Pictory

Hirre

Is you really think people in Iran are happy then you are mistaken. I am in touch with many Iranians back home. Why do they line up to get out at any opportunity? 

Why was my villager 16 year old friend taken never to be seen again.

I assure you his family are not "happy". By God I have never read such *** in my life except in writings of Iranian revolutionaries. Happy my foot! I bet you think Libyan and Syrians are also real happy.

Responses

Hirre: The reason we had a revolution was becuase of our idiot
an-tellectuals. The universities were a ferstering hell hole of Soviet
influence. The British did everything in their power to discredit the
Shah.

People were stupid and fell for it. The practice is named "manipulation". You say "Happy People" I say people with a gun to their head.

Mash Ghassem: Is Mossadegh the same man who let Islamic murderer
Tahmasbi go free. I am talking about the murderer of his predecessor.
Is this the same guy who foolishly took on Britain right after WWII
when Iran was at its weakest? Did he not pick Bazargan as his adviser?
Not exactly a fountain of wisdom now was he? Maybe he was a patriot but
that is not enough for a good leader. A leader must know when to push
and when to give in. Not go whole hog and pick a fight he will not
win. 

Repetition...

It doesn't matter if you manipulate people or not... If they are happy they will simply not create an revolution!

I guess Your Mossadegh Should have dropped the "9" in "109" ;0)

PREMIERSHIP: Historian Simon Schama's Tour of 10 Downing Street

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooL

And Curbed his Ambitions:

YES, PRIME MINISTER: A Step By Step Guide To Mossadegh's Premiership and the Coup of '53 ...

pictory: Mossadegh The Gentleman (1950's)

It would have avoided us a great deal of misunderstandings ...

THE PAST IS A FOREIGN COUNTRY: How Would You Evaluate Iran's Democracy Index in 1953 ?

Hee Hee ...

Response

Hirre: The reason we had a revolution was becuase of our idiot an-tellectuals. The universities were a ferstering hell hole of Soviet influence. The British did everything in their power to discredit the Shah.

People were stupid and fell for it. The practice is named "manipulation".

Mash Ghassem: Is Mossadegh the same man who let Islamic murderer Tahmasbi go free. I am talking about the murderer of his predecessor. Is this the same guy who foolishly took on Britain right after WWII when Iran was at its weakest? Did he not pick Bazargan as his adviser? Not exactly a fountain of wisdom now was he? Maybe he was a patriot but that is not enough for a good leader. A leader must know when to push and when to give in. Not go whole hog and pick a fight he will not win. 

I repeat

If the majority benefited, there would be no revolution, that is pure logic... Now you can say "it was better, we had BMW's, we had Cinema, we had free women, we had this and that", but that was only the surface... Now in Iran, not only is the main backbone of the society even more destroyed, but also the shiny surface since 32 years ago...

Dariush, you can spam as much propaganda videos you want, but there is a difference between visiting "poor children", "poor X", "poor Y", and like democratic countries choosing to spend billions of dollars to build the society bottom up... The latter if not corrupted will actually prevail, the former is just for show...

Once again, happy people = no revolution.

hirre jan clearly Like Bahram Moshiri You are Missing the Point

Seems you folks haven't been reading anything else but the same nonesense on the French Revolution:

HISTORY FORUM: Bahram Moshiri's Take on The French Revolution and Why He Misses The Point ;0)  

How about Reading some Edmund Burke for a change for it has never been so modern and pertinent as it is today given all the upheavels we are witnessing in the region.

A Short introduction to Edmund Burke (1729 – 1797) author of Reflections on the Revolution in France

For your information Jomhurykhahy is not the only form of political philosophy that has led countries towards a democratic system of government.  

Quite the contrary as a matter of fact:

RESTORATION: Britain's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 and the 'Bill of Rights'

So sorry to disappoint you but the "Marie Antoinette" Analogy is not only ridiculous but totally out of line when it comes to the Shahbanou of Iran who was NO aloof "Marie Antoinette like" Queen to frivolously suggest "cupcakes" for the hungry and needy paupers as a remedy to the nation's ills ...


ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah visits compatriots inflicted with leprosy (1970's)

No more than the Shah was Louis XVI :

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shah of Iran visits Earthquake Victimes in Tabas (1978)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shah and Soraya Share meal with worksman's family (1956) 

If you wish to underline his shortcomings (and he had many like any mortal) feel free to Call him an indesicive Hamlet if you will ... very much like Abbas Milani likes to compare him in his biography or even to an Othello to which he also compares him to. As a Matter of fact I think he compared him to at least 4 or 5 different Shakespearean Kings as if One was not enough.

But Louis XVI ? Definitively not. And certainly neither Hitler or Stalin as Massoud Kazemzadeh wishes to reduce him to. A Minimum of a Balanced judgment would be the least of expectations from anyone who wishes to learn from history or lecture others or at least get as close to a truthful picture of a man or a given era.

Intellectual Arrogance is when one's lack of curiosity leads him or her to claim they know everything and see into the future as if there was some determinism in history or some Rocket Science conclusion.

If anyone can claim to have learned from history the least they can do is to admit that between Black and White there are shades of grey:

How Genuinely Democratic and Representative was the Parliament in Pahlavi Iran ?

From that perspective I do not see that kind of intellectual integrity in our mutual friend Massoud Kazemzadeh or his likeminds blinded by prejudice and should I say fear to acknowledge his own shortsightedness 32 years ago.

They need a culprit in order to sleep well at night.

I have no problem with that if you folks wish to blame us monarchists for all the miseries our nation has been going through.

I always said I believed in accountability and welcome it when it is even displayed by the man I consider as the heir of the Peacock Throne:

ROYAL ACCOUNTABILITY: Crown Prince Reza Praises Mossadegh's Patriotism (ANDISHEH TV)

ROYAL ACCOUNTABILITY: Crown Prince Reza on Torture During His Father's Rule

I'm not afraid of the Truth.

I'm not sure that is the case of your likeminds. Yet From what I understand you have an excuse and that is your youth. Kazemzadeh on the otherhand doesn't except for his own lack of objectivity and lack of personal accountability which he arrogantly demands from others.

But then what are you folks waiting for to suggest a Blue Print for Change that will rally the large majority of Iranians and turn Iran into the Wonderful Paradise and Brilliant Stable Democracy you have in mind and keep boasting about ?

In the meantime get over your clichés they won't last the test of time ...

Best,

DK

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE:Shah and Shahbanou visit Boy Scouts and their leaders (1960's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE:Shah and Shahbanou Visit Earthquake Victimes (VIDEO)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shahbanou Farah visits Persian Gulf Compatriots (1974)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shahbanou Farah and School girls (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah Greeted by "Bandari" People of Persian Gulf (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE:Farah chatting with a local lady in Gilan Province (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shah visits Nursery in Tabriz (1960's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah Pays Respect to Baloutch Sunni Minority (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Shah meets Kurdish Representatives (1948)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah Comforts Tabas Earthquake Victimes (1978)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah visits compatriots inflicted with leprosy (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah Helps Clean Village Sewage System (1970's)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah visits village wives and children (1970's) 

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah Greeted affectionately by girls in Luristan Province (1975)

ROYALTY AND THE PEOPLE: Farah and Quashgai Kids (1976)

Hirre

Now you are being totally unfair just like some people I know. If it were not for the Pahlavi we would be no better than Afghanistan. Yes some villages got electricity and also my villeger friend got "taken' never seen again.

This is the same stuff I hear from those who still defend the "revolution".  Shame on you! I know a number of people who got scholarships from Shah. They came here just to show their ingratitude by joining some "Marxist" gang. These same people now live in the "Capitalist" West and still shill for the regime. It makes me sick. Benefits of Pahlavi were not restricted to one group. Yes some got more but the whole nation benefited. At least we did not have Khoramshahr scorched to dust.

Then came the "revolution". The idiots decapitated the military and came Saddam. Now go walk through the wasteland of Khoramshahr. Go see the results of your revolution. Yes the inventions of IR are many: such as using cranes to hang people.

