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| Flags of the USA and Iran against the background of the blue sky © Dmitrii Shirinkin/ shutterstock.com |
For global peace, it is time for the United States and Britain to stop meddling, conducting coups, and invading other countries. In particular, they should give up “regime change” in Iran and apologize for the 1953 coup. They would mend relations and decrease tensions.
The 1953 MI6 and CIA-led coup in Iran changed the world. It
gave absolute power to the Shah but strengthened the resolve of the opposition.
In 1979, the Iranian Revolution dethroned the Shah and created an Islamic
republic. Despite draconian American sanctions, Iran transitioned from being a
lackey of the US
to becoming politically self-assured and independent. It has emerged as a
regional power challenging the US hegemony in the region. Once totally
dependent on the US military supplies and other imports, Iran now produces much
of its own weaponry and other products. In fact, its drones are even considered
a game-changer
in the Russia-Ukraine War.
Since 1979, Iran has challenged the US-led Western countries
across the world. For instance, Iran opposed apartheid in South Africa at a
time when the US supported the racist regime. In 1992, Nelson Mandela visited
Iran and thanked
“the Iranian government and nation for their support in the black people’s
struggle against apartheid.″
In contrast, the US and its Western allies have supported
freedom for white Europeans globally while quietly enslaving or subjugating all
others. Popular Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was eliminated through a 1960
coup supported by Belgium and the US. Washington has historically stood by its
European allies when they conducted ethnic cleansing and genocide against
Africans. American collaboration
with Britain is well known, particularly the British suppression of Kenya’s Mau
Mau movement in the 1950s that sought self-determination.
The destructive meddling in affairs of the other countries
by the US was formalized with the founding of the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) in 1947. In June 1948, the CIA was authorized to carry out covert operations
in “support of US foreign policy.” Its first and most successful operation was
jointly with MI6 in 1953 when it masterminded a coup against Mohammad
Mosaddegh, Iran’s first-ever democratically elected prime minister. In the
years to come, the US used lessons learned from 1953 to overthrow governments
in other countries. Vietnam and Chile are perhaps the two most spectacular
examples.
A Tale of
Neocolonization and Hypocrisy
After World War II, the Americans have
always championed
the 1941 Atlantic Charter, a joint US and British declaration, to portray
themselves as great supporters of freedom. Its most important features included
recognizing the right of people to choose their own form of government,
removing trade restrictions, improving labor standards, expanding social
programs, renouncing use of force, and reducing armament. The Atlantic Charter
deeply influenced the UN Charter that followed after the war.
After the devastation of World War II, the UN was founded in 1945 to save the world from the
“scourge of war,” to strengthen “human rights,” to promote “justice,” reinforce
“international law” and promote social well-being. Yet the US and Britain have
never really honored their commitment to the UN Charter just as they once
ignored the Atlantic Charter after the war was over. Just as Britain and the US
once promoted the interests of the East India Company and the United Fruit Company (UFC)
through their foreign policy, they now support today’s big corporations.
The example of the US acting to support the UFC has become
infamous in history. Less than 11 months after the 1953 Iran coup, the
CIA-sponsored deposed
the democratically elected Guatemalan government. Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán was
ousted in a June 1954 coup because, like Mosaddegh, he refused to play ball
with a foreign corporation exploiting his country. This coup gave birth to a
new word in international politics: “banana republic.”
The same year the US turned Guatemala into a banana
republic, the Vietnamese crushed the French at Dien Bien
Phu. This triggered American intervention under the guise of the Cold War.
The stated aim was to keep out communism. The real goal was to ensure white
domination of another non-white country. The US kept its forces in Vietnam for
the next 20 years, brutally causing nearly 4 million casualties.
American casualties were a relatively low 58,000 but many veterans who served
in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos are still suffering
from physical and emotional trauma. The populations of these three countries
are still dealing with the consequences of napalm bombing and the use of Agent
Orange, which were both forbidden by the Geneva Convention.
Latin America
Gets Special Attention
The US has dominated Latin America and treated the region as
an informal colony. In 1964, the US and the British supported
a military coup in Brazil that deposed the democratically elected Brazilian
president Joao Goulart.
