Representative Confronts American Empire on House Floor
By Jim McDermott, AlterNet. Posted May 26, 2007.
Jim McDermott (D-WA) rescues some history from the Memoryhole, and puts Iraq into context: It's always been all about the oil.
Editor's note: After a week that saw Democrats cave to the White House in the worst possible way on Iraq, we thought this speech, offered on the House floor by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) last Wednesday, was worth highlighting. In a brief, five-minute commentary, McDermott does something almost unheard of in Washington: he looks at an issue in its larger historical context instead of pretending it just sprung up overnight like mushrooms after a rainfall.
Mr. Speaker:
This President and Vice President have vowed to repeat the mistakes of history, and they have put into motion a plan to do just that in Iran, even as the House is about to send the President a box of blank checks for Iraq, against the will of the American people.
The history is worth knowing.
In 1953, the United States and United Kingdom launched Operation Ajax, a covert CIA operation to destabilize and remove the democratically elected government of Iran, including then Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.
Why? Oil.
Under Mossadegh, the Iranian government decided to reclaim Iranís rightful ownership of its national oil treasure, which had been exclusively controlled by the British who were taking 85 percent of the profits.
Oh, and by the way, the UK also kept the books secret, merely telling Iran what its 15 percent take was.
As soon as Mossadegh began to reclaim Iranís oil treasure, it was all over. Operation Ajax was set into motion.
The U.S. embassy in Tehran provoked phony internal Iranian dissent, while the Brits engineered an Iranian financial crisis by orchestrating a global boycott of Iranian oil. We brought down the Iranian government and installed the Shah.
For two decades, we propped up the Shah against the will of the Iranian people. It was all about controlling Iran. It still is. Today, ABC News is reporting exclusively that this President has authorized a new covert CIA plot to bring down the Iranian government.
I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the journalism produced by chief investigative reporter Brian Ross and Richard Esposito of ABC News.
This is their lead sentence in the story.
“The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.”
We’re back in 1953 and that worked out so well...[Open in new window]
By Jim McDermott, AlterNet. Posted May 26, 2007.
Jim McDermott (D-WA) rescues some history from the Memoryhole, and puts Iraq into context: It's always been all about the oil.
Editor's note: After a week that saw Democrats cave to the White House in the worst possible way on Iraq, we thought this speech, offered on the House floor by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) last Wednesday, was worth highlighting. In a brief, five-minute commentary, McDermott does something almost unheard of in Washington: he looks at an issue in its larger historical context instead of pretending it just sprung up overnight like mushrooms after a rainfall.
Mr. Speaker:
This President and Vice President have vowed to repeat the mistakes of history, and they have put into motion a plan to do just that in Iran, even as the House is about to send the President a box of blank checks for Iraq, against the will of the American people.
The history is worth knowing.
In 1953, the United States and United Kingdom launched Operation Ajax, a covert CIA operation to destabilize and remove the democratically elected government of Iran, including then Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh.
Why? Oil.
Under Mossadegh, the Iranian government decided to reclaim Iranís rightful ownership of its national oil treasure, which had been exclusively controlled by the British who were taking 85 percent of the profits.
Oh, and by the way, the UK also kept the books secret, merely telling Iran what its 15 percent take was.
As soon as Mossadegh began to reclaim Iranís oil treasure, it was all over. Operation Ajax was set into motion.
The U.S. embassy in Tehran provoked phony internal Iranian dissent, while the Brits engineered an Iranian financial crisis by orchestrating a global boycott of Iranian oil. We brought down the Iranian government and installed the Shah.
For two decades, we propped up the Shah against the will of the Iranian people. It was all about controlling Iran. It still is. Today, ABC News is reporting exclusively that this President has authorized a new covert CIA plot to bring down the Iranian government.
I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record the journalism produced by chief investigative reporter Brian Ross and Richard Esposito of ABC News.
This is their lead sentence in the story.
“The CIA has received secret presidential approval to mount a covert "black" operation to destabilize the Iranian government, current and former officials in the intelligence community tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.”
We’re back in 1953 and that worked out so well...[Open in new window]
posted by Dan at 8:50 AM
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