PAHLAVI

unpopular Islam (to KavehV)

Mr. KavehV, although I more than actively participated in removal of Pahlavis from power ... I wasn't an Islamist. I wasn't an Islamist when it was popular in Iran .... and I wasn't an Islamist when Islam was popular with Americans during the Afghan war and before 9/11.
I proudly participated in bringing down Pahlavis and many of the corrupt people clustered around them. The revolution was hijacked and corruption took over again, ..., but the monarchy, hezAr fAmil, and the foreign controlled arrogance had to go away ...

Old technique for naive idiots of pre-79

Here is a typical Islamist Islam-promoting (brainwashing) technique:

"I am not going to translate that (*), but that very well explains in a nutshell why a mighty superpower such as the U.S is in such a terrible shape ... that explains why Israelis havn't seen peace ... and that explains why NON_"Islamists" such as myself wanted Pahlavies gone ... "

Has anyone noticed how ? It reminds me of the pre-79 time. Here it goes:

Quran has all the answers, if you read just this one secret line in Arabic (that I am not going to translate!), you will find the reason for many ills in the world, i.e. why the mighty US superpower is in terrible shape, why Israelis don't have peace, Pahlavis are bad etc. etc.

Of course with the added assurance, now-a-days, that Islam is unpopular: "oh , btw, I am not even an Islamist".

attacking "the Islamist"!!?

When I was going through the comments I couldn't ignore all the rage of fanatics against Mammad! Fanatics ranging from our local extremist Zionist (uncle Fred) to the old timer monarchists.
My fellow right wing fanatic of all verities, Let me tell you something plain and simple .... I couldn't care less about Islam and Isralm's prophet ... BUT they attribute something to him that I like: "al_molko_yaggA_mal_kofr_va_la_yaggA_magal_zolm" (Arabic),
I am not going to translate that (*), but that very well explains in a nutshell why a mighty superpower such as the U.S is in such a terrible shape ... that explains why Israelis havn't seen peace ... and that explains why NON_"Islamists" such as myself wanted Pahlavies gone ...

*Mammad please translate that, as I know you do better than me.

jeeez

I have never seen so much hatred for a guy who has never hurt Iran before. jeez, i dont even know y RP even tries, you guys are crazy.

cycle....

For the sake of completeness, I should add that as a little child I remember my grandparent's howz that I was always so afraid of since it was so green with algae that the bottom of the howz was not visible and I always thought that this water was bottomless. I was puzzled and would not go near the howz in the fear of falling into this dirty water. And that was the water that was used for everything, from islamic "vozoo" to washing dishes, etc. The water was changed only about once a month, sometime longer since the howz had gold fishes and they would not change the water when fish were breeding in fear of losing the fish eggs or the little fishes. Later on I realized that the howz actually had a dent built in at the bottom to collect the fish eggs and provide a safe area for little fishes when it was being drained.

anonymous misha: No wonder,

anonymous misha: No wonder, we are where we are. Incredible!!! Thanks for the info.

cycle...

You said:

A friend's grandmother used to tell us how people used to wash their dishes in the howz and drink water from the same howz, there was also no sewege system, or asphalt roads.

Ohhhhh! Your friend's grandmother did NOT tell you the full story my friend. Washing dishes and drinking from the same Howz was for chic ones! In towns with religious mentality, they would bathe (islamic "ghosl") in the "same" howz before saying the daily prayers. And for ultra-religious, men and women would rinse their bottoms in the howz after a major toilet job. I am serious about this although it is so unbelievable for us, and this was only a generation ago, the generation of your and my grand parents.

