Opinion: What hath regime change wrought?

Winston Churchill once remarked, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”  

I agree.  I also agree with John Quincy Adams saying, “Americans should not go abroad to slay dragons in the name of spreading democracy.”  However, Woodrow Wilson’s idea that we must, “Make the world safe for democracy” is hogwash.

In 1941, Iran was led by Reza Shah, who had formed ties with Germany and was perceived as problematic by the allies. He was forced to abdicate his throne and was replaced by his son, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.  

In 1951 the new Shah appointed Mohammad Mosaddegh as prime minister. Mosaddegh nationalized the oil industry.  

In 1953, Mohammad Reza attempted to dismiss Mosaddegh, but the premier’s popular support was so great that the Shah himself was forced out of Iran.   

The British MI-6 and the CIA initiated Operation Ajax, which toppled Mosaddegh from power, and the Shah was returned to the throne.  A Shiite cleric, Ruhollah Khomeini, began calling for the overthrow of the Shah and the founding of an Islamic state.  Khomeini was exiled for his activities.  

On Jan. 16, 1979, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was forced to leave Iran by his citizens. 

On Feb. 1, 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini returned from exile. 

We have again been attempting regime change in Iran since that time.  

How’s that working out?

In 1963, Ngô Dinh Diem, the president of South Vietnam, was assassinated during a CIA-backed coup d’état that resulted in regime change. The Kennedy administration also attempted regime change in Cuba during operation Bay of Pigs.  How’d those work out?

On Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida terrorists attacked our country from a safe haven in Afghanistan. We accomplished regime change from the Taliban in a few months. Twenty years later we gave it back to the Taliban after loss of U.S. lives, loss of billions in military equipment and Afghanis hanging onto flying aircraft. How’d that work out?

Regime change finally succeeded when Assad left Syria. That left Syria with a former ISIS leader at the helm, Turkey gearing up to solve their Kurd problem once and for all, and the U.S. backing the Kurds against Erdogan. Russia and Israel remain in this hodgepodge. How’s that going to work out?

In February 2014, the Maidan Coup in Ukraine, backed by Victoria Neuland, removed Victor Yanukovych from power. How’s that going?

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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