" In 1953, Muhammad Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister of Iran, was overthrown by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, under the direction of Allen Dulles (though not discussed in this book, Allen Dulles also mentored Richard Nixon, and conspired with Jack Philby and Ibn Saud to harm Israel, so Dulles has a lot to answer for). Two justifications have been put forward for this covert operation: (1) Mossadegh nationalized British oil fields in Iran, and (2) there was a chance that Mossadegh might lead Iran into the Soviet camp. Instead, what happened was that Iran was ruled by the Shah Reza Pahlavi until 1979, when he was replaced by the mullahs. It is difficult to predict alternate futures, but if we had left Iran alone, could things really have turned out any worse than they are right now? "
— Michael, 1/28/2014