Yes, these were the types of people the shah had at his disposal to educate and progress the country, only to bite his hands the minute that they could.

from another

from another blog:

بالاخره از نظر تاریخی بعد از 30 سال می توان

درباره انقلاب ایران در سال 57 بهتر قضاوت کرد. نالازم ترین انقلاب تاریخی، که طی آن 36 میلیون نفر دست به خودکشی

اجتماعی زدند و عده ای اراذل و اوباش از لایه های پست اجتماع را به سرکردگی فردی متحجر و بی رحم بر مسند قدرتی نشاندند که دیگر پایین آوردن این افراد کاری بس ناممکن خواهد بود. ایران رو به ویرانی محتومی است. تنها با نگاهی به سه وزیر کشور متوالی در دولت ایران و سوابق هریک بهترین شاخص از احوال حکومت و سقوط اجتماعی به دست می آید. اولی (پورمحمدی) متهم به شرکت در قتل عام 67 و قتل های زنجیره ای (قاتل). دومی (کردان) متهم به جرایم اخلاقی، اختلاس و جعل (ازاله بکارت، حیف و میل در صدا و سیما، جعل مدرک!) و آخری محصولی متهم به زد و بند مالی و دزدی از بیت المال (درآمد صدها میلیارد تومان طی سالهای بعد از جنگ با قراردادهای رانتی)!
این است سرنوشت مردمی که چراغ عقل را خاموش کنند، و اراذل را به رهبری خویش برگزینند. در خصوص آزادی اندیشه در این حکومت از سردار صفار هرندی که جزیی از دسیسه گران کیهانی است و در زمینه چینی حذف روشنفکران و هنرمندان ید طولایی دارد چه می توان انتظار داشت؟ آدمی که می گوید "تامین باور و اعتقاد مردم از نان شب آنها مهمتر است" و عملا به تفتیش عقاید صورت رسمی می دهد. چه انتظاری از انقلابی که امام آن "خمینی" بود و رهبر معظم فرزانه اش "خامنه ای" است، می توان داشت؟

I would add plumbing, swere

I would add plumbing, swere system, electricity, transportation and so many other infrastuctures that were non-existant before the Pahlavis.

A friend's grandmother used to tell us how people used to wash their dishes in the howz and drink water from the same howz, there was also no sewege system, or asphalt roads. If it weren't for the Pahalvis, most of these so-called intellectuals will be living in mud brickhouses working as farmers to make ends meet instead of being able to go abroad and become "revolutionaries" who turn against him.

Mullahs are the best thing that has ever happened to Iran. Iranians don't deserve any better. I hope the mullahs rule the Iranian sheeple for the next 100 years.

Artful islamic twist and half truth...

Mammad said:

The Revolution was legitimate because it had legitimate economic, political, and cultural reasons.

Good definition for if a revolution is legitimate. BUT you forgot to mention that all those reasons were based on (1) fraud, (2) lies about better future, (3) total lack of understanding that the promised land did not exist anywhere in the world (from free speech to free water, electricity, bus service), let alone iran, (4) total abuse of iranian culture and religion, and (5) total lack of understanding of iranian society and the kind of thugs that we had amongst us, specially those with crocodile tears when complaining about shah. Revolutionaries all participated in the revolution, not for a better country, but to get an upper hand in the new system.

Maybe you should review khomeini's lectures one more time, maybe this time you finally "get" it that he said nothing with a shred of truth. Revolution was based on nothing but deceit and lies, and as such, per your own definition of a legitimate revolution was as illegitimate as it could get.

No matter how much lipstick you place on this pig's lips, it is still the ugliest pig ever.

Amazing: Islamists take credit for achievments of pahlavis

IRI has little to show on its own for 30 years of domination and colonization of iran. Islam has far less to show for 1400 years of colonization and cultural insult of iranians.

That is why, islamists hang on to legacies and achievements of pahlavis or its natural growth to muddy the waters. They have nothing else to show.

Isn't that ironic that the top three universities in iran were founded by pahlavis.

Isn't that ironic the participation of girls in education and job market originated by pahlavis, when they required girls to attend school despite clergy opposition -- remember throwing acid on the face of hejab-less girls during shah's regime.

The film industry established during pahlavis. Obtaining prizes (like that of film Gaav) is also a legacy of pahlavis.

