February 8, 2006
I’m not referring to the XmlHttpRequest object that is the special sauce behind the new age of code-heavy clients like Gmail and Google Maps. AJAX, in reference to development, is all about a smoother browser interaction and transparency for the user. It’s a broker of sorts that makes page transitions more seamless.
Operation Ajax, though attempting to be transparent, had nothing to do with programming. It was the covert mission of the US and UK governments to remove the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran in 1953.
Mohammed Mossadegh was removed from power by American and British intelligence services primarily because of his desire to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (later known as BP), thereby greatly reducing British control of Iranian oil. Oh, and the Brits lead the US to believe that Iran was getting hot and heavy with the former Soviet Union. Couple Mossadegh’s desire to remove foreign influence on his nation’s oil industry with the perception of growing Soviet relations and you’re left with a real life hoo-haw on your hands.
I wrote recently about Hamas and how they are also democratically elected, but polar opposite in comparison to current US policy towards Israel. I’m not suggesting that the US is capable of removing Hamas from power — well, not yet at least. A multi-lateral case has to be built and credible intelligence has to be juxtaposed against an intent to disrupt the balance of power before the world at large can pursue regime change. Or you can just be George W. Bush and act on faulty intelligence on top of overwhelming outcry for diplomacy over military action. But I digress…
After Mossadegh, Time Magazine’s 1951 “Man Of The Year”, was removed from power the Western world supported the dictatorial regime of the Shah Of Iran for 25 years. The Shah of Iran waved an iron fist and brutally tortured the Iranian people who voiced any dissent. Couple that with America’s support for Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War and it becomes easier to see why the Iranians hate America and the West. I’d hate America too. I’d want to arm myself to make sure that 1953 could not happen again. I’m not justifying Iran’s nuclear program regardless of its use, civilian or otherwise, but I am saying that the self-determination of the people allows them to take necessary precautions to create proactive deterrence.
The puppet government of the United States was bound for failure in an Islamic nation where Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the leader after Mossadegh, refused to enforce basic aspects of Islamic culture. Pahlavi’s appearance as a pawn of the US government and the growing sentiment towards Sharia set the stage for the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the current state of Iran that we have today.
My point from all this is that removing a seemingly nascent threat through a forcible coup can result in an entirely more problematic situation. The current state of dissarray in Iraq is the most obvious, but Iran is the less publicized case.
Would we be in the same position today with Iran had we not removed the democratically elected government in 1953? Would Iran’s foreign policy leaders outright question the Holocaust and discuss the obliteration of Israel openly as part of its objectives.