Monday, October 15, 2007

Legacy of interventionism

Here's a good piece by Jacob Hornberger of the Future of Freedom Foundation on the history and sad legacy of decades of U.S. interventionism. He makes the important point that much of the opposition to World War II before Pearl Harbor was the memory of what was for a short time called, the Great War, until a greater one came along and got itself labeled the "good war."

I think I am persuaded by Sir Eldon Griffiths' book on Iran that the U.S. didn't actually have as much to do with the deposing of the elected government of Iran and the installation of the shah in 1953 as both CIA and anti-CIA advocates believe. The U.S. was meddling against the government, to be sure, but other forces were in play; it could be the CIA backed what turned out to be the winning side and took more credit than was due for the outcome, to make itself look more effectual than it really was. But maybe it doesn't matter that much. Most everybody, especially in the Middle East, now believes the CIA did it, and it's one more reason to be resentful.

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