Heroes welcome for Rad?!!!

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Heroes welcome for Rad?!!!
by Brian Appleton
25-May-2010
 

Link: //www.rferl.org/content/Killer_Of_Shahs_Last_PM_Gets_Heros_Welcome_In_Tehran/2046306.html

It is a sad day that a murderer gets a heroes welcome for killing off one of what was Iran's greatest intellectual assets, Shahrpour Bakhtiar. Imagine for a moment how different the history of the past 32  years would have been if Shahrpour Bakhtiar had been able to survive as the Prime Minister of Iran. He was a brilliant and well educated man who had been opposed to the Shah and his regime for his entire professional life. He was a man who understood the importance of the seperation of church and state which the illiterate masses at the time of the revolution are still struggling to understand and are still being exploited for their misguided sense of religious duty to obey the ambitious self imposed Khamanei who moderate clerics like Montazeri oppsed from the start. Montazeri although Khomeini's pick as his successor understood the importance of the seperation of church and state which is why he turned the position of Supreme Leader down.

The only mistake Shahpour Bakhtiar made which cost him his life was accepting the appointment of PM from the Shah. I have yet to understand why he couldn't foresee the danger that he put himself in but he may have felt that he was doing his patriotic duty as one thing which is certain is that Shahrpour Bakhtiar was a patriot who cared deeply for Iran. The fact that convicted murderers who resort to vigilanti activity well outside the laws of any nation with a bicameral form of representative government, are welcomed as heroes by the IRI shows how far they have to go in joining the international community. Having said that the USA and Israel also have a long way to go if you examine their records for state sponsored political assassinations, kidnapping and torture. I commend the two brave individuals in Italy, prosecutor Armando Spataro and judge Oscar Magi for being the first to challenge the CIA on their "rendition" program.

 //news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091104/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_cia_trial

Against the wishes of the Italian Prime Minister, they tried and convicted 23 CIA officers in absentia for their "rendition" program in which the CIA abducted foreign nationals extraterritorily outside the USA and exported them to countries which allow torture. "First cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother's eye. ... "


www.bible.cc/matthew/7-5.htm

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Brian Appleton

Pragmatist perhaps

by Brian Appleton on

 well I doubt if we will ever reach a definitive conclusion to this friendly arguement but I think Bakhtiar's own words are pretty damning of monarchy especially the Pahlavis.

"Bakhtiar said in an interview in the book, Thirty- seven days after 37 years, "I am sorry to repeat this once again but it must be done for the sake of history: If during these 25 years, the Shah had allowed moderate political parties -- and not even those having Marxist or social democratic tendencies -- to exist, simple-minded people would not have followed the likes of Khomeini and believe his ideas.
"

What I think I'm hearing by innuendo in your discourse is that Iran can only function under dictatorship, call it strong central government or whatever other euphamism or Wild Wild West Days when Reza Shah basically killed his opponents. Did he really have to assassinate Ghazi Mohammad...it certainly didn't end the problems the Kurds continue to suffer with to this day... Pointing to how many centuries of monarchy there have been in Iran doesn't justify it. It all depends how you look at it...the Constitutional Revolution of 1906...was it an attempt to blunt the power of monarchy because it couldn't be eradicated...besides if you took a poll of Iranians both in Iran and in the diaspora monarchy would lose...it already did...it's time to get over it... 

well take care DK, nice talking to you and hopefully no offence taken or given... I can't spend any more time on this either right now...

Brian H. Appleton

aka

Rasool Aryadust


Darius Kadivar

Brian jaan still doing your homework based on Unreliable Sources

by Darius Kadivar on

You seem to rely on Daie Jaan Napoleon Sources in doing your Homework:

The Friend of a Friend who's Uncle Knew Bakhtiar and claims he wanted to establish a Republic ...

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIi6CeteKbs&feature=related

Fariba Amini is a very good friend whom I respect deeply but I also know that her judgment and accounts can often be biaised due to her own political convictions and leanings when it comes to history (which have constructively evolved over the past 30 years towards far more moderate views than unlike many of her own likeminds ie: Left wing Revolutionary) and close ties to Dr. Mossadegh through her father who was his lawyer and who knew the great man intimately.

To begin with the article which claims to dissect Dr. Bakhtiar's intimate thoughts are based on an Unknown testimony:

I spoke recently with an old friend and a close associate of Dr. Bakhtiar who wishes to remain nameless. Here are some of his recollections of Dr. Bakhtiar.

