Why they hate us, Iran edition

A young gentleman much more brilliant than I clued me in to this in one of my history classes. This is from 'The Iran Contra Connection,' by Jonathan Marshall, Peter Dale Scott and Jane Hunter -
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"... Israeli interests in non-Arab Iran became prominent as early as the 1 950s, when Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence agency, cooperated with the CIA in establishing the Shah's secret police, SAVAK. A 1979 CIA report on Mossad notes that:

'The main purpose of the Israeli relationship with Iran was the development of a pro-Israel and anti-Arab policy on the part of Iranian officials. Mossad has engaged in joint operations with SAVAK over the years since the late 1950s. Mossad aided SAVAK activities and supported the Kurds in Iraq. The Israelis also regularly transmitted to the Iranians intelligence reports on Egypt's activities in the Arab countries, trends and developments in Iraq, and Communist activities affecting Iran.'"

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The rest of a short excerpt. Evidently when SAVAK was 'extraordinarily rendering' some young Iranian student who'd made nasty comments about the Shah, there was occasionally either a Mossad or CIA guy present. Personally I try not to armchair quarterback the Israeli and American intelligence services, undoubtedly this seemed like a better idea at the time than it does today. But it seems to me that it helps explain their attitudes with something more believable than 'they hate our freedoms.'

Nuance

Saddam Hussein was not Adolf Hitler. Not even close.

Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is not Adolf Hitler. Not even close.

Dopey comments regarding the holocaust do not equal the holocaust.

Anti-Iraq war does not equal pro-Saddam. Pro-Iraq war does not equal war-monger.

Talking to dictators we don't like (that is to say, those who are not already allied to the United States) 'without preconditions' does not equal appeasement. Anyone who speaks out against a war is not Neville Chamberlain.

Moreover, we only use the word 'dictator' when it's a dictator we don't like. One never hears the words 'Saudi Arabian dictator King Abdullah,' nor 'Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf.'

Hugo Chavez and Mahmoud Ahmedinejad are not dictators. Both men were democratically elected, and both are subject to checks on their powers - Chavez by the legislature and Ahmedinejad by the Mullahs.

A plague of locusts will not terrorize the land if one's preferred presidential candidate is not elected, Republican or Democrat.

The 'War on Terror' is not World War II redux. Sept. 11 was not Pearl Harbor redux. The Iraq War is not Vietnam redux. Each of these events is more dissimilar than alike, although it's debatable how much more similar one set is than the other.

20th century American foreign policy in the middle east was shameful. In light of this, it's obvious that the terrorists do not hate us directly because they are evil or hate our freedoms, or, as President Bush put it, because we have a democratically elected government. However, in part, they do hate some of what a liberalised society allows that they find sinful. Essentially they are the extreme religious right-wing of the Muslim world - getting back to the basics of the faith because they believe that the mainstream of Islam has strayed from the faith of Muhammed.