"All the Shah's Men". This seems particularly pertinent these days.

[pinto]

"All the Shah's Men"
by Stephen Kinzer

Copyright @ 2003 by Stephen Kinzer
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

from the cover fly leaf

"Half a century ago, the United States overthrew a Middle Eastern government for the first time. The victim was Mohammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran. Although the coup seemed a success at first, today it serves as a chilling lesson about the dangers of foreign intervention."

Cover comments

"Stephen Kinzer's brilliant reconstruction of the Iranian coup is made even more fascinating by the fact that it is true. It is a gripping thriller, and also tells much about why the United States is involved in places like Afghanistan and Iraq today." - Gore Vidal

"Remarkable, readable and relevant...All the Shah's Men not only reads as an exciting, page-turning spy novel, it deals with the hard issues of today." - Senator Richard Lugar, Senate Foreign Relations Committee

"A well-researched object lesson in the dismal folly of so-called nation building. British and American readers of today should blush with shame." - John le Carre


My comments.

This is a great read. The relationships between Churchill, Eisenhower, the Dulles brothers, the oil companies, the Shah and the central character, Mossadegh, are resonant of our Middle Eastern policies, even today.

[Totally Committed]

1. I read it, and I agree with you... this is a great read, and now

maybe even a necessary read. To understand where the ME is now, and how we inserted ourselves there, you'd have to read this book to get a complete picture. Seeing that most of this nation's National Security problems begin in the ME, it is necessary to realize we are just reaping what has been sown.

TC

[MADem]

2. A little tale about Kermit, not the Frog's efforts over there

When they did the big rally to get the people to rise up and demand the return of Shah after he hotfooted it to Rome, the See Aye Eh rented a shitload of Orange and Blue taxis in the south. They paid everyone who got into one (headed for the protest site) a crisp American dollar. The south of the city, FWIW, is where the slums are and the poor live...

There are pictures in sequestered archives that show crowd members waving their dollars as they cheer on behalf of Shah....

[Lisa]

3. a terrific book ....

An Iranian friend of mine, who was there at the time (and a relative of the deposed PM), has given it a thumbs-up. He added that it was a refreshing surprise to see a book about Iran, by an American, which delved into the story and did not try to whitewash the CIA's motives.