As such from a serious historical reasearcher's point of view this article and testimony however interesting would be regarded as invalid. No serious historian can use it as an irrefutable proof.

The Only Source we have at our disposal are Dr. Bakhtiar's speaches and personal firsthand account as to his ideals and aspirations.

BOOK: MA FIDELITE by Shapour Bakhtiar

pictory: Shapour Bakhtiar Student Years at the Sorbonne, Paris (~1936)

The Word that comes to everyone's mind when trying to define Bakhtiar's personality is : LOYALTY !

Loyalty to his ideals of Democracy and particularly a Western Style Democracy as well as the Progressive ideas that shaped them ( Recommended Blog: HISTORY FORUM: Nader Naderpour on Iran's Constitutional Revolution and European Rennaissance (1996) )

, and Loyalty to the Constitution of the land.

It is not surprising that De Gaulle was his Role Model ( probably the Only Accurate and Verifiable assessment in Fariba's Article):

pictory: France's De Gaulle Visits Iran (1963)

Diplomatic History: Shah Meets De Gaulle, Elysée Palace (1961)

pictory: Charles De Gaulle ( VERY IMPRESSED) Visits Iran 1963

He actually shares much in common with De Gaulle.

Like De Gaulle he wished to Restore his Country's System of Government. In France it happened to be a Republic Highjacked by the Vichy Puppet State of Petain. In Iran it happened the be the Monarchy toppled and replaced by a Turbaned Dynasty.

De Gaulle was actually a Monarchist by Heart and Republican by Reason.

De Gaulle was a firm admiror of Charles Maurasse who was a Monarchist and De Gaulle wished at some point to restore the French Monarchy in it's constitutional form with the Compte de Paris who had joined him during the years of exile. But finally abandoned the entire idea because he could not undermine his own legitimacy having RESTORED the REPUBLIC ...

Many French Monarchists actually fought against the Nazis occupation of France by joining the Resistance, where as many so called Left Wing intellectuals such as Francois Mitterand ( future president) chose to collaborate until the last minute with Petain only to claim to some of their lost credibility.

Similarly ...

Bakhtiar may have been a Republican by Heart but a Monarchist by Reason.

After all the ideals of the Constitutional Monarchy are by definition Republican Ideals inserted within the Framework of the Royal Institutions.

And like De Gaulle, Bakhtiar's political carreer and choices were deeply linked to personal Family ties with the establishment and political elite of his times.

De Gaulle's GodFather was No other than Petain himself ...

Similarily, Bakhtiar belonged to the Tribal clan of the Bakhtiaries itself divided between those who chose to work with the new king like his cousin Teymour Bakhtiar ( see Recommended Links and references Below), Queen Soraya who married the Shah or Oppose it as was the case for Bakhtiar's own Father Mohammad Reza Khan (Sardar-e-Fateh).

But Bakhtiar's father was also an Officer in the Shah's Police, so as such his execution by Reza Shah ( the last Shah's Father) was probably due to Rebellion given that ( according to your article ) he was "the head of the Bakhtiari tribe and commander in chief in Yazd".

We all know that Reza Shah faced a great deal of opposition from powerful tribe leaders throughout his reign, and fought them in order to disarm them and establish a centralized government and modern state and army. We are talking about a period when Iran was not different than the Wild Wild West.

Bakhtiar's father was of a generation which fought and often died with a Rifle in their arms.

Shapour Bakhtiar and Reza Shah's Son MRP were both of a different generation and set of mindsets. They were the product of their own times.

You do not enter Politics not knowing the risks. Bakhtiar knew the risks ( and even paid for it ) and knew that Politics and national Interests are not simply a matter of personal taste or experience.

As a Son he must have definitively been grieved by what happened to his father. Who wouldn't ? But who are we to judge and claim what were his intimate thoughts for his father's actions ? Or that he was not able to distinguish between Reza Shah and Mohamed Reza Shah's responsabilities in his father's predicament ? And later conclude that he believed that IRan should become a Secular Republic ( Something Which he definitively NEVER Claimed Publically except by submitting the choice on the nature of the regime to the people)  as opposed to a Constitutional Monarchy ( the Constitution of Which gave him the Historical and Political legacy for which he is to be remembered ) Based on such thin Evidence as an Unknown Testimony of a person who claims his uncle knew Bakhtiar ?

