The Oil Kings. (About Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah of Iran)

[Democrats_win]

The Oil Kings: How the U.S., Iran, and Saudi Arabia Changed the Balance of Power in the Middle East by Andrew Scott Cooper
This recent book describes the secret deals between Nixon and the Shah of Iran to raise oil prices and sell the Shah weapons. The Nixon doctrine meant that the U.S. would prop up strong men like the Shah or Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines to act as "gladiators" working for the interests of the U.S. In the end, the U.S. worked for the interests of the "gladiators" often to the detriment of our interests!

In order to make the Shah stronger, Nixon agreed to allow the Shah to raise oil prices. The result was devastating to the economies of America and our allies. There was even worry that European banks might collapse. Yet Nixon and Kissinger were more concerned about the Shah than the millions of Americans who lost good blue-collar jobs in the early 70s. The Shah spent his money foolishly on weapons and development that drove extreme inflation in Iran. This was before the 1973 Arab Oil embargo which further harmed western economies. Luckily, the Shah did not participate in the embargo but following, he continued to lead OPEC in raising prices.

The book reminds us why Nixon was considered such a bad president. Just think, Nixon's strong suit was supposedly foreign policy. Yet with the Shah, he created a disaster for our country. In fact some of his Watergate troubles even affected his decisions regarding Iran. For example he appointed the head of the CIA as the ambassador to Iran in order to get him out of the country because he knew too much about Nixon's Watergate "hush" money.

Nixon and Kissinger put so much into the Shah, who was becoming very ill with cancer and later lost Iran to revolution.

Check out Amazon for more reviews of this interesting book.

http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Kings-Arabia-Changed-Balance/dp/1439155178

[raccoon]

1. Might be worth looking into. nt