Persian Politics & Retrogradation (1953 Letter)
| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | April 29, 2021 |
After Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated his Democratic challenger, Adlai Stevenson, why didn’t he kill him?
This letter to the editor of The San Francisco Examiner, contrasting the 1952 election results with the recent coup d’état in Iran, formed an unsatisfactory syllogism.
Naturally, the writer was unaware of Ike’s own role in bringing about the violent Iranian revolt through covert means, and what that said about Western civilization and American justice.
Letters To The Editor’s Mailbox
September 25, 1953
A DIFFERENCE.
To The San Francisco Examiner
Two items appearing in the newspapers about the same time caused me to wonder.
One was that President Eisenhower
had invited his late political rival Adlai Stevenson to lunch at the White House.
The other was that the former Premier of Iran, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, had been sentenced to be hanged in public for various crimes, after a secret trial. The real reason for the coming execution was not given—that is, Mossadegh was a
defeated candidate. [News of the lynching verdict
was fake, though this punishment was sought later
on]
Now Iran may be the oldest political country in the world. In Biblical times it was the land of the Medes and Persians, those political experts with unchangeable laws. The United States is a new country, our government is in spirit the
newest in form.
Why haven’t the Persians (Iranians) in their thousands of years, learned about justice and fair government; why haven’t they learned democratic processes, but still act with the barbarity of the tyrannies of biblical times?
Mossadegh, the report says, is likely to die — but Ike’s cook won’t feed poison to Adlai!
THOMAS WILSON,
San Francisco.
Related links:
America’s Role in Iran | Letter to The Los Angeles Times (March 1980)
Reader Agrees With Jst. William O. Douglas | Letter to The Spokesman-Review (June 1952)
Adlai Stevenson Not The People’s Choice? | Letter to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (July 1952)
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