What we know is that Bakhtiar was a Constitutionalist, and a Statesman who Repeatedly and Publically remained LOYAL to not only his ideals but also the Constituency that supported him:

Pro Bakhtiar Demos in Support of the Constitutional Revolution:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vas_tvGZgWE

The Article you refer to does not even refer to the fact that the Bakhtiar payed his respects to the Shah even after his death, nor that he met regularly with the Crown Prince showing that as far as he was concerned he remained LOYAL to the Constitution and therefore Institution that had named him.

Yet even your Unreliable source suggests that Bakhtiar was offered regularly different posts notably in Foreign Affairs which he refused due certainly to his affiliation to the National Front ( which by the way never claimed to be a Republican Front since Mossadegh was PRime Minister but very much like the Green Movement claimed to see the King Reign But Not Rule- Something that the Shah did for 12 years prior to the so called Coup).

There is absolutely No Evidence that Bakhtiar supported a Republic all the more that the one that took over prooved to be disastrous to the country on ALL Grounds including Social Freedoms which were set aback to the Medieval Ages by this current regime ...

As such On all accounts Bakhtiar would definitively support Reza Pahlavi today.

History always offers such ironic examples as well as tragic twists of fate for those who are it's actors. To draw quick and immediate concludions as to the individual responsabilities of such historical figures be them Shah, Prime Minister, or Ayatollah or President by distributing a White Card when you consider someone's Actions as Positive ( according to your own standards or preferences) Or Red Card ( when you consider them as Bad) is good for High School Politics, which I am afraid offer no satisfactory answer as to the reality of what happened in 1979 other than the opportunity to contemplate these twists of events or personal fates from a philisophical or if you will moral standpoint ...

What Remains however are the Actions and PUBLIC Stance of these Great Men.

That is what a Political and Historical Legacy is constructed upon.

Not Daie Jaan Napoleon Class Room ethics

My Humble Opinion,

DK

PS: May come back to answer to your other numerous points with which I disagree ( and there are MANY for that matter in your comments ;0) ... ) but I simply don't have time right now. Hope to catch up later on.

Regarding the Bakhtiary Clan:

Teymour Bakhtiar ( Future Head of SAVAK) who also tried to Topple the Shah (according to some historical accounts with the silent endorsement of President Kennedy) was a close cousin and childhood friend of Shapour Bakhtiar:

Teymour Bakhtiar ( Left) with Shapour Bakhtiar (Right with their tutor in the University of Beirut ( 1930's/40's )

That the Shah eliminated him in the 1970's is a well known fact and probably for good reason. That does not mean that I approve State sponsored assassinations but that is the risks of the Job and both Bakhtiar cousins KNEW the Risks and payed it with their lives for totally different reasons. One because he wished to Topple the Shah (and probably Crown Himself King or President of a dubious Republic in the shape of a Nasser Like Dictatorship), the other because he tried to Save the country and therefore the Monarchy from falling into the abyss of anarchy and religious fundamentalism.

 

 

 

 

 


Brian Appleton

Well I did some homework

by Brian Appleton on

There is a very good article in our iranian.com by Fariba Amini written in 2003:  

 " Dr. Bakhtiar was determined to do away with the monarchy and declare a republic but he was concerned about the army's reaction in attempting to organize a coup. He was worried of unnecessary bloodshed. He wanted to move things slowly and smoothly so that army can be neutralized."

DK, Reza Shah executed his father, Shah Reza imprisoned him for six years...if he believed in constitutional monarchy at all it was only as a transition state. He asked the Shah to leave Iran, he ordered the troops to stop shooting civilians. He dismantled SAVAK...all that in only 37 days in office.

When asked: "Aren't you ashamed of your father's bloodstained shirt (he had kept in his trunk the bloodied shirt of his father who was executed by Reza Shah) to want to work with his son now?"

Bakhtiar innocently looked at me, bewildered. But with a firm voice he said: "This isn't the time for revenge. It isn't about me anymore. It is about the country." Then tears rolled down his cheeks and he sobbed.

With a voice that I could never forget, he said: "You don't understand. The country is on the verge of collapse. How can I speak now of something that happened 40 years ago? This isn't the time to take revenge for my father's blood. If the religious elements (akhunds) take over the affairs of this country, no one will remain, neither me, nor you, the Shah or this country; all of us will be destroyed."

"Listen... We are after freedom and democracy. We cannot move from the dictatorship of the 'boot' to the dictatorship of 'na'layn' (clerics' slippers). We must advocate freedom. We have no right to be taking the people to a darker horizon."

