1. “Shared Image”. A shared image, (or shared attitude or party lines) represents conventional wisdom and percolates through peoples mind. It has a tendency to become entrenched with time. The longer such premises prevail, the more difficult it is to challenge them. Thus one would have considerable difficulty getting the average person to believe facts that go against the shared images. Naturally individuals react to evidence which goes against strongly held beliefs. People either ignore the evidence or interpret it so as to change what it seems to mean. It is only after a disaster, when the average person re-evaluates an unquestioned, dominant premise, that one might present a skeptical appraisal of these images.
2. Mr. Milani, who admits in his other book a Tale of two cities that he was arrested by SAVAK while meeting with minister [Ganji], and stirs rumors and accusations of SAVAK safe houses where political opponents “disappeared”, makes no mention that he was arrested for being linked with a Chinese communist group responsible for bank robbery and attempting to kidnap the US ambassador to Tehran. And does not care to elaborate as to why he did not “disappear” into these safe houses and instead even saw the international Red Cross inspections of Evin prison first hand.
3. “Crackdown [proposed by Sabeti] that seemed to have averted crisis was aborted in April [1978]” is mentioned on p292 with no mention as to why. Equally suspect is a lack of a single mention of the prevailing mood in the closing weeks of that year by the Shah and his key officials that presumed the contents of the BBC radio broadcast into Iran and General Huysers mission were a prelude to a US led coup d’etat. Neither is there a timeline presented of the liberalization policies being put in place as a prelude to a spring 1979 free election (under UN Supervision) in parallel to events of 1978 that are so meticulously presented.
4. Corruption: Rockefellers, Vanderbilt, Carnegie’s and Astor’s. All the founders of modern USA would be considered corrupt under the standards put forth by our socialist revolutionaries. And yet their wealth is the lifeblood of many of today’s universities, hospitals and other charitable institutions. Instead of promoting a consistent message to the Iranian people as to what constitutes financial corruption, and what should be considered ethical, the politics of those who suggest corruption in the previous regime is the selfish politics of inciting jealousy (at the sons of the already very wealth) to undermine an entire regime, with no concern for any corruption or injustice. It is what I would call criminally pathological envy of the Iranian Bourgeois and the Western world. Thanks to the likes of Mr. Milani and western media in so effectively making Iranians believe religiously (i.e. without evidence) that all the Pahlavi regime was corrupt, today we are faced by confused young Iranians with the twisted conclusion that corruption must thus be good. This is a moral mess our revolutionary forefathers leave the future generations with. Our Communist historian knows very well that instead of inciting jealousy, meanness and small mindedness, the Iranian government’s role should be directed towards the issues that bring the whole energy of the nation into action. However in Iran Mr. Milani and friends spent all their energy on surrendering and dismantling the national security forces to a leader who articulated which foot to lean on when urinating against a wall!
5. Democracy and Freedom of Press: {Some food for thought} Considering the current limited democratic process that we can witness today is being conducted under a Caliphate that has and will murder its political opposition by cutting them into pieces, can we really assume that the Iranian character has changed so much that such democratic behavior, and civil debates, would stay in a free society? Especially considering the lack of unity and respect for other political perspectives by the Iranians who now live in free societies. Nearly a quarter of a century after the 1979 debacle, a democratic process, including press freedoms, in Iran may well work but only "thanks" to the dreadfully traumatic mistakes of our “Islamic” government, and the continuation of the Pahlavi commitment to education policies.
6. Sycophant: “Chaploosi”. A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people. A person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
7. Comments of State department individual (from Eagle and Lion by James A. Bill, p247), who participated in briefing Ambassador Sullivan, Washington D.C., May 19, 1977
8. Hamilton Jordan, Crisis: The last year of the Carter Presidency pp88, 89
9. Quixotic: Caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; idealistic without regard to practicality. Capricious; impulsive.
10. The cost of the wasted resources of the Iran-Iraq war exceeded the entire 3rd world expenditure on public health in a decade.
11. A country occupied during the second world war, involved with interests and monkey business of the foreigners, facing expansion of expectations and hopes, lacking specialized manpower to satisfy the expectations, facing communistic intrigues, facing a communistic movement in Azarbayejan province, facing the uprising of the Kurdish tribes, dealing in Parliament with personalities like Seyed Ziaedin Tabatabai, Jamal Emami, Taheri, Haerizadeh, Moadel, and the rogues like Shams Ghanatabadi, Sid Yaghoob Anvar, Mir Ashrafi, Abbas Shahandeh and the leftists like Iraj Eskandari, Fareydoon Keshavarz, Parvin Gonabadi and Shahab Ferdousi, having to deal with taking of arm by the southern tribesmen, having the condition of lacking any security because of the desire to have democracy without having in place the required laws, up to the period of removing Mossadeq from power to resolve the British economic blockade of Iran.