Airport, roads, railroads, banking system, modern army, ... and on and on, are all legacies of pahlavis that we then did not care about but today the iranians within see everyday in front of their eyes.

IRI has nothing to show, except for destructions, raping of young girls, torture of the yout, executions, legalized prostitution, rampant bribery, and looting of the country. Nothing, zilch, zero.

That is why islamists want to take credit for what pahlavis did. Those IRI incompetent idiots could not even finish the half-finished reactor in 30 years, or drill an oil well, or build a tiny refinery for internal gasoline use. They are leeches riding on legacies of the previous regime, sucking iranian blood and getting fatter and fatter day by day.

The uni-"us"

If you don’t see the hypocrisy in condemning someone for allegedly benefiting from a $7 mil donation while you personally are, per your own statement, a beneficiary of the very same $7 mil, then more power to your Islamist power of observation.

 As soon as you come up with a valid power of attorney listing all the “us” in your “just tell us”, I will consider your request, till then try to speak on your own behalf.

The rest of your tirade is just that usual Islamist venom. For as long as you advocate nuke for your fellow Islamists enslaving Iran I will call attention to your hypocrisies, get used to it Haji.

Mammad: Enough

Mammad: Enough self-aggrandizing! Your degrees and certificats are as good as Bush's MBA degree from Yale.

If your comments are any indication of your so-called expertise, I must inform you dear professor, you need to get a refund from your alma mater.

Fred

You are in top form again. 

Let's see who is clueless. I, a man who expresses his opinion with utmost clarity, and is always consistent in what he says (regardless of how popular or unpopular his positions may be), or you, who without having a iota of qualification, or even a crude rationale (aside from your personal grudge, the roots of which is unknown to me), constantly tries to find some "dirt" to throw at me (and bragging about it), while pretending that "this is not personal"?

As I have said many times, you are not my peer when it comes to my work as a professional - regardless of how bad or good I might be. So, whatever you say is nothing but deafening shouting. But, if it is not personal as you claim, then what was the reason for your last comment to which I responded? What is the reason for you to brag about knowing "everything" about me, as if I have something to hide?

But, most importantly, we discuss politics here, not what I do for a living. So, why is my professional world, real or phantom, even relevant that you constantly bring it up? Have I ever asked you how you make your living? Have I ever asked you what your true name is, anyway? At least, those who are interested to know can find out who I am, what I do, etc. (and many have, sent me e-mails, and asking me not to bother responding to you and your ilk), with utmost transparency. How about you? Hiding behind a bogus name, throwing trash at practically everybody, except, of course, your ideological solemate.

So, if it is not personal, why is it relevant that you constantly throw such grabage at me, when you are not capable of even writing a short, coherent article for the readers of this site? Why is it relevant that you constantly spy on me? Why is it relevant that you constantly brag about knowing "everything" about me? Why is your "nitch" area making smart a.. comments about what others say, using very insulting words (such as those in your "response")?

If you are so worried about nukes, why don't you - a Jew and Zionist - tell us what you think about Israel's nukes? If you are so worried about nukes, why don't you write a short and coherent article explaining your position about Israel's 300 nuclear warheads, and Iran's non-existent nuclear weapon program? Enlighten us. Enough of slogans. Just tell us what you think.

I just know that you will come back angrier with some of your old insulting words. That is a pattern in you. Rest assured though that I won't respond to it. That is the end of this "debate." Let's move on.

Mammad

Mammad's regurigitation of

Mammad's regurigitation of IRI's standard scripted taling points is an instruction on how how Islamic indoctrination can render one's faculty useless. What a waste of gray matter!

Iranians today in Iran are not only uninformed, they are also MISINFORMED due to the massive spending of IRI on domestic and foreign propaganda machinary. Promotion/ cultivation and enforcement of Ignorance and superstitions through various means are state's official policy. Those who can't recognize these salient facts are also the victims of either IRI's propagnda or their willingly ignorant blind faith in their dogmatic ideology.

Islamist again?