"Bakhtiar said in an interview in the book, Thirty- seven days after 37 years, "I am sorry to repeat this once again but it must be done for the sake of history: If during these 25 years, the Shah had allowed moderate political parties -- and not even those having Marxist or social democratic tendencies -- to exist, simple-minded people would not have followed the likes of Khomeini and believe his ideas.
"

Excelleny article. Thank you Fariba Amini! //iranian.com/FaribaAmini/2003/January/Bakhtiar/index.html

Brian H. Appleton

aka

Rasool Aryadust


Brian Appleton

Oligarchy

by Brian Appleton on

You raise some interesting issues which I have heard before from the likes of Hashem Hakimi in Oslo and you are certainly entitled to your beliefs but the fact remains that I personally really don't believe in monarchy, a life of unearned privilege while there is so much poverty and suffering among the people and I don't say that as a cliche. I have no romantic notions about populism and the dictatorship of the proletariot either. Anyway as you know I was friends with several of the Pahlavis and also Qajars and even some Zands. I appreciated the education and intellect that some of these individuals had. I appreciate the historic value of monarchy but history is past. If you consider the Russian Revolution in 1917 as a response to Tzarism, that is what happened also in Iran. Power never ends voluntarily, it is always removed or usurped by force and the more forceful it is the greater the force it takes to remove it.You may think that the Pahlavi's excesses and abuses pale by comparison to that of the IRI but I doubt if it makes much difference to those who did jail time, were tortured and/or executed by either regime. In fact I have friends, authors, who did jail and were tortured under both regimes. I do not see the great benevolence you attribute to the Pahlavis. I have read estimates that at least 10,000 were executed under their watch.

 Caesaropapacy, Divine Right, military supremacy and conquest, these are the things monarchy was built upon. Certainly it works for a time, empires generally last about 1000 years each, Pax Romana, Pax Mongolica, etc. The Ottomans lasted 800 til they ran out of places they could conquer and then it collapsed.

In the case of Europe and its current constitutional monarchies, I see them as another opiate of the people. The French Revolution was one of the bloodiest ever, with a 40 year reign of terror following it. That was the response to the accumulated excesses of the French monarchy and then the poor French at the end of this world changing revolutionary event inspired by the American Revolution were cheated out of the fruits of their labor by Napoleon who incidently dismantled a large number of European monarchies during his expansion. The Rococo era was based on a nostalgia on the part of the disenfranchised royalty and nobility who of course remembered it fondly because they were on top.

I would remind you that the Pahlavis never really had a very broad base of support and their reign was tenuous all along...it was mostly an ornate show. That 2000th anniversary celebration they staged at Persepolis in that luxury tent city in which they tried to portray the Pahlavis as the direct heirs of the Achemenians was ridiculous and I remember it was catered by Maxim's de Paris as if Persian food wasn't fit for all the foreign heads of state.

Now in the USA, we do not have an official monarchy but it has become more and more of an oligarchy within my life time. I have never lived in a nation so owned and controlled by so few and the  few are major corporations mostly family owned if you do some digging... We have unoffical royal familes here like the Rockefellers, the Gettys, Melons, Morgans, Duponts...they are so rich and powerful as to be almost completely invisible.It is truely frightening and beyond belief how powerful these entities are and how deluded and oblivious the public is to this but that's another discourse. The illusion of wider spread prosperity is based on our larger middle class than in most "third world countries" and yet we have the largest debt burden.

It seems that your main criticism of my original article, which was by the way criticizing the IRI for honoring an assassin and the assassination of a great man, was based upon my statement that he was opposed to monarchy. As you wrote, he fought in the Lincoln Brigade and against the Nazis and obviously was opposed to totalitarianism. You yourself said he was opposed to the Pahlavis autocratic regime, however I will gladly accept your criticism and do more homework and research what his stance was on constitutional monarchy...I really doubt that was his ideal choice of what form government should take but if I'm wrong, I will be the first to admit it to you...cheers,

Brian H. Appleton

aka

Rasool Aryadust


Darius Kadivar

In that case please explain to me why Some chose Resoration ?

by Darius Kadivar on

First of all thank you Brian Jaan for not taking my comments personally but simply as an intellectual discourse or challenge whichever way you wish to call it. The little I know about you, you do not come across as an intolerant person but someone who genuinely loved and loves Iran, however like in everything one can also at times love badly or wrongly ...

