A nuclear Iran is a frightening idea and it has been postulated that the blame for a nuclear Iran lies squarely in the hands of George W. Bush; however, to take this stand, one must ignore decades of Western meddling in Iran.

For almost 70 years, Western nations — first Britain and Russia, then later the United States — have used propaganda, lies, deception and brute force to secure their interests in Iran. Particularly in Iran’s oil fields, and, as is often the case, you reap what you sow — when you use terrorist tactics to greedily get what you desire, in this case: oil, you may not be surprised when these same tactics are used against you.

In 1951, Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh was elected Prime Minister of Iran and nationalized Iran’s oil reserves, which the British had been exploiting since 1913, and became extraordinarily popular in his country as a result.

However, at the request of the British, President Dwight Eisenhower authorized Operation Ajax, the first, but certainly not the last, covert CIA operation against a foreign government. The CIA successfully overthrew Mossadegh, and the West was again able to voraciously exploit Iran’s oil, all the while allowing a fascist dictator to seize absolute control over the country.

An American stooge, the Shah tyrannically ruled Iran until 1979, when anti-Western feelings boiled over, and he was deposed at the same time American diplomats were famously held hostage for 444 days.

Fast-forward 30 years to the present, and we have a radical, backward Iran which is still grasping for a way to stand up to the “Great Satan,” and justly so.