick heads that imperialism, something that has existed for hundreds of years and has example after example, is the real driving force behind US foreign power and not democracy. We don't even have real democracy in the United States. We are under the control of corporations. Just because the ruling class in the United States have found an articulate, intelligent, personable black man to act as President does not mean by any extent that American imperialism has vanished into thin air.



Gary Sudborough
- e-mail: IconoclastGS@aol.com

Comments

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How ignorant can you be?

23.06.2009 22:53

How can you degrade the people's movements on the street and claim that it's all CIA? as if everyone is just the puppet of the CIA?

Who said Mousavi would be soft on the US?

Ahmadinejad being power would give the #US and Israel every excuse to do what they want in the middle east,

you're a so called lefiest who has no RESPECT for people, for people who come on the streets to rist their lives for protest again the violation of their right.

You have no idea about the history/politics of iran, but you think you are so smart and know about all the dirty little tricks of the CIA.

Mousavi for your information is NOT pro- US. is not PRO capitalism, Mousavi was the prime minister in iran for 8 years in during the 8 year iran-iraq war, when the whole west was supporting Saddam to attack iran, where the whole west had placed sanctions on iran so tha they would be able to sell arms to iran 10 times the price (UK did in fact earn more than others), where the west sold chemical warfare to Iraq. So no mousavi is neither pro west nor a capitalist agent. and why is it that supporters of all other candidates went on the streets too? do you suggest that CIA is controlling everyone in Iran?

But my point here is not the candidates, I wanted to bring out your utter ignorance , and condemn your lack of respect for people who risk their lives

and for your information a very similiar thing happened during Khatami, Khatami won the elections and no rigging happened, and NO Iran didn't turn itself into hands of US.

Go read a little bt please

Nima


Neo-Imperialism: Not all in the imagination!

24.06.2009 06:55

"How can you degrade the people's movements on the street and claim that it's all CIA? as if everyone is just the puppet of the CIA?"

As I understand it, the catalyst for the street protests was the claim that election results had been rigged. Other people joined in once that the Mousavi protests started. That doesn't mean they are puppets of the CIA, but the original protests mirro what happened in Kenya - and the branding of the "green revolution" is also in the same mold as other uprisings in countries which the US sought to destabilise.

"You have no idea about the history/politics of iran, but you think you are so smart and know about all the dirty little tricks of the CIA."

And I'm not certain that your version of events is to be trusted. You are right that there is insufficient understanding of Iran's internal politics in the West, but there is plenty of evidence that the Western power bloc interferes in countries where it cannot control the elected representatives of the people - and also that the Western power bloc only selectively supports democracy,freedom and human rights. A respectful stance by westerners would be to allow the people of Iran to resolve the matter without outside influence. We have no reason to suspect that our leaders have pure m otivations in any intervention that they make.

"Go read a little bt please"

I've tried - theres stuff coming at us from all angles, and no way of knowibng what to trust. If we should be doing anything it should be fighting the sanctions which the West are using to destabilise Iran and to punish the poorest members of that society.

not Gary Sudborough


Long live Freedom, Long live equality , down to Islamic rules

24.06.2009 09:26



The facts about uprising of the Iranian people against brutal and anti-women Islamic rules.

1. Majority of people in Iran are seeking the real change.
2. They seek better life with no fear of Islamic rules, the rules that oppresses women and the main enemy of civil liberty and civil right.
3. Islamic regime during the last 30 years has executed more than 100,000 Left activist and freedom lovers and thousand women been killed by stoning in public.
4. Election and its fraudulence result is just a tool to show people’s anger against the whole tyrant and barbaric Islamic regime.
5. If youth and people do not rise their own flag, the flag of revolution to change the whole regime, their 30 years of struggle against political islam, their daily fight and their energy will be hijacked by one wing of the regime.
6. People’s demand are: Secularism, Freedom with no conditions, free all political prisoners, equal right for women, End the forced hejab law, freedom of organisation for workers.
7. People should change their slogan to [ down to the Islamic regime] [ no to hejab ] [ freedom and social justice] [ full employment and rise of minimum wage]

Long live Freedom, Long live equality , down to Islamic rules , long live civil liberty and civil right