But back to the my main discourse with your assessments.

Republics are Not the quentessential progressive and democratic systems of governments. It is not because a given system is imperfect that a Revolution and a total dismantling of the State Apparatus will fix it or make it better.

The monarchy is intimately linked to Nation Building and how a nation identifies itself with the family or person that embodies it for better of for worse. It is not cult ridden but Oligarchy ridden. It is not egalitarian but it is every bit Democratic in it's Parliamentary form as in any secular and stable democratic Republic like in France or the United States ( Federal in this case). One can reject it philisophically as a pattern of thought but the fact that it still exists in many countries to this day and in Western Europe in particular in the shape of ceremonial and symbolic institutions as opposed to Absolute Monarchies proves that it is not to be dismissed as unrealistic or illegitimate.

It is precisely when the Republic experience proved not only disastrous but criminally bloody and nihilistic that nations have chosen to return to their old status quo through the process of a Restoration. Often to restore their lost dignity, very much like when a group of people have loved and lusted in an orgy and feel guilty for behaving irresponsibly at the expense of hurting those who genuinly loved them. Except that in this case the orgy in question has been mass killings, religious tyranny and moral and political corruption to such extents that make the Shah's deemed corruption seem ridiculous in comparison. Restoration is precisely What Great Britain did after Cromwell's Religious Republic.

Revolution' of 1688 and the 'Bill of Rights'

All the more that they went much further than us by even beheading their King and naming Cromwell as a Lord Protector precisely a Velayateh Fagih.

Not only America's Constitution but that of the  French Republic were inspired by the British Bill of Rights.

So the very concepts of democratic thought were born in the most Royalist country in the world: Great Britain !

Not surprising that Charles Dickens imagined the Tale of the Two Cities to show the contrast between the Reign of Terror in France and the British society which lived under a Parliamentary System of government: i.e: a Constitutional Monarchy.

If one can always find exceptions to the rule when it comes to history, it can be however said that All Monarchies that went through the process of Restoration achieved Democracy. That has been less the case in recent history particularly the 20th century ( that saw the rise of Totalitarian ideas and behaviors) for countries who having experienced a bloody revolution and established a Republic. Virtually all the countries in the Middle East which are Republics have turned into dictatorships where a Presidential dynasty has replaced the Royal Family. Saudi Arabia and the Oil Rich Emirates cannot be truly assimilated to any Constitutional Monarchy as is the case for Jordan for Instance or Morroco in North Africa even if they equally are founded based on a so called divine rule directly inherited from the Prophet Muhamed. The Saudis are merely a sophisticated tribal organization empowered by the Oil revenues which couldn't give a hoot about civil society or social and political progress even if their Kings or Sultans are Oxford Educated. I highly recommend the reading of Harold Robbins The Pirate to get an idea of the business ridden mindset that has superseded the religious dogmas on which these artificial kingdoms are founded ( also Read: Hollywood and Oil : Raiders of the Black Gold by Darius KADIVAR).   

Even The most progressive Republics in the middle east amongst them Turkey is a democracy only under military supervision which proves that to establish a perfect democratic system in this region is easier said than done.

And Revolution is certainly not the ideal or right solution either. Do Iranians deserve democracy and a better system of government in the future ( and preferably a near future)? Definitively YES !

But to reach that they have to first understand what Nation Building is about !

The Generation of '79 definitively did not !

Bakhtiar's intellectual legacy is precisely the road map towards that promising future of a Democratic State which respects human rights and individual freedoms.

That is why he suggested REGIME CHANGE based on RESTORING the Constitution of 1906 directly inspired by the European Constitutional Monarchies of the time.

It's here under your very nose :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNBFTWXz5_Q

Yet You people continue to want to distort that message and highjack his legacy to other means.

That to me is pure Hypocrisy to say the least.

I may get back to you on this thread based on your responses which I will read with great interest but I have some professional commitments today so you may not see me respond immediately.

Warm Regards nevertheless,

DK

Restoration Blogs:

RESTORATION: Elected Monarchs of Malaysia 

RESTORATION: The British Royal Family at Work (PBS : 7 Parts)

RESTORATION: Prince Charles, The Meddling Prince (5 Parts)

RESTORATION: Belgium King Baudouin takes Oath Amidst Republican Animosity (31st July ,1950)

RESTORATION: Greek Constitutional Monarchy Toppled by Military Coup (April 21st, 1967)

RESTORATION: King Simeon II of Bulgaria, The Republican Prince

Royal History Forums:

HISTORY FORUM: How Truly Democratic is The British Monarchy ? 

