Rep. McDermott: The Folly of Attacking Iran

These are remarks made as part of Just Foreign Policy's project, The Folly of Attacking Iran: Time for Real Diplomacy. They were given in Washington, DC March 6, 2008.

Good evening,

I've been looking forward to this evening and I am delighted to be here. The truth is, I brought my own copy of Stephen [Kinzer's] book, which I have read, and I believe it should be required reading by every Member of Congress.

I also brought with me a copy of Time Magazine. It is the January 7, 1952 issue. It was Time's Man of the Year issue and it is relevant to our discussion this evening. Time selected Mohammed Mossadegh; under his picture on the cover, Time added this subhead: "He oiled the wheels of chaos."

It was Mossadegh, of course, who coined the slogan Persia for the Persians and he incited a nationalistic fervor to take back Iran's oil industry from the British and kick out the west in the process, right down to the oil workers.

At the time, we liked to think that Mossadegh had cut off his nose to spite his face. The Iranian oil industry was in ruins, but instead of rioting against Mossadegh, the Iranian people embraced what they saw as their nation standing up to the West. Other nations in the Mideast, like Egypt, watched and then emulated Iran, because they saw the West, especially the U.S., as supporting colonialism by the British above all else.

In other words, Mossadegh and other leaders saw America as the architect of an international policy to treat the Mideast like it was the Midwest.

But Mossadegh saw things differently.