Islamist goofers of 1979 who enslaved and sold iran to islam and brought us 30 years of disaster want to recycle themselves as new islamic democrats. I have news for you professor, as the iranian proverb says, a washed dog is still a dirty dog and can't be eaten.

I did not expect you to answer to any of challenges of your 79-style ideological non-sense animosity with an innocent person. How much hatred and poison have you exactly accumulated inside you? I thought it may have been dissipated after 30 years of success in enslavement and destruction of iran since when the black revolution occurred.

RP got his degree because his daddy paid for it? is that how our islamist professor got his degree? or how our islamist professor gives grades to his students for a price?

The truth is bitter to bite, iranians will decide sooner or later, but they will never forget who brought them the best days of the past 200 years, the shah, and who brought them the worst days of the past 200 years, the mullas and their religion.

Mammad

Yes, Iranian people have been isolated from the community of nations. They are isolated by Islamist thugs who beat them daily (and physically) with Islamic ideology. They are told every day that they are muslims and must remain muslim and cannot conduct themselves as the rest of the world.

Socially, the country is far more isolated since 1979. Just look at how the public has been beaten by these bloody Islamic laws and codes of conduct; to be scorned, beaten and murdered for wanting to be similar to the rest of the world. How about political isolation ? does it not exist ?

Why not think a little before bringing up so many unrelated issues ? These are features of an isolated country. The 4000 articles in major international journals are done in virtual isolation within Iran, aside from the fact that higher education is another vestige of Pahlavi era. How many are in collaboration with outside institutions ? The tiny Israel does a lot more with almost 1/10 of the population, because they are connected to the world!

European awards for Iranian films is an attempt to reach out by Europeans to encourage an isolated, and somewhat unique, film industry in Iran. No credit to Islamic barbarians, despite the Islamisized stories and scenery. These films are viewed in Europe, are there such awards for foreign films in Iran ? how is this an indication of a society not in isolation ?

How is the 63% female student population and the 45% female work force an indication of a society not in isolation ? This is just internal demography.

Third most heavily users per capita ? How much of this traffic is across borders ? and how much of it spent browsing and building mullah sponsored Islamic nonsense sites related to various mullah foundations ? What is alarming to me is that despite a great deal of propaganda about the internet savvy and politically up-to-date bloggers from Iran, I have seen and read some of the most horrific nonsense from some of these reformist bloggers on this site. Some of the most dejected nonsense I have seen from the likes of Hossein Derakhshan (Hoder). If this is anything close to what the young generation is like, then there is no hope. Even in the best case, these young reformists need years of rehabilitation and adjustment to their western environment. If this is not the result of the social/cultural isolation of the IRI, then what is isolation ?

The cluless Islamist

“Check it for yourself. do not take my words for it. If what I said was confirmed, then stop using it against me. If it was not confirmed, then tell me which part was wrong, and I accept it. “

My clueless Islamist, it has never been, is not and rest assured will not be personal; ergo “stop using it against me” is irrelevant.  Although your repeated references to the very special phantom league that you belong to have traces of megalomania, in this back and forth there is no you nor I.  The intent, at least on my part,  is to amplify the sheer  special strain of hypocrisy that all the Islamists, lefties and Anti-Semites have in common.

 It strikes me odd when our compatriots are being openly butchered and oppressed putting the viability of our entire nation in jeopardy and yet we have people who in a twisted name of nationalism wish to arm our murderous oppressors with nuke. It baffles me when in the name of fighting greater evil our oppressors are given a pass by lefties amongst us and at times sided with. It astounds me when Palestinians’ cause, some of which is legitimate, overshadows our own cause for the mentioned grouping, league if you will. Therefore, as I’ve had to tell others in your league, it is not personal. 

Hot News

You are not hot, you are overheated. Have a glass of cold water, and relax. Your mumbo jumbo is not what I would respond to.

Mammad

Anonymous Observer

I agree with you that a regime should not be changed at ANY cost. I never said that. There should always be some analysis of cost and benefit, which means that evolution is much better than revolution.