HISTORY FORUM:The Monarchy with David Starkey (Cambridge University)


Brian Appleton

Darius jaan no need to apologize...

by Brian Appleton on

I do not pretend to be an expert but I do not believe that Iranians can and will only be ruled by dictatorship nor do I believe that the ideal form of government should be a constitutional monarchy...you forget that at one time every nation on earth was ruled by monarchy but that time has passed...

 

Brian H. Appleton

aka

Rasool Aryadust


Ali P.

" I have 3% chance of success"

by Ali P. on

....he told a friend.

That's how, men of character, lead their lives.


Darius Kadivar

Brian Jaan ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Please do Your Homework Before BS ..

by Darius Kadivar on

Bakhtiar was Not a Revolutionary But a Constitutionalist. He did Not Oppose the Monarchy but the Absolute Nature of the Shah's Rule.

Wanting to Overlook the genuine aspirations of the Constitutional Movement in Iran in the name of Some abstract Republican notion of governance inexistant in a country like Iran ruled by Kings longer than any nation in the world is a typical ignorant assessment which has been fed to us by Revisionist Historians ( Particularly Westerners) for the past 30 years since the advent of the Islamic Republic in Iran.

An interpretation that was comforted in it's biais over the years by many so called "Iran experts" who for the most were not Iranian and have written extensively on that era. Mr. Stephen Kinzer is only the Tip of the Iceberg of the Army of so called "Iran experts" to claim to know the absolute truth on the true nature of the Shah's reign by overlooking our national psyche strongly shaped by centuries of absolute rule under different dynasties. Other historians from John Simpsons, to William Shawcross, Orian Fallacci or Gerard de Villiers have all in their own ways drawn rapid and sensationalist conclusions on the Shah's reign and personality in a bid to write a bestseller and present Iran's contemporary history as a battle between Good and Evil.

Or Draw Ridiculous Parrallels with the French Revolution ...

Sorry But Farah Was NO MArie Antoinette :

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: Shahbanou Farah visits Persian Gulf Compatriots (1974)

A Pahlavi Bashing Tradition that the last Remnants of a Namak Nashnas Generation of Iranians who claimed to some intellectual and moral superiority continue unashamingly to perpetuate to ridiculous proportions to this day:   

GAUCHE CAVIAR: Ebrahim Golestan interviewed by Massoud Behnoud (BBC Persian)

The rare people who played a major part in the Imperial Era who could have testified were executed before being able to give their version of history and amongst them the very best:

Dialogue of murder:A cautionary tale that must not be forgotten By Cyrus KADIVAR

JAVIDAN: Farokhroo Pārsā (1922-1980) 

JAVIDAN: Fereydoon Farrokhzad (1935-1992)

JAVIDAN: Generals Ayat Mohagheghi and Mehdi Rahimi

The Generals Widow By Cyrus KADIVAR


JAVIDAN: Shah's Imperial Guard dies during an attack by Khomeini guerillas (1979)

The Coronation and Persepolis Celebrations have been a convenient pretext FOR PAHLAVI BASHING and to overlook the amazing contributions of the Pahlavi's to Iran and Iranians at large in nearly all fields of interest :

Gholam Reza Afkhami HISTORY FORUM

pictory: Iran's Industrial Progress-Pahlavi Era Promotional Film (1970's)

pictory: Promotional Film on Women during Pahlavi Era

Mahnaz Afkhami: A Women For All Seasons (VOA/BBC Interviews)

which should put most ex Revolutionaries to shame 30 years later given the DISASTROUS CHOICE THEY MADE CONSCIENSLY AND WITH TOTAL IMMATURITY !

So Enough Hypocrisy PLEASE !

The systematic character assassination of not only of the Shah but also of the Royal Institution in Iran has been a NATIONAL SPORT of all EX REVOLUTIONARIES to Date but it Does not work anymore because as Azar NAfisi Said it best, it is time for the Iranian Intelligenstia to do their "Examens de Conscience" aka Self Criticism.

This OBSOLETE reading of Iran's royal history through the distorted spectrum of the events of 1953 ( Coup ? or Counter Coup? ) and the Revolution of 1979 is no longer valid.