There is a daily struggle by workers and progressive activist for recognition of the Workers rights,– Justice for Iranian workers – to include the human rights of all Iranians who have been deprived of their rights.


 http://www.workers-iran.org/

BetterLife@BetterWorld
mail e-mail: kawah2000@gmail.com
- Homepage: http://betterLife@BetterWorld.com


not Gary Sudborough

25.06.2009 01:59

"As I understand it, the catalyst for the street protests was the claim that election results had been rigged. Other people joined in once that the Mousavi protests started. That doesn't mean they are puppets of the CIA, but the original protests mirro what happened in Kenya - and the branding of the "green revolution" is also in the same mold as other uprisings in countries which the US sought to destabilise."

That is exactly why you need to read more about Iranian politics, not all those people who voted mousavi, voted him because they believed a he would bring them what they need. There's a constant "state Vs People" power struggle in Iran. Whose who voted Mousavi , in the same manner that they voted Khatami" have recognised that they need to gain more influence within this power struggle. Those who did not vote believed that there would not be chance. you must notice that 85% voted as opposed to 55% last time. This is certainly a sign of protest. Certainly a sign that people believed they would be able to gain more share within this power struggle by voting mousavi who like Khatami managed to recognise between people and the state. Why is that list time that Khatami won with 21 million votes the country wasn't destabilized? Why is it that US did not ened up ruling the country? Why wasn't that a CIA coup?

The Regime has recognised that every step forward by the people will get them closer to their emancipatory goals. This time the regime did not risk 8 years of reformists.


"A respectful stance by westerners would be to allow the people of Iran to resolve the matter without outside influence. We have no reason to suspect that our leaders have pure m otivations in any intervention that they make." If we should be doing anything it should be fighting the sanctions which the West are using to destabilise Iran and to punish the poorest members of that society."

I agree there that economical sanctions will only weaken the people and make it easier for the regime to suppress the opposition. However not recognising the coup govornment in my opinion may be helpful. This is not to suggest that the west does not selectively support democracy. you can compare their strategy towards Egypt and Saudi Arabia. But nevertheless the main objective should be that at least the people in the west (and not the govornments) must realise the emancipatory nature of the Iranian movement. Your view on Iran is an orientalist one that believes that Iranian people cannot be politically mateur enough to organise emancipatory movements and thus they must have been led by the CIA. Iran had experienced 2 revolutions in the past century, the history of such emancipatory movements goes a long way in Iran, and the Only cases that the CIA has been envolved, they have acted to destabilse democracy in Iran and not the vice versa.

I am not denying that the CIA would engage in such actions arounf the world, but I encourage the left to study more of Iranian history, culture and politics and finally to respect the emacipatory movements without degrading people to CIA agents.

 http://www.thecommentfactory.com/why-are-the-iranians-dreaming-again-2252
 http://itself.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/will-the-cat-above-the-precipice-fall-down/

Nima Barazandeh
mail e-mail: nimaria@gmail.com


@Nima, CIA

25.06.2009 13:05

>Your view on Iran is an orientalist one that believes that Iranian people cannot be politically mateur enough to organise emancipatory movements and thus they must have been led by the CIA.

No, I don't think anyone here is saying or thinking that, quite the reverse. The CIA overthrew a democratic Iranian government and installed a puppet monarch, who ruled so brutally that the people revolted. The Islamists were able to exclude the other dissidents from government since then. Please corrrect me if I'm wrong about that, but it indicates Iran have a better chance of democracy when the CIA aren't involved.

The CIA have been involved there for the past few years though, heavily pumping money, guns and comms equipment into virtually every group opposed to the regime. We know that from US sources. That doesn't make the Iranian opposition invalid, or puppets, and that certainly doesn't mean we should support the regime, but it does mean Iranians need to be very careful not to be pawns in the CIA game, and it makes some of us suspicious of news from there. This policy of destabilisation is the neo-cons friendlier strategy, quite a lot of them just wanted to bomb the fuck out Iran, they do not have your best interests at heart. Where the CIA have funded similar movements in other countries, some of the revolutions have failed completely and led to mass repression, while others succeeded haven't brought about serious social and political advances.

Danny