In one of the numerous spars during the August 11th Presidential Debate in Iowa, former Senator Rick Santorum went out of his way to prove his arrogance, lack of knowledge on history in general and US foreign policy in particular. (VIDEO AT BOTTOM OF PAGE)

Congressman Ron Paul was asked a question regarding Iran and nuclear weapons. He answered it using common sense, history and freedom as his guide. He spoke on how it is not our place to “allow” or disallow foreign countries to have weapons systems. He brought up the fact that other hostile nations around the globe, many with far more military might than Iran, have nukes and no one seems to mind. China, India, Pakistan and others that surround Iran have nuclear capabilities. The doctor emphasized that it is natural for Iran to want nuclear capabilities, they probably feel like they’d be given more international respect. Paul also brought up that in the 80′s when the Soviets got nuclear weapons, Reagan (the savior of most GOP faithfuls) didn’t initiate war, he spoke with them and ended the cold war tensions without firing a shot. Congressman Paul then went on to say that penalizing Iran by the use of economic sanctions (tariffs, trade barriers and others) is bad policy and that it will make them more hostile towards us, and that anyone who supports economic sanctions are “pretend free traders.”

It was at this point that Santorum could no longer hold his tongue. After capturing the attention of the moderators by waving his hands as if his ship were sinking (prophetically, might I add), he was allowed a rebuttal. He promptly “informed” Ron Paul and the audience that, “Iran is not Iceland,” and that “they have been AT WAR WITH US since 1979.” He further explained how they are a threat to Israel (or America II as many Republicans call it) and how Iran keeps Israelis “up at night.”

After Santourm’s time was up, a rebuttal was given to Congressman Paul. It was at this time that he boldly announced that the Senator was “wrong on his history.” In my opinion, this lesson by Doctor Paul is a perfect example of why he is respected as he is and why his favorability in the polls continues to grow.

THE HISTORY LESSON:
Doctor Paul reminded us that the tensions between the US and Iran goes back much farther than 1979, in fact it goes back to the 1953 Iranian coup d’etat carried out by the CIA in conjunction with MI6 (Britain’s intelligence agency).

In 1951, Iran’s parliament unanimously (and legally) decided to nationalize their booming oil industry. This movement was lead by democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Previously, Iran’s oil had been controlled by British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (which would later transform into British Petroleum Company, one the antecedents of BP, the oil company responsible for the largest oil spill in history). Many in Iran, politicians and citizens alike, saw this control of their resources as British Imperialism. Naturally, Iran’s plans to change the way the oil industry was operated infuriated the Brits and they were unwilling to negotiate or make a compromise. Instead, Britain (a country with far more sway than little Iran) instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil in hopes to economically force them to meet their demands. After two years of growing tensions, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and US President Dwight Eisenhower decided to overthrow Iran’s government so the Brits could have their way. Similar measures had been proposed in 1952, but then-President Harry Truman opposed the idea and it didn’t happen during his administration.

The coup took place between August 15 and 20th, 1953, and was coordinated by CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt, Jr., grandson of US President Teddy Roosevelt. During the operation, CIA reps bribed Iranian government officials, reporters, businessmen and street thugs to support the Shah (the King of the Iranian monarchy) and oppose PM Mosaddegh. They kidnapped Mosaddegh and took him to jail. After removing the democratically-elected leader, a new prime minister was installed: Fazlollah Zahedi was the choosen one. Zahedi was an Iranian general who had been IMPRISONED by the British during WWII for his attempt to establish a pro-Nazi government. Zahedi was given $100,000 before the coup and $5 million the day after the coup (no doubt, our tax dollars). At this time Bahram Shahrokh, a trainee of Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels, became the director of propaganda. Another Nazi supporter, Jafar Sharif-Emami, held various positions following the 1953 coup including Secretary General of the Oil Industry, President of the Senate, and future two-term Prime Minister.

With the coup completed, Western control of Iran’s petroleum had been ensured and the growing Soviet Union was now prevented from competing for Iranian oil. Control of Iran went on for about 25 years when, in 1979, the Council of Revolution of Iran was formed by religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini and led to the Iranian Revolution. This revolution resulted in the overthrow of Iran’s monarchy and replaced it with an Islamic Republic. Khomeini was the first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, after his death in 1989 Ali Hoseyni Khamenei took the role and has been Supreme Leader since. That’s pretty much the history, a country that began as a pro-western, secular monarch with democratic elections was transformed by the actions of the USA and Britain into an anti-western Islamic Republic. Islamic Republics are not to be confused with the type of republic we know and love. An Islamic Republic is a particular form of theocratic government that follows Sharia law, employs a state religion (guess which one) and adopts many socialistic principles in the likes of welfarism.

The blowback from these actions have been incalculable. A whole generation of Iranians were raised in the devisive culture of an Islamic Theocracy knowing full well the history of the coup and that their state sovereignty was taken so uninvited access to their God-given natural resources could be had. We have been feeling and still feel the unintended consequences of this event more than 30 years after the Iranian reaction and Iran will undoubtedly continue to foster resentment until wrongs are righted as best as they can be this late in history.

Now back to the Iowa debate. While Congressman Paul was giving his history lesson to the ill-informed Senator, the cameras showed Santorum shaking his head in disagreement as if shaking his head enough times would erase this history. The fact is, we are responsible for most of the strife in the Middle East and it is time we start to make amends. Stop telling foreign countries what they are “allowed” to do, let them make decisions for themselves and don’t punish them for making decisions that aren’t in the interest of the United States. They are a sovereign nation and need to be able to govern themselves as such. Only when this takes place will we truly have peace in the Middle East.