Iran's Strong Hatred Towards Foreigners example essay topic

In the novel All The Shah's Men we are introduced to Iran, and the many struggles and hardships associated with the history of this troubled country. The Iranian coup is discussed in depth throughout the novel, and whether the Untied States made the right decision to enter into Iran and provide assistance with the British. If I were to travel back to 1952 and take a position in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for the sole purpose of examining the American Foreign Intelligence, I would have to conclude that the United States should have examined their options more thoroughly, and decided not to intervene with Iran and Mossadegh. I have taken this position after great analysis, which is something that Eisenhower and his staff never did. By discussing the history of Iran, the Anglo-Iranian oil company, and Document NSC-68 I will try to prove once and for all that going through with the coup in Iran was a terrible mistake made by the United States. There were many aspects concerning the history of Iran that showed that the coup was a bad idea.

The role of religion played a very influential part in the history of Iran. Many people living in Iran still to this day believe in the Zoroastrian religion. The beliefs associated with this religion may account for many of the uprisings and political protests aimed at the Shah and his power. This religion taught Iranians that they "have an inalienable right to enlightened leadership and that the duty of subjects is not simply to obey wise kings but also to rise up against those who are wicked" (20). Many thought that the Shah was a terrible leader, and that he would continue to sell out his country to foreigners for the right amount of money. I believe that Mossadegh also believed this, and that he used this Zoroastrian belief to do so.

The Shah did not have farr, because he did not act or behave morally. Even Shiism, which came about long after the religion of Zoroastrian, believes that rulers may hold the power of a country only as long as they are just. By looking over the history of Iranian religion, this alone should have set of alarms in the government that this coup may not be the right way to get Mossadegh out of power. Not only did the religious history play a large role in Iran's beliefs but also foreign invaders have been imposing their power on the Iranian region for thousands of years. Iran's strong hatred towards foreigners began around 626 A.D. after the passing of their greatest leaders, Cyrus and Darius. Iran was now unprotected, and a new power came into being.

The Arabs invaded and the quality of life changed. "People fell into poverty as the greedy court imposed ever-increasing taxes. Tyranny tore apart the social contract between ruler and ruled that Zoroastrian doctrine holds to be the basis of organized life" (21). The Iranian people couldn't survive with a ruler who had no sympathy or respect for them.

Their life was being over run by foreigners. This type of suffering also occurred in 1722 with the Afghan tribesmen and yet again during the late eighteenth century and lasted until 1925. The Qajars, a Turkic tribe that was established near the Caspian Sea, conquered Iran this time. The kings who ruled under the Qajars Empire also were mainly responsible for the country's poverty and resistance to modernity. The only difference between the Qajars and the Arabs is that now the people of Iran were not going to sit back and let these kings give foreigner powers the right to their country. The Qajars had "lost their right to rule, their farr.

Armed with Shiite principle that endows the ordinary citizen with inherent power to overthrow despotism... Iranians rebelled in a way their forefathers never had" (28). Although the British and Russia never actually invaded Iran, I believe that the pull that they had on the country through all of their property, and industry that they owned including people (who they could influence) in some ways related to invading and conquering another country To me these descriptions have a lot of similarities to life during the Shah's rule. The people of Iran are just becoming more aggressive and aggravated. The United States should have realized this increasing hatred for foreign powers and opted out of the coup while they still had the chance. Mossadegh was just doing what every other Iranian wanted to do, but was too afraid to do it.

The last major factor that if noticed would have prompted the United States to withdraw from engaging in the coup with the British, and cooperating with the Shah concerns the ongoing struggle Iran faces with its corrupt leaders. After the people of Iran took back their land for the foreign conquerors, they then had to face and rise up against a number of rulers who is some aspects were even worse than the foreign invaders. One such man was Nasir al-Din Shah who. ".. sold government jobs, imposed oppressive taxes, and confiscated the fortunes of wealthy merchants. When there was no money left for him to take, he came up with the idea of raising cash by selling Iran's patrimony to foreign companies and governments" (31). Many followed after Nasir including his son, Muzzaffar, who basically in my opinion sold everything that the country had in value, oil. Many descendants of Muzzaffar continued to rule after him, and although the Iranian people eventually were able to nationalize some industries, the oil belonged to the British.

This is really where all of the conflict begins concerning the oil, and the hatred that Iranians have for foreign powers, especially the British. Through reading about the Shah I have came to the conclusion that he is no different from these past dictators. The United States government should have looked into the past and took into account why actually the people of Iran possess so much hatred for the Shah, and especially what he embodies. Most of the content in this novel, and my central argument for why the United States never should have went through with the coup concerns the Anglo-Iranian oil company.

