Ajax

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must enjoy being in the limelight for the extended period of time that he has been. It's probably not his fault although domestic criticism has escalated in response to his over emphasis and aggressiveness towards America and its ideology (read: capitalism, christianity etc.)

The odd thing is that in Iran, the highest elected official is not the President. Rather, that honor rests with the 'Supreme Leader' - Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and it makes him, in simple words, the most powerful man in the country.

I can't think of another nation that hates America more. I really can't. Iran has repeatedly expressed its disdain, disregard and yes, hatred for America and unarguably deserves that status.

We hear a lot of things about Ahmadinejad. Poor guy, America must hate him so. One of the foremost reasons is certainly the fact that it's impossible for the average (and severely limited) American tongue to pronounce his name.

As if Moo-ham-mud wasn't tough enough for them.

Face it, his name makes John Mccain look like a kid trying to recite that crazy tongue twister that none of us could ever do. That's not all. It seems as if Ahmadinejad is a far cry from the man that did his doctoral studies in civil engineering and made it to the world mayor shortlist during his stint in Teheran. He seems far away from his campaign promises of populism and economic initiative.

Bottom line: Petrodollars have not been managed properly. Growth has stagnated and the usual macroeconomic indicators - unemployment, inflation, GDP are seen as half empty and not half full.

That's not the point. I detest religious extremism to the core and it doesn't matter what the religion is.I have no sympathy for fundamentalists. But there's a reason for this volatile relationship that the two countries share. Everyone loves conspiracy theories and there are more than enough to go around. Some are just downright disrespectful while others are downright truthful.

Operation Ajax is as blatant as it gets.

Madeline Albright, as a holder of that infamous position of US Secretary of State, is most well known for her "the price was worth it" remarks when asked what she thought of the fact that 500,000 Iraqi children may have died as a direct and indirect result of US economic sanctions. This shouldn't disparage her statement in March, 2000 when she said, "In 1953, the United States played a significant role in orchestrating the overthrow of Iran's popular prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. The Dwight D. Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons, but the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development and it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America in their internal affairs. Moreover, during the next quarter century, the United States and the West gave sustained backing to the Shah's regime."

There's no flip side to the narrative. The CIA used one of its most qualified and skilled operatives, Kermit Roosevelt (Teddy's grandson) to organize an overthrowing of the Democratically Elected Iranian government.

Mohammad Mossadeq is still viewed by many as a person who tried to implement unacceptable radical and secular policies. To a majority, arguably, he remains the hero of Third-World Anti-Imperialism. As the Prime Minister of Iran, it seems logical that he acted in the interests of his country and in doing so committed the gravest of errors which led to his downfall and subsequent house arrest till his death in 1967.

The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was created in 1908 and was renamed the Anglo Iranian Oil Company in 1935. Like any multi-national corporation, its focus was undeniably on maximizing its profits and eventually, it led to a conflict with the Iranian government. In 1947, for example, after reporting after tax profits of 40 million pounds, Iran was paid 7 million, little under 18%. Apart from the financial downside, dissent continued to rise as a result of the company's treatment of its local labour.

A Director of Iran's Petroleum institute noted. "Wages were 50 cents a day. There was no vacation pay, no sick leave, no disability compensation. The workers lived in a shanty town called Kaghazabad, or Paper city, without running water or electricity, ... In winter the earth flooded and became a flat, perspiring lake. The mud in town was knee-deep, and ... when the rains subsided, clouds of nipping, small-winged flies rose from the stagnant water to fill the nostrils .... Summer was worse. ... The heat was torrid ... sticky and unrelenting - while the wind and sandstorms shipped off the desert hot as a blower. The dwellings of Kaghazabad, cobbled from rusted oil drums hammered flat, turned into sweltering ovens. ... In every crevice hung the foul, sulfurous stench of burning oil .... in Kaghazad there was nothing - not a tea shop, not a bath, not a single tree. The tiled reflecting pool and shaded central square that were part of every Iranian town, ... were missing here. The unpaved alleyways were emporiums for rats."

Eventually, negotiations resulted in a hostile situation and led to the Abadan Crisis, where foreign countries refused to buy Iranian Oil. Britain was incensed and lobbied hard for American support. Truman found himself in a Catch-22 situation because although he opposed intervention, he needed Britain's support in Korea. Finally, under a new Eisenhower administration, America called in the CIA and worked with Churchill to fund a coup d'etat. Steven Kinzer narrates the details in his book, "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup".

Armed with a swollen budget and the complete backing of the governments of two of the most powerful nations in the world, Kermit Roosevelt did not have to work hard to slowly work his way through process. By bribing members of parliament and parties that formed Mossadeq's coalition, he sowed the initial seeds of unrest. When the coalition started splitting apart, he focused on the media, gaining control of important newspapers, columnists and reporters. By the time he moved onto the religious leaders, the coup was primed for success. Kinzer claims that Roosevelt even hired gangs of criminals to create a sense of lawlessness on the streets of Teheran. After a failed attempt on August 15th, 1953, Roosevelt staged another attempt 4 days later this time succeeding amidst heavy artillery and human casualty. Mossadeq was arrested, the Shah was reinstated and, as every story should have a happy ending, the Shah's did too at the time.

He flew back to Tehran, and a couple of nights later received Kermit Roosevelt on the last night that Roosevelt spent in Iran before returning to Washington. The two of them toasted each other with vodka, and the shah said, “I owe my throne to God, my people, my army, and you.” He was quite right, although he might have gotten the order a little mixed up.

Kermit returned to the Oval Office a hero, future pin-up boy for the American Gestapo and Sesame Street. Okay, poor humour.

Operation Ajax was seen as a HUGE success but it can also be viewed as a HUGE disaster. Until the 1979 revolution, the Shah's regime brutally oppressed any political uprisings and oversaw a disgusting human rights record as Washington turned a blind eye with the odd thumbs up.

Operation Ajax should not justify anything but the least it can do is serve as a reminder that people may forgive but may never forget.

The Anglo-Iranian Oil Company changed its name in 1954, barely a year after the coup.

Till today, it is known as British Petroleum.