[Marxism] NPR and the demonization of Chavez - follow-up

[Brian Shannon <brian_shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Of course, the NPR article on crime in Venezuela may reflect symmetry
and a dove-tailing of interests, or simply a case of a "liberal" nose
to the nether parts of the American system. However, the provocative
character of the article, along with the apparently spontaneous spate
of articles against Chavez indicates a concerted and planned effort.

Here is a report on how creative the CIA can be. To achieve the
overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran, the CIA hired groups or gangs
(possibly criminal elements along with members of anti-communist
parties) to pretend to be Communist members of the Tudeh party, in
order to justify and inspire an organized and supported action
against it.

And in Venezuela, the original coup against Chavez involved a
confused exchange of gunfire, immediately attributed to Chavez
supporters, but undoubtedly accomplished by right-wingers in order to
frame Chavez supporters and Chavez himself.

Of course, we all know of the FBI's use of agent-provocateurs in the
U.S. In the COINTELPRO period, pretending to be left-wingers
themselves, FBI agents drew cartoons and wrote letters in order to
inspire a counteraction within Left organizations. When the real
history of the Black Panther Party is written, we may find that some
of its new branches had FBI and/or police agents in on their founding.

Brian Shannon
_________________

Growing public concerns that Mossadeq had gone against the Shah's
wishes added to the anti-Mossadeq climate the CIA was brewing in
Tehran. Tudeh groups toppling statues of Reza Shah only added fuel to
that smoldering heap of oily rags. To be sure, the CIA had paid
$50,000 to hire a Tudeh crowd to initiate the demonstrations, which
drew out actual Tudeh members to rage against statues of the founder
of the Pahlavi dynasty.

The night of the 17th, Roosevelt mapped out a strategy for the next
few days. On Tuesday, the 18th, he would see if he couldn't get the
leading cleric of the holy city of Qom to issue a fatwa against
Communism and, indirectly, the Mossadeq government. In the meantime,
he'd get further army involvement and try for a general uprising on
the 19th. Roosevelt contacted the garrison heads of Kermanshah and
Isfahan to see who would send their forces into Tehran to depose
Mossadeq. The Kermanshah garrison commander agreed to lead a column
of tanks into Baghdad, although the Isfahan commander refused to
participate.

On the 18th, CIA agents provocateurs organized more ersatz Tudeh
demonstrations to attack the Pan-Iranist party headquarters near
Majlis Square. The AP ran a story fed by Roosevelt's agents which
included a courageous quote from Zahedi: "Be ready for sacrifice and
loss of your lives for the maintenance of independence and of the
monarchy of Iran and of the holy religion of Islam which is now being
threatened by infidel Communists." This from a man cowering in fear
inside a CIA safe house.

That evening, as the Shah touched down in Rome and made several bland
statements about the situation, Tehran erupted into a massive pro-
Shah demonstration. The CIA after-action report could not identify
anything specific they themselves had done to spark it off, and
chalked it up to the people simply having had enough with the anti-
Shah talk they'd had from Mossadeq over the past few days. That the
CIA agents who were creating Tudeh incidents picked that night to
start a looting spree only amplified the violent outburst that night.

On the 19th, pro-Shah rioting intensified and the agents who'd been
stoking the Tudeh to action now stepped in to lead the pro-Shah
groups and focus the rioting on Mossadeq-friendly targets. By 10:15
AM, army units led by coup conspirators had begin to join the pro-
Shah demonstrators. The demonstrations had attracted people of all
types, not just hoodlums, and they began chanting, "Shah piruz
ast" (The Shah is victorious). By noon, twenty truckloads of troops
joined them and pictures of the Shah were everywhere. Mossadeq was on
the run as the crowds moved through the city towards his house. Once
there, a nine-hour battle ensued. 300 people died in that battle and
Mossadeq's house was looted at the end of it.

http://www.diacritica.com/sobaka/2003/iciran.html






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