But, you and I are equipped with hindsight, and hindsight is a beautiful thing, because it is always right. When people revolted in 1978-1979, they could not foresee the present mess. As a Jewish friend of mine who is a dentist told me (he supported the Revolution): "I thought that monarchy will go and a republican system will come." That is what I thought too.

But, again, the aftermath of the Revolution does not take away the legitimacy of the Revolution itself. The Revolution was legitimate because it had legitimate economic, political, and cultural reasons. These were the CAUSE of the Revolution and, therefore, independent of any leadership that it had. The leadership does not create the cause. The leadership USES the cause to advance the revolution. Bad leadership creates catastrophe, even in triumph, and good leadership creates "miracles" even in defeat.

Perhaps the Revolution happened too fast. But, under the Shah's regime, which did not allow for a peaceful political evolution of the nation, perhaps there was no other way either.

The Shah was wrong about the left. The Tudeh Party had been discredited, and other leftist groups did not have any mass support. The National Front and Freedom Movement had support, and were willing to allow the Shah to be a figurehead, but the Shah suppressed them. He hated Dr. Mosaddegh, and was not going to allow the NF to come back to power, and the FM was simply an offshoot of the NF. Ironically, when he was being overthrown, he turned to the NF and FM for help, but everybody, except the late Shahpour Bakhtiar, turned him down.

As Mohandes Bazargan said in his military trial in 1343, "we are the last group that opposes you peacefully. The next group will fight you." How correct that honest nationalist was. 

Mammad

KavehV

I like innovation, and your comment is innovative.

Iranian people have been isolated? What are you talking about? Per capita, Iranians are the third most heavily users of the internet. They are more aware of what is going on around the world than, I dare say, Americans. 63% of university students are female. 45% of the work force is women. Iranian movies win, on a consistent basis, all sorts of honours and awards every year. Iranian scientists in Iran publish 4000 articles in major international journals every year, the highest in the Middle East after Israel. I can go on like this forever. These are features of an isolated country?

If you want to advocate Reza Pahlavi as some sort of leader, do. That is your opinion, and respected. But, do it, if you can, for the right reason.

Mammad

Fred

For a long time, USC had good relations with many dictators around the world, including Anastasia Somoza of Nicaragua, Shah of Iran, etc. This was because USC was, and it still is to some extent, a right-wing school.

But, USC has changed dramatically over the past 2 decades as a result of its President, Steven Sample, and the wonderful work that he has done. USC of today is not what it was in the 1950s through 1970s.

Check it for yourself. do not take my words for it. If what I said was confirmed, then stop using it against me. If it was not confirmed, then tell me which part was wrong, and I accept it. 

Mammad

sickofiri

I never said that I am non-partisan. In fact, I am partisan. I do not believe that we have such a thing as a non-partisan commentator. I was, I am, and will always be anti-monarchy. The time for monarchy is gone. Secular democratic republic in which religion is a private matter is the best form of government, and I say this as a practicing Muslim.

If the subject of the article is the atrocities of the IRI, I'll comment on it, as I have in the past. But, that is not the subject. we are talking about Reza Pahlavi. Let's stick to the subject.

Mammad

What most people don't

What most people don't understand is the wide and deep chasm that has been created since 1979 'holocaust' between the Iranian society and the world. When the people in Iran decide to rid themselves of these Islamist thugs, they will realize they need someone on the other side (western side) to 'hold their hand' and understand them. They will realize that 30+ years of isolation in a closed, extremist, Islamist society has pushed them away from relating to the rest of the humanity.

We have seen that even the most experienced and reform minded individuals of the younger generations have difficulty adjusting to their Western environments. The IRI political caldron has not exactly been churning experienced, credible and world-wide respectable political leaders that can lead the nation out of this mess, now or in the future. When the time comes, people inside Iran will need a lot of you ex-pats to reach out and establish relations with the West and the rest of the world. It will be the ex-pats who can facilitate the establishment of Iranian credibility with your new countries.