از خانه ۱۰۹ بس آه و ناله خیزد

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PWI1mg47bg

Darius K

What you are saying is correct, if you "loved" the shah and more or less proclaimed this openly and was lucky you could benefit from the system (there are hundreds of example of this where people say "I was nobody, the shah-system helped me, now I am somebody"). In America there are these benifits as well, in form of scholarhips and so on, but this is not a broad solution!...

These types of populistic underdog-stories, along with youtube-videos (facts and entertainment) showing iranian city-folks pre-79, are constanly used by monarchists nowadays to say that the shah-regime was the solution for Iran and that everything was better during his reign... It's almost as arrogant as the famous Marie Antoinette quote, "let them eat cake"... If the system was so great there wouldn't be any revolution. 

The "benefits" were more or less perserved to a few people, especially from the larger cities where you had some basic education, food, and roof over your head. Iran was and is a big country, the situation was/is totally different in villages and small cities (me and my family come from these backgrounds). People in general had problems with basic stuff during many years, e.g. lack of education, electricity, hospitals, clean water and so on. On top of that, if someone suspected that some person in your family was politically active, your entire family tree became questioned, hence you could kiss any benefits bye bye...

The white revolution was not implemented according to plan because the majority of people who were supposed to get the benifits didn't because their former masters basically robbed them once again, but this time in another shape. The white revolution also came too late...

If you have a corrupt system, you can't expect people to implement the plans according to your thoughts. First your have to clean out any corruption, then you can implement your plans.

One of the reasons why another revolution doesn't take place so easily nowadays is because after the revolution many villages got upgraded (electricity, roads etc) as well as smaller cities. People  in general in Iran now have basic education and a lot of things they didn't have before, however due to early mis-management (and a lot of other stuff), things are once again starting to fall apart which will hopefully lead to a new revolution, this time for a democracy...

Dear Hirre

Having Reza Pahlavi as Shah does not mean a dictator. In many nations kings are not dictators. They are a symbol of the nation. and RP is a good one. I want to see a powerful Iran with a strong symbol. That is RP.

I like to see a parliamentary system based on a PM having the leadership role. The PM would be chosen by the parliament. They in turn are picked by the people. Not with a single referendum but by repeated elections. If we don't like them we vote them out. No one except criminals needs to go to jail. No one should be replaced by assassination. People get to vote for who they want to run the nation. The king presides over ceremonial roles. Goes to celebrations and so on but does not rule.

Does this fit your bill for democracy? It fits into our 2500 or longer history of monarchy. But allows for democracy. We get best of both worlds and to keep our traditions.

That's because You're Too Young to Remember the 'Average Ali'

Not everyone back in 1979 advocated Khomeiny Style Revolution like these folks:

Canadian Documentary On First Months Following The Iranian Revolution

I knew many Average ali's like you like to call them who were Pro Shah and not at all wealthy or belonging to the ruling elite.

Some of these Average Ali's even got to study abroad.

Shah greeted by Enthusiastic Compatriots in US Prior to Carter Visit

A colleague of my father actually came from a very poor background and thanks to the Shah's education system and opportunities got to study abroad with Governmental Bourse and became the Pope of his Profession which was Urology Surgery his name was Dr. Javadpour he even married an american.  

I can name you dozens of people I personally knew who came from similar backgrounds who were gardners, School bus drivers and others who were Pro Shah and had benefited from the White Revolution and above all hated the Mullahs. There names were Almas ( a gardner), Ali Muhamad ( a School Bus Driver), Mamdali who worked for a shopping mall at Albert Grocery Store in Khiabooneh Zand. All hated what was going on in their country because of the Mullahs Revolution all the more that they were begining to benefit from the same opportunities for their own children leaving highschool for University. The Son of a villiager could hope to have the same opportunities as the son of a doctor like me.  There were no limits due to one's social class or upbringing:

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Short documentary on Life in Pahlavi Iran

All the more that people knew that the Pahlavis also were not such an ancient family or aristocracy and that is how the people understood the slogans of "Enghelabeh Shah va Mardom". How genuine that Propaganda slogan may have been is another debate ( No less genuine than promises made during American Presidential Campaigns except that much of what the Pahlavis Promised they delivered in terms of social freedoms and economic opportunities) but that is how the rising middle class and the less fortunate understood it's significance: Equal Opportunity.