In Chile, the US followed the 1954 Guatemala template. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger mounted major clandestine operations against Chilean President Salvador Allende. Eventually, the US backed the 1973 coup and Allende was executed. This US conducted this coup for the Anaconda Copper Company which was a major donor of the Republican party.
No mercy shown even to Cuba, a small Caribbean country. In
the 1960s, the CIA attempted to assassinate
Fidel Castro numerous times through many means, including the use of organized
crime syndicate. The US even tried an invasion at the Bay
of Pigs but it turned out to be a disaster.
The failure of its anti-Castro machinations did not stop US
operations in Latin America though. In the 1980s, the US supported
the military junta in El Salvador with $6 billion to annihilate the insurgency
and their supporters. That led to a civil war that lasted 12 years, causing
many deaths and destruction. In the 1980s, the Irangate
scandal hit the Reagan administration. Congressional inquiries revealed that
the US had illegally sold weapons to Iran and used the profit to fund Contra
rebels against Sandinistas in Nicaragua.
The Contras’ story becomes even more interesting. In 1981,
the US backed
Manuel Noriega who became the military dictator of Panama. Noriega was a
conduit of money and weapons to the Contras. When Noriega was no longer useful,
the US cut him off its payroll in 1988 and overthrew him in 1989.
The US
Record Elsewhere
As for Asia, nobody should be surprised that the US
supported Pakistan against India in the 1971 India-Pakistan War. Kissinger
covered up the Pakistani mass rape, murders and other atrocities in East
Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. The ruthless American diplomat justified
support for Pakistan as essential for better relations with China. He also
justified bombing Cambodia and Laos for pressuring
North Vietnam. Remember Kissinger also caused Allende’s execution. Yet the
Nobel Committee gave such a megalomaniac and international criminal the Peace
Prize in 1973.
From 1945 to 1990, the CIA backed anti-communists to go on a
rampage
and kill communists in at least 22 countries. It began in Indonesia in 1965.
The military killed a million Indonesians on the mere suspicion of being
communists or left-wing. After the bloodbath,
General Suharto emerged as the country’s leader and became president in 1967.
Today, we vividly remember 9/11.
Yet few question the US role in creating those terrorists. The US wanted
Afghanistan to be the Vietnam for the Soviets. In the 1980s, the US backed the
most violent Muslims from around the world who flocked to fight a jihad in
Afghanistan. They became known as the mujahideen
and delivered a crushing defeat to the Soviets. President Ronald Reagan met with them in the Oval
Office. Later, these jihadis formed al-Qaeda, al-Nusrat, ISIS, and other
terrorist groups who have been causing deaths and destruction since.
In January 2020, the US killed Iranian General Qassim Soleimani when he was on his way to meet the Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi. Soleimani had helped defeat ISIS and his execution triggered anger in the Middle East. Additionally, it also set a precedent for killing diplomats and has put in danger US diplomats around the world. From the days of the 2003 Iraq War, US actions have often been reckless, endangering peace consistently.
In the case of Iran, the US has acted most unwisely. For
decades, it has been trying to initiate “regime change.” The US has imposed
draconian sanctions on the country and caused untold suffering. Few Americans
realize that over 98%
of Iranians voted to create an Islamic republic in 1979.
The US supports Ukraine in the name of freedom and
democracy. Yet the key reason for this support to do so is to weaken Russia.
The US has imposed sanctions against Russia and supplied weapons to Ukraine to
weaken Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yet Putin’s popularity reached
81% at the end of last year while US President Joe Biden’s approval rating
dropped to 44%.
The US funds that have been spent on regime change and
military operations have caused economic pain, violence and suffering around
the world. These funds could have been used to eliminate poverty and improve
infrastructure at home.
Over the years, these policies have taken a toll on the
reputation of the US. Ayatollah Khamenei once referred
to the US as the Great Satan. Many others around the world may not agree with
that description but share the ayatollah’s anti-American sentiment. To improve
its global standing, the US must stop meddling in other countries or invading
them. It could begin with mending relations with Iran and apologizing for the
1953 coup. Instead of acting as a domineering hegemon, the US must work with
other nations to enhance freedom and peace for all humanity.
By Mehdi Alavi
This article was first published by Fair
Observer.