For these reasons Reza Pahlavi, whether he likes it or not, is in the right position to do a lot of good work in the future. Furthermore, because of his background, he is inherently credible with many Western political establishments, unlike any IRI, or even a future anti-IRI officials.

I dare Reza Pahlavi to step foot in Iran. Just for fun .

Ha

Ha

Ha! 

Maybe when pigs fly!?

Jal-al-khalegh, islamist just woke up from deep freeze of 1979

Look who is speaking as if it is still 1979:

Otherwise, he, as a person, has no accomplishment in life to even be somebody of some stature, given tens of thousands of Iranians who have astonishing accomplishments and are politically much more savy than him.

Where are these tens of thousands with accomplishments who have not done a damn thing about an on-going iranian holocaust for the past 30 years?

And again:

Reza Pahlavi got his BS degree from USC in Los Angeles, presumably because his father gave USC $7 million in early 1970s.

USC is as good as any other accredited school in USA, and certainly no worse than, say the Mini Univ. of Minnesota! This is not iran where mullas sell diplomas or forge it when they can as in the case of Mr. Kurdian. Maybe the school that islamists go sell diplomas and this is a case of "Kaafar hameh raa beh keeshe khod pendaarad".

And Again:

Otherwise, as far as I know, he never set foot in USC campus.

As far as you know? What are you? The security guard at USC voyeuring who comes in and who goes out?

And again:

He has not worked even one day in his life to make a living and, therefore, does not even know what it is like to work for a living.

And what was exactly the job of Ayatollah Khomeini, the darling of islamists? Oh, wait! Before revolution, he was living off charity and khoms and zakaat and fetriyeh. And after revolution, his job was to issue execution decrees and looting of iranian wealth and shipping it to his relatives in palestine and lebanon.

And again:

He has been living off the wealth that his father left for him, whose origin is questionable at best.

Questionable at best, Mr. western educated islamist? Iran had its golden age in the last 200 years under the shah, like it or not, and jealousy, personal vendetta, and believing in superiority of islam over iran cannot change the reality a bit. Nobody has been able to prove how much shah took. There simply is no evidence of it. But whatever shah took, he deserved it! I and many other iranians within wish we could find someone to get us back those good old days of M.R. shah pahlavi even if he asks for $10B, the money that mullas do not allow any iranian to see anyway before shipping it to their personal bank accounts or bank accounts of their arab brothers.

Besides, If he was so bad, why don't YOU go back and show us what YOU can do better instead of ranting in comfort and praying that IRI persists in further destruction of iran.

And now we know why we are where we are. An islamist professor is our educated class who brought us the disaster of 1979. Revolutionaries of 70s should be kept accountable for the atrocities that have followed ever since.

I have bitter news for you professor: Iran today is mostly made of youth who do not remember either the coup of 1953 or the holocaust of 1979, and neither they care about how much shah did or did not take many decades ago but they have eyes and they can see that any sign of progress in iran today is a legacy of pahlavi regime and any disaster is a legacy of the anti-iran islamic revolution. They do not see savak, but they see their sisters taken away and raped for showing few threads of hair; they don't see corruption blamed on shah but they see shortage of gasoline and 25% unemployment and 25% inflation. And on and on and on, and no propaganda can make them go blind to what they see in front of them every single day. That is enough for young iranians to make a fair judgment, otherwise the revolutionaries of 1979 are a dying breed and with them there goes their black revolution and their defense of the disaster that the revolution brought upon iranians.

$7 mil goes a long way

Nuke lover says: “Reza Pahlavi got his BS degree from USC in Los Angeles, presumably because his father gave USC $7 million in early 1970s. Otherwise, as far as I know, he never set foot in USC campus.”

Leaving beating monarchy’s dead horse to its supporters, detractors and paranoid Islamists, if the Islamist nuke lover’s statement is accurate that would mean USC is a diploma mill. If so, then what does that do to the credibility of those who teach, sorry, purvey degrees at USC? And is that the same $7 mil which..