In otherwords Evolution instead of Revolution:

Shah to Nixon on "Revolutions" vs "Evolutions" in Middle East (1969)

Mansour Bahrami is a perfect example of that Pahlavi Generation:

THE COURT JESTER AND I: With Mansour Bahrami on the Set of Manoto's "Welcome to My Life"

Who Unlike So many so called educated ANN TELECTUAL Namak Nashnas Iranians ...

Ebrahim Golestan: "The Shah's Coronation Made Me Wanna Vomit" (BBC)

on the contrary understands the GENUINE meaning of the word LOYALTY:

A CHACUN SON IDOLE: Mansour Bahrami and Shahbanou Farah ( Roland Garros-2007)

Not everyone Has Alzheimers you know ...

Pro Bakhtiar Demonstrators demand the  Maintainance of the Constitutional Monarchy

Related Blog:

We the iranians

I agree with Masoud, we don't need any more autocrats or dictators... People with less education in other countries deserve political freedom, so why don't we Iranians deserve it also?

If we look at history, almost everybody opposed the shah, those who were in favor for him back then were the people working in different fractions of the his regime or people with some accumulated wealth. No "average-Ali" would privately support the shah if there wasn't any profit involved. Of course if you ask anybody today, which would you pick: shah or Khomeini? The answer is clear, but the question is also irrelevant today...

But it doesn't matter what we think now, what matters is that we must learn from the past and stop creating new idols for future generations...

interesting

that the two well known individuals here who keep yapping the same cherto-pert over and over again.

and call anyone who calls them out as 'monarchists'!!

jaamesh koneen- you think it's still 1979, where people are going to fall for the same bs propaganda?!!!

everyone admits the shah made some serious mistakes- but if he was a murdering tyrant, he would exterminated the mullahs, lefties, etc.

I bet you guys still believe savak burned down cinema rex! LOL 

MK Jan

I don't have time to write a lot right now but will agree with one thing. Shah was afraid of Razm Ara. My father told me Shah was afraid Razm Ara was after his job. So yes it is very possible he approved. Still does not excuse his release.

Well Fine Massoud Jaan ... Be My Guest ... Then What ? ...

Be My Guest ...

Suggest a Blue Print for Change that will rally the large majority of Iranians and turn Iran into the Wonderful Paradise and Brilliant Stable Democracy you have in mind and keep boasting about.

If it's So Obvious then why are you having such a difficult time achieving it other than making wishful comments ? ...

Who are you? (Duck Soup, 1933)

Why We Should Oppose VF Regime, Monarchy, NIAC

Mash Qassem jaan,

This is 2011 and there are still people advocating more dictatorship. When are our people going to stop supporting dictatorship? And these posters are supposed to be our educated people who have had the opportunity to live in democratic societies for decades!!!!!

Best wishes,

Masoud

===========

VPK jaan,

On Gen. Razmara’s assassination. There exists a lot of evidence that the Shah was the main person organizing the assassination of Gen. Razmara. Please read the scholarly works on this subject:

//iranian.com/main/blog/masoud-kazemzadeh/mossadegh-and-amnesty-razmara-s-assassin

You have every right to criticize Mehdi Bazargan. He did in fact opposed the dictatorship of the Shah and also stood up to Khomeini. Bazargan was the only person inside Iran who had the guts to stand up to Khomeini and criticize Khomeini’s fatwa on killing Salman Rushdie. Bazargan openly opposed and condemned the lack of due process in the executions after the revolution. Compare this to Mohammad Reza Shah and Khomeini who were those who were directly murdering the Iranian people. You oppose Bazargan due to his ideology. So do I. But we have to be fair. He attempted to mix Islam and liberal democracy. He did NOT engage in mass killing and mass torture like the Shah and Khomeini. Every society has its religious people. The question is whether these religious persons have a reactionary interpretation or a somewhat democratic and pluralistic one. The Shah’s religious views were nutty to the nth degree. Please see the Shah own’s words on his connections with the 12th Imam:

//iranian.com/main/blog/masoud-kazemzadeh/oriana-fallaci-interview-mohammad-reza-shah-religion

The 1977-1979 revolution was a broad-based movement for esteghlal, azadi, and social justice initially. At later stages the Khomeini faction gained the upper hand and the democratic forces became weaker and weaker. Had the Shah stopped the mass slaughter of the people in 1977 and even as late as mid 1978, then the pro-democracy forces under the leadership of JM would have been able to bring a transition to democracy to Iran. But by keep massacring the people again and again and again, the Shah undermined the moderate forces and helped the extremists forces. Just look at how Mubarak behaved in Egypt and how Ben Ali behaved in Tunisia. After a few weeks, they stopped massacring their people and accepted the wish of the people. The Shah behaved like Moamar Qazafi and Bashar al-Asad and kept murdering our people. What do you think would have happened if Mubarak kept mass killing the people not for 3 weeks but for 16+ MONTHS??????

Between June 1977 and mid-1978, the Shah BOMBED the homes and offices of Dr. Sanjabi, Bazargan, Matin-Daftari, ....

By December 1978, it was too late to save the situation. There were millions and millions of people on the streets. The only way to stop the revolution at that time was to kill laaaaaaarge number of people. JM is a democratic party/coalition. It is not a party for mass killings. JM’s policies would not stop the revolution in December 1978.

JM had the power and ability to save Iran until early September 1978. After the Jaleh Sq massacre in Sept 1978, the masses supported Khomeini. Despite this Dr. Sanjabi was willing to take a huge risk as late as October 1978.

In Feb 1979, the Shah’s own generals began their deals with Khomeini’s forces.

JM could not perform miracles. An illegitimate tyrant goes on and mass murders thousands of people and when the masses rise up and are radicalized and the military in collapsing, one could not all of the sudden say hey you decent moderate democrats come and establish a democracy.

Remember, Mohammad Reza Shah did not abdicate. He merely went for a vacation!!!!! So, even if the JM was successful and calmed the situation (an impossibility in 1979), then the Shah would have returned in a few months, dismissed the JM cabinet, and began his tyranny AGAIN. And if we said no, then the Shah would have arrested the democrats, imprisoned us, tortured, us and killed us as he had always done.

It was the Shah’s policies that resulted in the revolution. Instead of LEARNING that dictatorship is bad, our present-day monarchists are promoting MORE killings, more dictatorship!!!!!

If you promote dictatorial groups (monarchy, VF regime), then you are promoting dictatorship. This will NOT help the struggle for democracy. That is why I oppose monarchists.

If one wants democracy, one should promote democracy and oppose dictatorship.

In my opinion, if you promote policies that help the VF regime, then you are NOT helping in the struggle to overthrow the VF regime. That is why I have said that in my opinion, I regard NIAC as enemy. If you want to overthrow the fundamentalist regime, you should not join NIAC. If you give billions and billions of dollars to Khamenei, you are helping Khamenei with huge resources which in turn help him prolong his dictatorship. You and I agree with my opinion, right?

It is very sad to see educated Iranians who promote the VF regime, monarchy, or NIAC. If we want to overthrow the VF regime and establish democracy in Iran we should undermine the VF regime (e.g., promote real sanctions, isolation, condemnation of the VF regime) and join pro-democracy groups. It does not make sense to join a dictatorial group if we want democracy. It does not make send to join a group that promotes polices that helps the VF regime if we want to overthrow the VF regime. I have been waiting and hoping for logical arguments, and opinions on these. So far, I have not seen a single argument on these.

In conclusion, if one wants democracy, then one should support democratic parties. If one wants to overthrow the VF regime, then one should support those groups that advocate policies that help the cause of overthrowing the VF regime.

I hope to see logical arguments and opinions. I am willing to change anything above if I see logical arguments.