The conflict centers around two conflicting views. The British feel that they bought the rights and that it is in the contract that they have possession of the oil for 60 years. The Iranian citizens however, strongly led by Mossadegh feel that they have been cheated and wish to nationalize the oil industry. This would allow the country to return to the riches that almost everyone experienced during the height of the Persian Empire.

The people of Iran know that a peaceful agreement will not happen, so they would be happy with owning just a portion of the industry, and receiving the proper amount of compensation for all of the years that the British cheated Iran out of money, and profits. There is no agreement so Mossadegh decides to start a revolution and tries to nationalize the oil industry without any proper agreement. This is eventually what leads the British wishing to overthrow Mossadegh, and needing the United State's help to pull it off. There are many reasons that at the time seemed like the perfect excuses for involving the Untied States in the coup. The biggest reason being that the Untied States at the time was terrified of allowing Iran to develop into a communist country.

We were at war with Korea over communism, and had already lost China because the United States didn't put their fist down. The problem with this fear of communism is that the British actually played off of that fear of communism, when the British's only real concern was keeping the oil rights. One mistake was appointing the Dulles brothers, CIA director, and Secretary of State. Who because of their strong beliefs against communism couldn't see the issue with Iran any other way, but that Mossadegh was communist inspired. They helped to turn President Eisenhower in favor of the coup, even though at first he sympathized with Mossadegh and the Iranian people. "The Dulles brothers had developed an excellent sense of how to bring their boss around to thinking" (159).

Not only was President Eisenhower sort of forced into approving the coup to a certain extent by the Dulles brothers but also by the British government. The British helped us and were supportive of our decision to go into Korea, and now they wanted our help and support in Iran. Great Britain was also considered our allies and the United States formed NATO for the soul purpose of helping out allies who needed support financially, or with your country's military. I just feel that the coup, although it seemed to have many advantages was a mistake. The British appointed an inadequate Foreign Secretary who had no previous experience and had no business being one of the main components in trying to solve this conflict. The British had plenty of chances to cooperate with Mossadegh and the Iranian people.

On numerous occasions the United States even proposed to be the mediator to sort out the agreement between the two nations. This even went as far as President Truman numerous times urging the two nations, especially Great Britain to make a deal. I don't even understand how the British couldn't compromise when they were trying to do the same thing at home. Former Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin recalls, "what argument can I advance against anyone claiming the right to nationalize the resources of their country?

We are doing the same thing here [Great Britain]... ". (89). Finally although after the coup we did get a small stake in the oil, it was just the wrong decision made on the part of the United States.

We had the respect of the Iranian people, including Mossadegh himself, and I truly feel that there were a lot of similar feelings that were spilling over from WWII, the fall of China to communism, and Korea. The Document NSC-68 played a major part in the United States decision to go ahead with the coup. We, the United States, had to take a stance of leadership concerning the problem in Iran, because we could not allow a weaker nation to fall into the hands of the powerful Soviet Union. The United States has the position of power at the center of the free world and we have to develop Iran into a stable pro-ally country so that we can continue to build up a strong resistance against the Soviet Union.

The United States will not allow another incident like in China, where there was not enough guidance, and the Soviet Union pulled it into its grasp. The success in Iran would help in the build-up of the economic, political, and military strength of the free world. We could not afford to lose the ally bases in Iran, and if Iran were to fall, there it is very likely that there would be a "Domino Effect" in which the surround countries of the region would also succumb to communism. I know that we couldn't just let Iran run free and possibly fall into the Soviet control, but I just feel that there were better options that the United States could have taken, instead of the coup. Instead of rushing into the coup like the Unite States did, it should have sat down, and laid out all of the possible options, and then chose the best course of action. In All The Shah's Men there seems to be a very strong hatred for all foreign powers, including the United States, taken by the citizens of Iran.

I believe that this ultimately occurred because of the impatience of certain government officials in Washington D.C., and also in Great Britain. If only there could have been better communication between countries, I feel that there would have been a solution reached. The stubbornness of the British for the most part, led to many lives being lost, and a feeling of perpetual disgust being shown towards the United States for their involvement. Although the British were our allies and we did have an extreme fear of communism taking over the free world, this coup was disorganized, forced along too quickly, and put forth without any guidance or strong evidence, which in the end proved to completely defy what the United States was trying to impose on the world, and what Mossadegh was trying to give his people; freedom and democracy.