American Regime Research Paper

In early 1951, the nationalization of Iran’s oil industry by Mosaddegh was the trigger for the United Kingdom to begin discussion with the United States to overthrow Mosaddegh and return the power to the shah. When the coup attempt was thwarted, the CIA decided to call off continuing with the operation because they did not want it to get traced back to the United States. However, Kermit Roosevelt believed that the United States should not be done interfering with Iran, and

When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on December 1979, the goal was to help Afghan communist forces set up a communist government. The Soviet Union felt Afghanistan had key resources and a foothold in the Middle East to spread communist ideas. The result would be a war that the Soviet Union wishes it never got involved in and likened to their “Vietnam War”, meaning winning a number of battles but not the war like what happened to the U.S. in Vietnam. The background of the war, outcome of the war, and impact on the United States are key to understanding the Soviet-Afghan War.

The American public was so captivated by the Iran Hostage Crisis because they were blindsided by this radical action and their knowledge of America’s involvement in Iran was limited. The media played a major role in influencing their emotions and they already had trouble trusting the American government. This unknown involvement began in 1943 when President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin met in Tehran to discuss how to remove the British and Soviet military forces from Iran because Iran wanted to be its own nation. The United States aided the young Shah, the ruler of Iran, and his government with military weapons and loans. Over time, Prime Minister Mossadegh, of Iran, gained more and more power until he was the true ruler of Iran and the Shah was just a figurehead. The United States, fearing the spread of communism, devised a secret plan for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to over throw Prime Minister Mossadegh.

When the soviet union invaded afghanistan the war lasted for 9 years 1979-1989. Between 1 million to 1.5 million people were killed in that war and millions of people when to a diffrent countries such as pakistan or iran as refugees. The United States supported Afghanistan by supplying arms to the Mujahadeen. Ronald Reagan sent billions of dollars to the Mujahadeen so he can help Jihad against the Soviet Union. “Reagan believed this defense shield could make nuclear war impossible. Reagan deployed CIA special activities division paramilitary officers to train, equip and lend the Mujahideen battalion against the Soviet army”. Reagan’s objective was winning the Cold War and the rollback of communism. The United States also offered financial and

Iranian hostility of United States can be traced back to the 1950s. The United States supported any regime that was not communist, even though they would be considered very unpopular with the people of their country. Because of this, Iran became an anti-communist country and the Shah became an ally of the United States. In 1950 the Shah left Iran when Mohammed Mossadegh was elected Prime Minister. After Mossadegh election, he used his authority and nationalized the oil industry in the country. This incident generated fear in the United States. The state department felt that communists could abuse this anarchy and Iran could turn against the United States. The Shah, who had been removed from power, contacted the United States and the Central

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan- In 1979, the USSR invaded Afghanistan to support the communist government in Afghanistan against noncommunist guerillas supported by the Americans and West. The war began when the USSR began land reforms that were resented by many people, which The war dragged on, costing thousands of Soviet lives despite the fact that the Soviet troops were not able to achieve their objectives, hence the reason why the war was called “Russia’s Vietnam.” Osama bin Laden was among the anti-Communist guerillas and would later lead the terrorist organization that orchestrated the 9/11 attacks.

The situation in Afghanistan actually began in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded their country. The United States funded money to the "mujahedin," or holy warriors, in the name of stopping communism. From this support, Afghanistan was able to defeat the Soviet Union in 1989. Yet the country became very unstable after the war. Political power was fluctuating often and leaders came in and out of power rapidly. Farmers resorted to growing many drugs such as poppies and marijuana and sold them around the globe. Cities were annihilated. Over five million Afghanis fled to other countries in search of a better life. When the Afghanis turned to the United States for help in rebuilding our country, we refused. This caused great anger amongst the Afghani people directed toward the United States. This also lead to Mullah Mohammod Omar, the current leader of Afghanistan, to form a ground of men to "rebuild" his country. They are now known as the Taliban. Omar's personal description is, "A simple band of dedicated youths determined to establish the laws of God on