Views on The Coup of 1953, Parviz Rajji ( Iran's Ambassador to the UK), Historians Mashadoulah Adjoudani, and Abbas Milani:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bIo2UnG9VY&feature=related

The knowledge we have acquired over the past 5 to 6 decades on the realities of our social and political history shows us that we were Far from anything close to a nation of politically mature people.

Political maturity is not a question of Intelligence but Experience.

We Were IMPATIENT as a People and the 79 generation was by large Politically Immature including at the time of the events of 1953.

We tend to look at the so called Coup of 1953 from the perspective of 1979 when in fact we should look at it from the perspective of a nation which had painstakingly survived the humiliating Yet Necessary occupation of Iran during WWII,

Video: Soviet Propaganda Film - Iran, Tabriz 1945-46

pictory: Allied Troops Bring Medical Aid to Iranian Children during WW 2 (1940's)

1944 film: Iran during WW II

and was barely experiencing the democratic practice of a Constitutional Monarchy during which the last Shah patiently Reigned and did not rule for 12 years prior to the events of 1953 and the Oil Crisis.

Mossadegh became a Celebrity to honor the cover of TIME But what he forgot Was that he was NOT the Shah. As a Lawyer and a politician he should have known better than be carried away by his Ego ( justified or Not).

The entire history of the Constitutional Revolution like in all other nations such as Great Britain or other European monarchies was about Domisticating the Royal Institution and the King which embodies it.

Mossadegh Jeopordized this by challenging his monarch directly and demanding his departure and disolving the Parliament which was the prerogative of the Head of State who was the Shah. As Such Mossadegh's attitude was both Anti Constitutional  and strategically unwise. He Opened the Cage to the Lion to Eat him up.

What remained however was his political and intellectual legacy. A Legacy characterised essentially by Nationalism and Not merely democratic demands. 

Neither Mossadegh ( a Former Qajar Prince with personal reasons to resent the Pahlavis which also logically justified the Shah's suspicions towards him) nor the Party he founded the National Front invented the democratic ideals that inspired the Constitutional Revolution of 1906.

But members of the NAtional Front were Patriots and as Patriots they believed in the Constitution as a the Draft which sustained the democratic framework of their country's system of government which was the Monarchy.

pictory: Political Pluralism and Freedom of Press in Pahlavi Iran (1961)

Unlike Sanjabi, Dariush Forouhar, Mehdi Bazargan or the current IRI reformists who hardly ever believed in secularism, Shapour Bakhtiar had first hand experience with the political realities and ideologies of the 20th century:

BEHOLD THE PALE HORSE: French Socialists Pay Tribute to Shapour Bakhtiar

He understood the mechanisms of ideologies and those who use it to manipulate the masses. That is why he understood before many amongst the political elite the dangers of Islamism as a new ideological tool similar to Nazism or Soviet Style Communism which would enslave the nation rather than liberate it from a mild dictatorship which existed under the Shah.

As such Bakhtiar was NOT a Revolutionary But a Constitutionalist. He accepted to become the Shah's Prime Minister to save the country before it was too late. That was Not a mistake. What was a mistake was the Shah's delay in naming someone of his caliber on time at least two years before the showdown of 79, instead of choosing technocrats like Sharif Emami or Amouzegar or in later months the military government when things turned violent and impossible to control.

Bakhtiar Believed in Nation Building not Anarchy and blind Hatred which characterised the revolutionaries of the time which many of Your Government Experts in the US Administration wrongly saw as moderates.

I know the temptation by Former Sympathizers of the Revolutionaries like youself to want to highjack anything that could fit your thesis and comfort your conscience and intellectual responsability in thinking that this Islamic Republic was inevitable and legitimate.

Those days are Over my Friend ... This is not about Rewriting History But Facing it with it's harsh Realities and Bitter Facts even if it may shake some of our convictions in which we may have believed in sincerely for all our lives.

We Monarchists have done our EXAMENS DE CONSCIENCE ... NOW IT's YOUR TURN !

I did not wait to see the results of last June Protests to see the Evil nature of this Turbaned Inquisition known as the Islamic Republic which aims at humiliating Iran's historical heritage and anything it has stood for the past 25 centuries including by wiping the Sun and Lion and replacing it on our national Flag with an Arab Sickle "ALLAH"

Bakhtiar was Not alone in those sad and dark days in believing in the maintaining of the Constitution of 1906. There was a Large SILENT  AND CIVILIZED MAJORITY who could only demonstrate it's support when protected by the police from eventual violent attacks by the revolutionary radicals.