I regard BOTH Khomeini and Shah as savage tyrants and traitors. BOTH of them are directly responsible for the brutal tyrannies they created and our people have suffered for soooooooooooo long. We should stop going form one chah (well) into another chah. We need to establish democracy, freedom, and human rights in Iran. BOTH monarchy and fundamentalist regimes were brutal dictatorships.

We need to stop the dictatorships of sheikh and shah. In neither of these systems, the PEOPLE are the sovereign. One says I am KING because I belong to a family. The other one says I am Vali Faqih because I am a cleric. We democrats says, NO to both dictatorship. We democrats sat that the Iranian PEOPLE are the sovereign and they and only they will choose in open, free, fair, periodic elections who they want to be their president and member of parliament.

I hope this is helpful.

Masoud

MK Jan

Please calm down. The Shah had many faults but he was nothing like you say. He was faced with a very difficult situation. A nation infiltrated by both Western and Soviet symphatizers. Both wanted the worst for Iran.

Did he make a lot of mistakes: Yes! But he did not belong to "garbage dump". It was Bazargan and his ilik that belonged to the garbage dump. The *** was not man enough to stand up to his "God" Khomeini. May I remind you of the mistakes Mossadegh made? Did he not free Tahmasbi basically approving the murder of Razm Ara? Did he not surround himself with idiots like Bazargan. Why did JM not support Bakhtiar and instead sided with Khomeini. There is plenty of blame to go around.

Khomeini was a traitor; Shah just made mistakes. If we had kept the Shah Iran would not be in this mess right now. And don't get me started on the various "Mojahedin" the worst of the bunch. We would have done well if our an-tellectuals of 60s had dropped dead. 

...

Masoud jan, these losers are beneath you. Your wit, humor and scholarship is truly wasted on them. And who are they? A bunch of 'had been' nobodies. In a few more years they'll be as relevant to Iran as Ghajar's (some say they already are in that position). All they have are those revolting radio/tv programs in LA, and a 'cyber army'  of what you most correctly describe as ultra-extreme nut cases.

The debate that you had posted here (between mehrdad and ali) was really one of the best moment in here. We should do more of that , especially now.

Some pests just never get it. Away with all pests, cheers

P.S. Advance apologies for fozoli dar kar bozorgan.

Naa Shah Mikhaym Naa Akhond, Laanat beh har 2 ta shoon

Almost all the Iranians have evolved in the past 32 years, except the monarchists. Our monarchists in 2011 are more blood-thirsty, more fascistic, more tyrannical than the monarchists of 1979.

In 1978-1979, many believed that the Shah was the worst imaginable and there could be no worse. They were wrong. Khomeini, Khamenei and our present-day monarchists are even worse than Shah.

Instead of admitting that mass murder, mass torture, brutal savage fascistic dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was wrong and condemnable, they advocate MORE mass murder, and more fascistic tyranny!!!!!!!

Instead of admitting that undermining the constitution, ruling tyrannically, brutalizing the Iranian people, being nokar of foreign powers, were problems present-day monarchists want more of these reactionaries policies.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a fascist thugs and deserved to be sent to the garbage can of history where he belongs. Khomeini was a zillion times worse. Our present-day monarchists are no better than Khomeini.

If there is a hell and heaven, BOTH Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Khomeini deserve to be there. Same with the Basijis and Savakis.

The Iranian people deserve better than reactionary savage monarchists and hezbollahis. The Iranian people deserve freedom, democracy, and human rights.

Statira

Ras migi baba joon me kheili kar darim. 

Why do they look for fossils in the dirt. We have plenty of ex-revolutionary fossils right among Iranians!

Yade ghadeema bekheir

Che dorane khoobi bood. Chee boodeemo, chee shodeem! But some Iranians really deserve these nekbat akhoonds. Hanooz ke hanooze, khar to Iran ziadeh.

Shushtari Jan

I agree with you totally on what Shah should have done. The problem is that he was not well. In my opinion he was too sick to make the tough decisions. Also he was not naturally the killer type. He was unwilling to kill even the Mullah pigs.  While in peace he was great for Iran; he lacked the killer instinct. Obama has it. After watching him deal with OBL I am impressed. Maybe it is wishful thinking but I think Obama is going to deal with them.

