Posted: January 29, 2009
1:00 am Eastern
© 2009
On Jan. 20, 2009, Jimmy Carter announced a new plan for peace in the Middle East and appealed to President Barack Obama to implement that plan. He met with Obama just days before the inauguration to attempt to sway him about what the former president called an "unnecessary war" in Gaza. Carter has long been a vocal proponent of establishing an ongoing relationship with Hamas' terrorist leaders. It appears his influence has already made inroads in Obama's Middle East policy plans.
Today's society is replete with makeovers, everything from extreme home makeovers to extreme people makeovers – everything from plastic surgery, to botox, to liposuction and other cosmetic enhancements. However, one of the most extreme makeovers took place in France in the late 1970s when the dour Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was transformed almost overnight into a VIP, the darling of the liberal Western media.
Khomeini received the makeover of all times. This son of an Indian fortuneteller was stripped of his past. His father became the leader of the Khomeini clan who, supposedly, was murdered by Pahlavi's father. Khomeini graduated from second-rate mullah to academic and renowned holy man. If he was the Eliza Doolittle of this scenario, who was the Henry Higgins? What country (or countries) was so determined to unseat the shah that it was willing to undertake the transformation?
Dominique Lorenz, a journalist for the French Libération, wrote that "having picked Khomeini to overthrow the shah, [the Americans] had to get him out of Iraq, clothe him with respectability, and set him up in Paris; a succession of events which could not have occurred if the leadership in France had been against it."
In France, Khomeini's Iranian visitors totaled more than 1,000 per day, all of whom the French blessed or, at the very least, turned a blind eye. The ayatollah became the "Guru of Hate" as he shared his vitriolic dislike for the shah with all who would listen and learn. These disciples, including a number from various American universities, were not coming just to sit at the feet of the "Teacher" and learn; their pockets, lined with money collected through the Bazaar, the commercial system in Iran, were empty when they left Khomeini's presence. Some estimates place the contributions at approximately 20 million British pounds.
The ayatollah's compound was reportedly surrounded by representatives of covert agencies from the major powers: the CIA, Britain's MI-6, Russia's KGB and the French intelligence organization, SDECE. One has to wonder why an unknown, uncultured, old cleric was the focus of such attention. Intelligence officers from Israel, France and the U.S. stated that the U.S. government wrote checks to Khomeini while he was in Paris in increments of approximately $150 million each. They were delivered through the CIA. One man with whom I spoke stated, "Jimmy Carter should have been tried for treason for aiding and abetting an enemy of the United States."
Carter perceived Khomeini more as a religious holy man in a grass-roots revolution than the founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said, "Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint." Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, "Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure." Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on Feb. 12, 1979, that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of "impeccable integrity and honesty."
Posts
Marandi is a Known operative of Islamic Republic of Fear! He would say that since that would be his wishful thinking off course!!
“when other countries interfere with Iran’s internal affairs, things get worse and it only creates further tension”
If other countries WEREN’T watching, hundreds of people would have been killed by now instead of 10,20 that have died. even now that the world IS watching, those murderers still kill, arrest, beat up, rape, stone…………………….
I’m sure they WISHED nobody was watching, so they could do whatever they wanted. but NO!! WE ARE WATCHING, WE ARE gonna speak up, WE ARE gonna stand up, WE ARE gonna backup our brothers.!
And Seyyed Mohammad Marandi, you are a coward. You say you’ve fought for this country in Iran-Irag war, well if you had died in that war, you would have been known as a hero !! But now, you are just another hand helping this government to kill, and even worse….!!!
Mr. Marandi is a shame among the Iranian intelligentsia!
The ethics and moral of an Iranian, who so shamelessly tries to wash the blood of between 60 to 90 people who were killed in opposition to this government in past few weeks is highly questionable. Shame on you Seyed Mohammad Marandi!
As an Iranian, I really appreciate your wise interview with Marandi who is a part of brutal regime.
Did Zakaria really say that the only assistance given to Iraq by the US during its war against Iran was “agricultural credits”? Marandi was wrong to link the US to chemical weapons but didn’t the US supply satellite imagery of the location of Iranian troops to Iraq?
haha OWNED! good job fareed!