Pro Bakhtiar Demos demanding the Maintaining of the 1906 Constitution Vs Pro Revolutionaries ( 1979):

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vas_tvGZgWE

It is the same Silent Majority that finally demonstrated Sporadically and openly after the Revolution's victory against mandatory hijab only to be suppressed with the same brutality as today with the so called Greens:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=iU-Dy53nCNU&feature=related

My Family and I belonged to this SILENT MAjority and we were many speaking in private at parties and other social gatherings hoping that the Religious Fanatics would not take Over.

We were Shouting BAKHTIAR SANGARETOH NEGAHDAR !

I very Much doubt that YOUR FRIEND Houshang Amir Ahmadi of AIC who did not hesitate to go and shake the hands of a Neo Nazi Revisionist like Ahmadinejad had that intellectual Courage nor inclining at the time as the supporters of Bakhtiar and the Constitutionalists.

Fortunately Other Genuine Iranian Patriots WERE AWAKE:

Iranian Diaspora Intelligentsia Unite Against Islamic Republic's Holocaust Revisionism By Darius KADIVAR

As in all violent revolutions it is always the radicals and violent minority that manages to impose it's will on the large majority through TERROR.

Monarchists and Secular Republicans who did not support the Revolution have come a long way since the early days of the revolution that ousted them.

We are As Much Democrat and Open Minded as any of Your likes and so called Reformist Friends.

The Late Farrokhzad on an Artists Intellectual Responsability and on his Political Activism as a Constitutionalist Monarchist:

Democracy is not a Republican Invention nor an American one by the way ...

HISTORY FORUM: Nader Naderpour on Iran's Constitutional Revolution and European Rennaissance (1996)

PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY: First Public Gathering of the Iranian Majlis (1906)

PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY: Mozaffaredin Shah Signs First Draft of the Constitution (1906)

Bebin TV history for Dummies series- Enghelabeh Mashrouteh aka Constitutional Revolution of 1906:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfb7dqvDNFs

 

So please Refrain From Lecturing from your High Horse about the virtues of democracy and democratic thought.

Shapour Bakhtiar speaks about Regime Change and RESTORING the Constitution of 1906 in his last public Speach a year before his assassination- Hambourg, Germany 1989:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNBFTWXz5_Q

Our Crown Prince is taking the Mantle Where Bakhtiar Left it:

Reza Pahlavi on the 101st anniversary of the Constitutional Revolution- 2007:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFjjjGwEDkQ

Your Friends Already Highjacked Our National Shiro Khorshid Flag, We won't Allow You to Highjack our NAtional Heros to satisfy YOUR Agenda's:

HISTORY FORUM: Mashallah Ajoudani on Intellectuals and the Revolution

DOCUMENTARY: Training of the Future IRI Political Elite ( ARTE TV)

But feel Free to Keep YOUR Shirin Ebadi, we promise we won't highjack her Nobel PEace Prize nor remind her of having been named First Female Judge under the Pahlavis only to be stripped from that status after the revolution ...

Same thing for Your Friend Jon Limbert who has flirted with Trita Parsi and NIAC far too long:

GUEST OF THE AYATOLLAH: Ali Khamenei visits US diplomat John Limbert at occupied US Embassy (1979)

Because Many amongst Our Parents generation Worked hard to Build Iran only to see it destroyed By YOUR FRIENDS WHO CONTINUE TO ENDORSE THIS REGIME's ACTIONS under One Pretext or another.

BUT I PROMISE YOU THAT EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME WE WILL FIGHT BACK TO RESTORE THE TRUTH :

BOOK: EVEN AFTER ALL THIS TIME By Afschineh Latifi ( A Memoir )

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH !

Bakhtiar Was Assassinated Once WE WON't ALLOW YOU TO ASSASSINATE HIM AND HIS LEGACY A SECOND TIME:

BOOK: MA FIDELITE by Shapour Bakhtiar

PARIS GATHERING: Shapour Bakhtiar and Soroush Katibeh memory honored in Paris (FRANCE)

Best,

DK

PS: Sorry for Being Blunt, Brian Jaan, But This is Not Against YOUR PERSONA which I appreciate, nor to deny Your personal Experience or beliefs, But as an IRanian Patriot there are some things which I cannot swallow anymore without reacting vehemently and doing my share to set the record Straight. There are Too many bodies that separate our interpretations of Iran's Contemporary History to be able to agree with eachother on everything without reacting even passionately.