A WEEKEND IN THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE’S PASTOR

September 11, 2015 by Herbert Daughtry

FROM  THE GRADUATION OF DAYCARE CHILDREN TO THE CRUCIAL VOTE ON THE IRAN AGREEMENT

Part Eight

President Barack Obama got his 41Senate votes, which makes a veto unnecessary. Democratic U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Gary Peters of Michigan, and Ron Wyden of Oregon declared Tuesday, September 8, 2015 that they will vote for the Iran Deal. It is considered a victory for President Obama.

—–

Significantly, several of the nations with nuclear weapons are in constant tension with their neighbors: Pakistan and India, North Korea and South Korea, and Israel with Middle Eastern nations. Given the greed, arrogance, and distrust among world leaders, and their agreements with hosting countries and alliances, anything could start a conflict that could escalate to a nuclear war.

Another point: Israel has nuclear weapons. It’s strange that I have not heard it mentioned in the Iran Deal. It is also reported that Israel had assisted South Africa in the development of nuclear weapons, and that a part of the deal for Mr. Nelson Mandela’s release and the African National Congress (ANC) becoming the party in power ,with Mr. Mandela as the president, was the elimination of nuclear weapons.

On the question of the dishonesty and treachery of governments, I smile and shake my head when I hear the opponents of the Iran Deal express distrust of Iran’s intention. Consider this bit of history. It’s another important piece of information I have not heard mentioned in the Iran debate. The 1953 Iranian coup d’état, known in Iran as the 28 Mordad coup, was the overthrow of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh on August 19, 1953, orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name “Operation Boot”) and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project).

Mr. Mossadegh had sought to audit the books of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), a British corporation (now BP) and to change the terms of the company’s access to Iranian petroleum reserves. Because the AIOC rejected or refused to cooperate with the Iranian government, the parliament (Majlis) voted to nationalize the assets of the company and expel their representatives from the country.

After the coup, a new government under General Fazlollah Zahedi was formed and Mohammad-Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran (Persian king) would rule the country more firmly as a monarch. He relied almost completely on the USA to support him until his own overthrow in February 1979.

After the nationalization of the oil, Britain and the USA, during the

Winston Churchill and the Eisenhower administration, agreed to overthrow Iran’s government. Significantly, President Harry S. Truman, who preceded President Dwight Eisenhower, opposed the coup. Classified documents from British intelligence service and the CIA revealed their treachery.  The AIOC contributed $25,000 towards bribing officials.

At first, it seemed that the coup would fail. The Shah fled the country. On August 19, 1953, a pro-Shah mob, paid by the CIA, marched on Mosaddegh’s residence. Some of the most feared mobsters in Tehran were hired by the CIA to stage a pro-Shah riot on August 19, 1953. Others were brought  from other countries in buses and trucks, and took over the streets of the city. (Years later, poetic justice came to play as millions of Iranians marched in the streets to overthrow the Shah.)

Between 300 and 800 people were killed because of the conflict. Mosaddegh was arrested, tried and convicted of treason by the Shah’s military court. For 26 years, the Shah ruled. For its efforts, the USA shared Iran’s oil wealth. A supply of arms had to be sent as unpopularity for the Shah increased. Not even the Shah’s CIA-trained secret police force could hold back the people’s movement. It is believed that the Coup of 1953 substantially contributed to anti-American and anti-British sentiments in Iran and in the Middle East. When the Shah was deposed, an anti-Western theocracy took place. The Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile to lead the country.

The hatred for the U.S. manifested itself in the capture of the American Embassy and the taking of hostages, which eventually denied President James Carter a second term. Recently, when President Carter was asked if he had any regrets, he said he wished he had sent more helicopters to rescue the hostages, implying that had he done that he would have been elected for a second term. (I wonder if President Bush thought he might duplicate in Iraq what President Eisenhower did in Iran. The difference, of course, is that President Bush overtly used the American military force under the guise of Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.)

The next time opponents of the Iran Deal raise the question of Iranians’ trustworthiness, remember 1953 and the coup that brought down Iranian’s democratically-elected leader and USA’s reaping the benefits from oil-sharing with its partner-in-crime, the UK.  Remember, it is primarily the religious leaders in Iran who opposed the Iran Deal, and it was the Ayatollah Ruhollah Moosavi Khomeini, the supreme religious leader, who was exiled because of the treachery of the USA and Britain.

During that time, I chaired the Black United Front (BUF). We criticized the U.S. government’s nefarious involvement in Iran. We held many demonstrations, workshops, and seminars to inform the American people what its government had done and was doing in Iran. We demanded peace and justice for the people of Iran.

Additionally, let’s not forget that in the years of war between Iraq and Iran, the U.S. government supported Iraq. Let us remember, before 1947, there was no modern state of Israel. Does anyone believe that the Palestinians just decided one day to leave their lands and homes of which they had occupied for years, and graciously give them to the Israelis? The point is: When the question of distrust, betrayal, chicanery, and terrorists tactics and alliances are put forth, where are the nations which will plead not guilty?

Nations, people, the weather, etc. — everything changes. Yesterday’s enemies are today’s friends. And, if history holds true: friends today might be enemies tomorrow.

… to be continued.