Mammad

I agree with you that the monarchy in Iran should eventually have been replaced.  I also agree that Shah did not realize and / or underestimated the extent of the clerical establishment's danger and its influence on the Iranian society, and that error, for the large part, was his undoing.  Partly because of the events in Afghanistan and Iraq at the time, and partly because of America's influence over him, Shah was under the mistaken belief that the communists were going to be the ones who would put and end to his reign.  But that being said, he was partially correct in that assumption as well, because the various hodge podge of communist and psuedo communists groups were the ones who ignited the fuse for the drunken orgy of the 1979 revolution.  I say orgy not be funny, but because in my opinion a not-so-well thought thorugh revolution, the intent of which was to bring down the Shah at any cost in no different than a drunken orgy in which people presumably take part without giving much thought to its aftermath, and that is essentially what happened with the 1979 revolution.  All of that brings me to my main point, which is: we agree that the monarchy had to go, what at what cost and in what manner?  That is what makes the 1979 orgy of a revolution such a costly and disadtrous endeavor.  Here's part of my comment on the subject from another thread:

I am not a monarchist.  In fact, I believe that monarchy is a terrible way to run a counrty.  I believe in a secular republic.  But no one here is willing to address the essential question, which is: royalty in Iran had to go, but at what cost?  Was it worth it for Iranians to get out of "chaah" and fall into "chaaleh" with the IRI?  Was it worth the millions of lives that have been lost through executions and a bloody war (which would have never happened if Shah was in power because Saddam was scared shitless of Iran under Shah)?  Was it worth losing our standing in the world stage?  Was it worth being associated with terrible terrorist institutions such as Hezbulllah and Hamas?  Was it worth our economy being driven into the ground?  Was it worth our women losing most of their individual rights, inheritence rights, custody rights and even being told what to wear?  Was it worth our legal system being replaced by an absured 7th century bedouin Arab legal code (something that even most Arab countries shy away from)? 

Mindlessly insisting that the revolution was right at any cost is no different than Karl Rove and George Bush mindlessly insisting that the Iraq war was right because the "world is a better place without Saddam Hussein" (the answer to which is the same as here: obviously, but at what cost?). 

The Iranian people have paid a heavy price for the orgy of 1979 revolution.  The price that they have paid makes that revolution a very bad bargain.  A much more prudent way of getting rid of the monarchy in Iran would have been to allow Bakhtiar to implement his changes, which would have essentially reduced the monarch to a powerless figurehead, which, in turn, could have easily been removed down the road.  But then, this brings me back to my previous point, which is that because of Iranian people's irrational devotion to Shia Islam, and their belief that any mullah with an ammameh was the ultimate personification of rightouseness, once Khomeini and the clerical system came into the picture, such gradual democratic change became virtually impossible....and the result is what we see today.

In sum, just because Shah had to be replaced does not meant that he had to be replaced at any cost, and that we should justify that action regardless of the price that we paid for it.

Dear Sister A123

I agree with you 100%. Its not up to you alone or up to me alone to make these decisions (although it would be up to me alone if I truely was the King of all Kings- like Reza P wants to be).

I still think all Kings are Pigs- but want you to know that I have no hard feelings towards you or any of my countrymen; shahee, jonob shahree, rich, poor, Kurd, Turk, Arab... We were all born in a land that despite all of its flunky kings managed to develop a warm culture. The credit for that goes to our PEOPLE and not to our kings.

And please, whatever you do, don't lose your sense of humor, Sister. If it makes you feel better, I will not call those dogs pigs anymore.

Hoping the best for you and all of Iran's Children.

Regards. KOAK

why dont people understand that the worlds leading democracies..

..are monarchies?

The most democratic systems are the constitutional monarchies.

england, sweden, norway belgium..

you name it. these are the most advanced countries politically and republics like usa or china can only dream of a system like these.

I hope that Reza Pahlavi can one day become a monarch according to the mashroote law and Iran wil become a democracy.

//andishehblog.wordpress.com/

monarchy does not mean dictatorship-