The soviets invaded to install a communist government in Afghanistan, but faced steep opposition. Sticking to the Truman Doctrine president Bush Sr. sent military aid to the Afghans, and after 10 years, the soviets withdrew because they were on the verge of collapse. When the soviets left a power vacuum was created, with Al-Qaeda eventually becoming the strongest power. Unlike the afghan rebels the US supported, Al-Qaeda was hostile to any western power, and began a Jihad against the West. The rise of Al-Qaeda allowed events like 9/11 and the London train Bombings to occur. Because of the Soviet invasion, radical terrorist groups became powerful, with the effects of them still being felt

Mosaddeq supervised a nationalist party that sought to end all foreign intrusion in Iranian affairs. He sought to nationalize the oil industry, whereas, the shah promoted a privatized system (“Iran Hostage Crisis”: Wright 1). Also known as the Iranian Coup D’état of 1953, the United States aided the Shah to overthrow the government of Premier Mohammed Mosaddeq. Joined with the Shah, the Central Intelligence Agency, more commonly known as the CIA, and the British intelligence engineered a plan to depose Mosaddeq. The Shah bribed powerful figures, planted false reports in newspapers and provoked street violence as methods of disposing of Mosaddeq (Wright 22). President Dwight D. Eisenhower agreed and ordered the CIA to embark on Operation TP- Ajax to dispose of Mosaddeq and install a new government by the Shah (Cohen, p. 57). The United States and Iran became official allies.

Back in 1950, when Mossadegh was Prime Minister of Iran, he nationalized Iran 's oil industry, reducing the European influence throughout the nation over the oil commodity. This sparked great fear throughout the United States; they feared the communists would turn the Iran democracy against them. After three years in exile, in 1953 Shah Mohammed

In response, the rest of the world started a boycott of Iranian oil, and the British began planning a military operation to wrest control from Mossadegh. They worked with President Dwight Eisenhower and the American CIA to organize a coup of sorts, by funding and inciting pro-shah supporters to take to the streets and demand the removal of Mossadegh, who was an erratic and unpredictable ruler. The operation was successful and threw Mossadegh out of power, but not without many unintended consequences (Farber, 56). Within Iran, Islamic fundamentalists following Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini were greatly angered by the American influence and disruption, and the seeds of revolution were planted.

In 1953 the Central Intelligence Agency working in tandem with British intelligence overthrew the democratically elected leader of Iran Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, who was educated in the West and pro-America. Shortly after being elected in 1951 he nationalized the British run oil fields, denying Britain control of Iran’s hugely lucrative oil infrastructure. The operation included the use of techniques such as; propaganda, bribery, engineered demonstrations using agents of influence, and false flag operations. “The CIA’s agents harassed religious leaders and bombed one’s home in order to turn them against Mossadeqh.” They also attacked mosques, and distributed phony anti-Mossadegh

After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, Islamic fighters rushed to Afghanistan to support their brothers and fight against the communists. Most Arab nations and the U.S. facilitated the

Many attribute the tensions that led to this event to the 1953 British and U.S. led effort that deposed the democratically-elected government of Mossadegh. This effort was led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which was known as codenamed Operation Ajax. The democratically elected leader was ousted by military force and a Shah was established who represented an absolute monarch. The agreement between the U.S. and the Shah consisted of military and economic support to Iran while the U.S. would receive a continuous supply of oil. Because of this agreement the Shah's acquired wealth and power which caused significant contempt among the Iranian people; especially those who enjoyed the democratic political system that was

In 1979, the Soviet Union entered Afghanistan to reclaim a falling economy. Despite their need to introduce a capitalistic society in the country, The Soviet Union was not liked by the Mujahidin,which was a pioneer organization before the current entity. Due to the differences that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union, the former decided to intervene to reduce the influence of Russians in the region. Different anti-Russian troupes were funded by the United States, which was referred to as the Mujahedeen. Other countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia contributed to the development of these forces.( Jones, 2008).