@Fran – IE is incompatible to HTML. I took the “offensing” code out now, you should be fine.

Posted by: b | Jun 13 2005 10:35 utc | 4

James Bill, in his book: The Eagle and the Lion (covering 20’th century Iraq and ’52 coup in particular) detailed part of CIA anti-Mossadeq “ops” was bombing Mosques run by influential clerics of the day, followed by propoganda blaming the incidents on Mossadeq. Iranians knew who was behind these events, but the US newspapers were the real target and it worked: to this day, few americans know what the US did over there. It ended up sowing the seeds of radical Islamic fundamentalism manifest in Khomeni.
Kermit Roosevelt (primary Eisenhour architect of this thing) wrote (boasted, actually) that this “operation” should be a model for future US “interventions”.
Looks to me like these bombings are straight from Roosevelt’s playbook. Actually, looks to me like Iraq invasion was as well.

Posted by: JDMcKay | Jun 13 2005 13:50 utc | 6

Ralph @ June 13, 2005 12:56 PM;
According to USAToday/Reuters, all the usual suspects/opposition groups have condemned the incidents. I found other reference to Roosevelt’s black ops…
(…)recently declassified documents, have revealed further details about the coup. Using money that had been brought into Iran a few months earlier by General Norman Schwarzkopf, Snr, the father of the American commander in the Gulf War, Roosevelt set about buying the support he needed. Bribing the key officers in the police and army, and organizing partisan crowds from the bazaar with the help of British intelligence agents, he instructed them to attack mosques and pull down statues of the Shah While shouting slogans in support of Mossadeq.

hmmm… like deja vu all over again. I’m pretty sure details are in this episode’s archives at Cryptome.
I’m reminded of this Harper’s Cartoon

Posted by: JDMcKay | Jun 13 2005 18:50 utc | 8

scott ritter said the u.s. attacks were signed off to start in june

Posted by: b real | Jun 14 2005 3:07 utc | 10

From Forgotten History:

1953-1979: Iran.
CIA organizes a coup (Operation Ajax) in Iran overthrowing Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The coup installs the Shah’s dictatorship and introduces one of the more totalitarian regimes of the third world. The US concocts an anti-communist story (Mossadeq was a militant nationalist, extremely popular and likewise elected) for the intervention, and the Shah’s SAVAK police proceeded to brutalize, repress, divide, isolate, and torture the Iranian population for a quarter of a century until he was exiled in 1979 by Khomeini’s Islamic republic, which did more of the same. When popular resistance became uncontrollable the Shah fled the country, and the CIA made an unsuccessful attempt to put in his place another military dictatorship.
The support of the Shah helped polarize much of Iranian society against the West. Relations, which began to warm in the 90s, have otherwise remained antagonistic. The recent hex cast upon Iran by George the II probably isn’t helping.
Sources for the following and more at the above link …
The October Surprise
The Seized CIA Documents
PBS timeline of US-Iran relations.
National Security Archives: the Iran Coup
Two reports on CIA training SAVAK in torture.
Human Rights Watch – Iran
Iran – Timeline and further sources here:
1951 NY Times In-depth ( cached )
Iran’s Parliament votes to nationalize the oil industry, and legislators backing the law elect its leading advocate, Dr. Mossadegh, as prime minister. Britain, not happy with the compensation offered for the oil nationalization, responds with threats and sanctions.
1953 NY Times In-depth ( cached )
A CIA covert operation succeeds in overthrowing Iran’s democratic government and installing the Shah as dictator.
1953-1979 Article ( cached )
The CIA, through SAVAK – the Iranian secret police – launchs a reign of terror on the civilian population. In 1976, Amnesty International said SAVAK had the worst human rights record on the planet, their CIA-textbook torture techniques were ‘beyond belief.’
Article ( cached )
After the 1979 revolution, the Iranians find a CIA film made for SAVAK on how to torture women.
1954 NY Times article ( cached )
Iran announces an oil deal with British, French and American oil companies
1979 Lonely Planet Guide ( cached )
Growing opposition to the dictatorship of the Shah causes him to flee, and he is replaced by the leader of the Shah’s opponents, Ayatollah Khomeini, who returns from exile to be greeted by adoring millions. The Ayatollah’s fiery brand of nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism leads to the efficient establishment of a clergy-dominated Islamic Republic, where the USA is styled as the ‘Great Satan’ and Israel fares not much better.
2002 CNN Fact Sheet ( cached )
In Bush’s first State of the Union speech, he includes Iran in what he terms the ‘Axis of Evil’. His answer to why they hate us is that they hate what we stand for – freedom and democracy. Right on Bush.
2003 CNN Transcript ( cached )
In Bush’s State of the Union speech this year he claims ‘Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government, and determine their own destiny, and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom.’. I just hope hes not lining up Iran to give it a second dose of help in this area.

Posted by: Outraged | Jun 14 2005 5:29 utc | 12