Only one American has given his life for Iranian democracy. He was a young idealist from Nebraska named Howard Baskerville. In 1907, fresh out of Princeton, Baskerville went to Iran as a schoolteacher. He found himself in the midst of a revolution against tyranny, and was carried away with passion for the democratic cause.

... научих колко лесно
с да отминеш и да допуснеш извършването на неспра
ведливост. Все си повтарям, че не можех да сторя нищо, но вън
реки това изпитвам срам. Някакъв старец, може би на възрастта
на дядо ми, стоеше между двама паедари, докато ссмейщ
твото му се качваше в един камион. Възрастната жена и пе
колцината млади мъже, всички със завързани зад гърба ръце
бяха откарани нанякъде. В това време старецът плачеше
Преминахме мълчаливо край гази сцена, излязла сякаш от ня
кой нацистки филм.

After installing friendly leaders in Iran and Guatemala, the United States lost interest in promoting democracy in either country.

Hostility toward Iran may not be the silliest of all American foreign policies - that would probably be the continuing trade embargo of Cuba - but it is undoubtedly the most self-defeating.

From the 1920s into the 1940s, Britain's standard of living was supported by oil from Iran. British cars, trucks, and buses ran on cheap Iranian oil. Factories throughout Britain were fueled by oil from Iran. The Royal Navy, which projected British power all over the world, powered its ships with Iranian oil.

Congress, it turns out, is filled with Republicans and Democrats eager to act as enablers for the most repressive forces in Iran.