A picture is worth a thousand words. End of discussion.
This is your Americans dollars at work. I am confident there is an incredible amount of records in the archives that are even open to the public about the years of Kissinger and Iran's Shah.
This is what we have to look forward to from a group of old, white men in the Senate and House. That hearing of the Senate Committee has no standing. Kissinger and Shultz have not a clue about the Iranian government that has existed since 1979. They never met anyone from Iran since the change in government.
You know, there is a reason Republicans like to disconnect from communication with countries that throw out the USA figure head governments, it allows them to reach back in time to reference hostile relations based on decades past. If there are no new connection with governments in power for over 35 years there is no basis for rational decisions regarding war and peace. Hello, America!
Now, to finish this dance with destiny, Netanyahu is coming to parlay the fears of Israel while FOX News is on death watch of his family.
What the Republicans are doing is 'planned drama' to increase the drum beat of war in anticipation of another Bush in 2016. None of what they are doing is based in fact or has standing as accurate. It carries no brevity.
This is from the Brookings Institute. Following the overthrow of the Shah the poverty of the people diminished. This graph only starts in 1984. The Iranian Revolution took place in 1979. It isn't easy being in a country that has just radically changed their government, so I really would not expect any information much before 5 years out, unless it is an Iranian scholar within the country. Maybe there was one unpublished or something. It would be interesting to hear from any Iranian scholars from that time period if they still are with us. They could be provided peer review and perhaps level some as well. The Shah was known to live a very extravagant lifestyle while the people starved and died. This study by Brookings at least began a reconnection with the leadership in subtle and valuable ways.
January 29, 2009
By: Djavad Salehi-Isfahani
...Poverty
Despite a lack of improvement in inequality, (click here) poverty has declined steadily in the last ten years. Figure 3 shows the proportion of individuals who were poor (the Headcount ratio) during 1984-2006 using separate rural and urban poverty lines. Poverty rates increased sharply during 1984-88 but, contrary to popular belief, fell during the economic reconstruction and market reforms. Poverty rose again briefly when the economy had to adjust to the balance of payments crisis of 1994-95. Since then, poverty has declined steadily to an enviable level for middle-income developing countries Despite claims to the contrary, during the eight years of the Khatami Administration, poverty fell by more than 2 percentage points each year. Significantly, in the first two years of the Ahmadinejad government, urban poverty appears to have increased by 1.5 percentage points, or about 680,000 individuals (rural poverty remained unchanged). Given the huge inflow of resources into the economy in 2006 and the Ahmadinejad government’s active redistributive efforts, the increase in urban poverty is quite striking. The data for 2007 and 2008 are not available to reach a definitive conclusion on the current administration’s efforts at redistribution and poverty reduction, but the available evidence on inequality and urban poverty does not bode well for his re-election....
Bombs are not the answer for Iran, but, this type of political theater does nothing to improve relations or hopes of the people either. It is the people that brought about a government willing to talk and work with The West. If the Iranian people lose hope then we lose everything. Maybe that is the Republican plan.
If the Israeli Prime Ministers family is under threat I would expect the White House and USA Ambassadors in Israel to know about it. FOX News shouldn't feel such a burden, especially when they don't really have all the facts.
