WaitingFor2020
Gold Member
- Thread starter
- Banned
- #21
Then Reagan came in, took credit for the hostage release and sold weapons to Iran, yea yea, we remember.All this time I thought it was the Iranian people who exiled the Shah --- now we definitely had a hand in putting him in power back in '53 --- but those were good old days, when we could pick and choose who we wanted to be leaders of other countries.This crappy Middle East policy is not new at all. If the US INSISTS on choosing allies in a bad neighborhood, then we are gonna look bad. ALL THE WAY back to 1970s. When Carter decided to remove the Shah of Iran.
This is just the blowback from our constant meddling and insistence on exerting our will on countries that don't share our values or process. We apparently never learn. Where where you when Arab Spring turned into Arab Apocalypse? Where were you when MILLIONS of refugees were fleeing Syria and we didn't have a coherent policy for stabilizing the situation?
This is just more partisan hypocrisy. If you're not willing to sit back and watch the normal amount of carnage and instability in the Arab world --- you're gonna have to choose some sides. And the choices are not very good.
BenDog just laid that out.
So -- what's YOUR solution 2020? Oh -- that's right. YOU DONT DO SOLUTIONS. You just badger and whine and get tied up in your constant partisan hypocrisy... No conversation here if YOU don't have the list of policies that we should apply to the Mid East..
Actually, Jimmy Carter was the 1st US prez to take a state visit to Iran. Toasted to the monumental reforms that the Shah was making on "secularizing" the social policies and strengthening the economy. That was enough to piss off the religious nuts and within a couple years -- civil conflict broke out. All the support that the Shah had from US vanished because Brezinsky and Vance were split over support of the Shah or trying to reason with what THEY THOUGHT were liberals in the revolt. Carter didn't act or decide or take a side. And by our WITHDRAWAL of support, and lip service to the revolution and mixed messages, we ENCOURAGED the revolt.
If not that the rumors are correct and the CIA sided with Vance to support the insurrection..
We're involved when we interfere and tilt the natural preferences in that region. We can't "win" anything without supporting "bad guys". So there's some choices to make that don't involve finger-pointing and hypocritical partisan taunting.
Make them. Don't argue over political points.
Speaking of the American hostages in Iran.... My cousin was one of them. He was a military attache'. So he got beat up pretty badly and on a regular basis.
He and the other 52 hostages settled with the feds a couple of years ago. He received something like $4M+
He's putting everybody's kid in his neighborhood through college.
.
.