Sen. Vic Snyder on Democracy In Iran (2003)
| Arash Norouzi The Mossadegh Project | October 16, 2023 |
On the House floor in 2003, Senator Victor “Vic” F. Snyder, Democrat from Arkansas, displayed a photo of Premier Mohammad Mossadegh and Pres. Harry S. Truman together, lamenting Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s decision to authorize Operation Ajax 50 years prior.
Snyder’s remarks were in response to a speech on “Freedom in Iraq and Middle East” by President George W. Bush the day before. Said Bush, “Many Middle Eastern governments now understand that military dictatorship and theocratic rule are a straight, smooth highway to nowhere. But some governments still cling to the old habits of central control.”
Serving in the House of Representatives from 1997 to 2011, Snyder is also a doctor and Vietnam veteran.
DEMOCRACY BUILDING
(Mr. SNYDER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, Stephen Kinzer, in his book, All the Shah’s Men, describes the events of the overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953 in a coup staged by the United States and the British. President Truman did not support overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Mossadegh. In this picture taken in 1951 here in Washington, D.C., you can see his relationship with Mossadegh, who he respected as a nationalist. However, the Eisenhower government came in,
President Eisenhower supported the coup, and the government was overthrown in 1953.
I thought of these events on hearing the President’s speech yesterday calling for the spread of democracy in the Middle East. [George W. Bush] Stephen Kinzer in his interviews with Iranians asked them in the past what they had thought of American overtures talking about democracy in Iran, and their response was we had a democracy, but you Americans overthrew it.
We all support democracy and democratic ideals, but when it comes to remaking societies, Mr. Speaker, we should approach this with humility, realism, and a sense of history.
Related links:
The President’s Failure In Iran | U.S. Congress, Feb. 15, 1979
Congressman Earl Blumenauer, Oregon Democrat, on Iran, Iraq (2006)
Senator Robert Byrd on Iran, the Shah and the 1953 Coup
MOSSADEGH t-shirts — “If I sit silently, I have sinned”
