Word: shahs
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...between." So said a Western diplomat in Tehran last week, reflecting on agonizing new uncertainties about the fate of the 50 Americans held hostage by militants occupying the U.S. embassy and the three at the Foreign Ministry. A United Nations commission, named to study allegations against the deposed Shah and his regime, began hearing witnesses in the Iranian capital. In approving the commission, the U.S. had assumed that Iran, as its part of a "gentleman's agreement," would arrange for early release of the Americans...
...moment was connected in some deeper ways to the emergence of a new patriotic impulse in America. It seems to many that the villains have moved overseas again; fewer Americans are transfixed by any evil within. They have the patriotism of outraged innocence (contaminated somewhat by association with the Shah and by the tales of SAVAK tortures). Americans, for so long vaguely depressed by endless quarrels among themselves, now find they are in an unexpected kinship of common interest and travail...
Since the Nixon administration decided that the Shah was a good bet in the Persian Gulf region, America has handled out arms in increasingly large numbers, presumably to forestall the Soviet menace. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, already have the requisite bucks and simply extend the payments over a long period. For smaller outposts of democracy, such as the Marcos government in the Phillippines and the Somoza exregime in Nicaragua, the U.S. government either grants military aid, which is used for arms purchases, or extends a line of credit for 10 per cent of the purchase, and allows the remainder...
...AGREE ON THE repressiveness of the current Kabul cabal. Not everyone apprehends the degree of democracy under the pre-Marxist regimes. During the '60s King Zahir Shah retained ultimate authority, yes, but he allowed a parliament to be chosen in elections quite free of political parties. Press freedom prevailed for newspapers that could pass the government censors. After his military coup in 1973, Mohammed Daud let dynastic rule continue, but he proclaimed a republic. He relaxed his dictatorial grip so much that his top ministers were authorized to spend up to 70 pounds without his personal approval. So popular...
...president of Pax Romana, the International Movement of Catholic Lawyers, Pettiti once headed a team that investigated cases of torture by the Shah's security forces. Although he later became friends with President Banisadr and other Iranian exiles in France, Pettiti is known for his evenhandedness. Says one colleague: "He has the kind of impartiality that would allow him to begin his service on this commission without knowing today what conclusion he will reach tomorrow...