You are right the Mollahs understand one thing: force! Unlike Gaddafi, they will run at the first sign of trouble. Obama knows this and will use it against them. We specially Iranian Americans must be ready for that day. To protect good of Iran.

ELS

It would have been nice had he done so. I am not a violent man but your suggestion would have been the proper action.

thanks vpk and everybody

you are both right.....and everytime I've read both of your posts, I've always enjoyed your honesty and wisdom.

In my opinion, the shah knew he had cancer as early as '74.....he should have sent farah and the kids out of the country and he should have stayed behind to command the army....

had he done so, and, as russell crowe so eloquently put it in the movie Gladiator- 'unleash hell on my command....' we would be in a different place now

the akhoonds and their aftabe-dozd goons only speak one language- and that is force....this is why there were reports that in 12/2009 during the ashoura protests, they were crapping their pants because they feared they were going to be toppled- they had ali geda's plane ready to take him to syria!!!

so that's what it will take, brute force 

The 3rd clip @3:33 was the answer, Khosrowdad!

Had the Shah allowed him and other high ranking officers to massacre the mullahs and the rest of the terrorists, we wouldn't have been having this discussion here today!?

Shushtari Jan

You are right. I am not for the death penalty per say. But there are some people who are a danger. When US took out OBL it was self defense not "death penalty". Khomeini also falls into the same category.

Shah should have dealt with him right in 1969. Him and Shariati. When someone is out to wreck your nation and kill your people you must act. I applaud Obama for doing it. I believe he will deal with IR as well much to the displeasure of EU nation,

wrong again....

I never said you should kill anyone who 'opposes' the monarchy or any form of government.

there are however, individuals who pose a mortal threat to your country, and letting them fester is a monumental mistake-

khomeini did not come to power because the shah killed people- he came to power for one purpose- and that is for the west to get free oil. the people fell for the nonsense bs- like the burning of 400 people in cinema rex was the work of the shah, or that he has stolen billions of iran's wealth!!! 

THIS IS WHY WE ARE WHERE WE ARE TODAY- khomeini wanted to do the same thing back in 1963!!

when you have a nutcase like BIN LADEN who will kill 3000 innocent people like their ants, then you have a decision to make, don't you!!!

in fact, it is YOUR mentality- pussyfooting and liberalizing everything- that got us in this mess.

Dictatorship is unacceptable for Iranians, Shah was no Despot

The Key error of Iranians is to not know the difference between autocrat and despot/tyrant/dictator.

Autocrat still has to create instituions that develop freedom, like a representative parliament, like an independent University, like an independent legal system, all secular.

Autocrat has to sit and arbitrage issues in favor of cooperation not just win/lose national interests.

That is why iran and the middle east experienced so much peace during shahs time, which is as you know the highest ideal of all.

Irans monarchy, would not just focus on Irans National interests at expense of other countries, but would act with the world economy and world human rights issue on its mind.  This is where it truly surpassed the USA, UK, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, which have each foccussed on their own national interests at the expense of even each other.  This has caused humanity its worse wars and will continue unless a system like irans can restore the balance of peace.

Maybe I am too idealist!

 I do believe that we could do better and be better than westerners or anyone else. Iranians are very successful no matter where they are(except in Iran) and that is a proof we could be on the top of the "food chain"!

The problem with dictatorship is that they don`t let others to flurish and therefore the dictator is relied too much on a few that could be his real followers or just on the surface they are, and if they do anything wrong it would not matter since they are the only true followers he has! and from there on the followers committ crimes in the name of the Dictator and that is when it snow balls  straight to hell.

In any autocratic type country if I may put it in perspective; you build your house at the edge of a Summit that could fall to the vally at any time( because it relies to a few good follwers, if they fall for any reason then  the government falls). where as in democracy, the house is built on solid grounds and no matter how much damage the natural disasters effect it, it would still stand when the sand storm is ended. 

abaab baad Iran