What did we have after Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s involvement in national politics? Five strong premiers of the development period, Mr. Eghbal, Mr. Sharif Emami, Mr. Amini, Mr. Alam and Mr. Hoveyda and still each were quite happy to create problem for each other. What choice was there left for the Shah, but to take firmly the road towards rapid economic expansion (with exponential increase in training / education) and citizen participation through decentralization? Was he to sit back and enjoy the good life like the previous dynasty? Why should a benevolent attitude be called despotism one wonders by anyone other than those who brought us to our current sorry state? Which one of the people who worked close with the Shah has ever referred to him as a dictator? Which one of the people who received instruction from the Shah, has mentioned of a wrong advise given to him? In a patriarchic society, with a tradition of authoritarian rule, where even the village katkhoda is a mini-dictator, we have a liberal minded, western educated, and somewhat shy and mild mannered individual being presented in contradictory and derogatory manner.
12. It should be noted that in countries such as Israel, even today, torture is officially sanctioned in law if the nations security is threatened. In Iran this was never the case. Permitting Red Cross representatives to inspect any location they wished in pursuit of torture and execution claims by the opposition was a message to those officials in charge of the security forces that they are not only answerable to themselves for violation of the law, but to independent authorities outside the country as well. It was also a public demonstration by the Shah that these rumors of torture, if true, are not sanctioned by him and will be prosecuted. Both Red Cross mission and the UN mission after 1979 found no real evidence of a policy of torture or murders. SAVAK, however, was able to present hidden camera's showing a few of the accusers fabricating injuries.
13. The same British ambassador, Sir Anthony Parson’s, also told Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, that should he hold the spring 1979 free election under UN supervision he would be know in history as one of the most democratic leaders of the world. A year later in the middle of mass executions of army generals, raping of women prior to execution, etc. he suggests to the UN Security Council to give the Ayatollah’s a chance and see what their grievances are.
14. In 1983 the US government brought to the attention of Khomeini the left wing (Tudeh party and MKO) and their rising influence. A massacre of this power structure then ensued. (Tower commission report). http://www.lbbs.org/zmag/articles/ShalomIranIraq.html
15. WTO: World Trade Organization, founded in 1995 as an extension to GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) and specifically benefiting corporate interests. IMF: International Monetary Fund (together with world bank are propelled by the interests of their wealthiest members, USA, Germany Japan, France and UK)
16. According to a 1966 CIA reported presented in the book (p232) “The shah often acted against US advise. As a result, he attributes his considerable success to the correctness of his policies and to his own skill in political maneuver.” Iran’s decision to purchase a steel mill from Soviet Union… is one sign of this newfound independence. Iran’s active role in OPEC, and the shah’s willingness to stand up to the west is another.
17. I'd like to propose the Iranian pursuit of truth is linked with our ancient past . Herodotus, the Greek historan and contemporary of Darius the Great, wrote the Persians esteemed the truth above all things. Darius's inscription of Behistun states: "Punish well the man who shall lie and deceive, if thou hope to keep the country secure". From Xerxes we have: "If you wish to be happy when living and blessed when dead, have respect for the law established by Ahura Mazda and worship him and the truth reverently." Further more there are records of more than 75 names of people containing the word truth. A far cry from our Islamic Revolutionaries of 1979, I would suggest.
18. The ideals which have been put forward in the form of Marxism, Communism, Socialism, National Socialism, Capitalism, Islamic Marxism, that have created upheavals and un measurable bloodshed, have only been successful, to the extent that they have neared the economic behavior of the people. Once they were caught in philosophic dogma their economic development has been hampered.
19. In our own country we witnessed that a high increase in expectation, together with dreamy ideas, disoriented the public. Freedom turned into violence and brought down the government, which based on 30 years of the monarchs experience and the efforts of the Iranian specialists, had taken the speediest economic development road. Consider that when the annual income of the Iranian government from oil export was about one billion dollars, Mohammad Reza Shah took to aim at large investment in education, military, petrochemical, oil, steel and other industrial activities. Today, following the behavior that made Iranian specialists escape from the country, we see a country with 100 years of experience in oil industry, and yet we do not have enough capital reserves and know how to exploit our own natural resources. We are left with a future society that takes to gossip and is in the hand of foreign interests and petroleum consumers, instead of focusing on its own destiny.
