Chamblee54

This content was originally posted May 19, 2010. … People are talking about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. TomDispatch has a paragraph about one of the key players, British Petroleum (BP): “Originally known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, still later British Petroleum), BP got its start in southwestern Iran, where it once enjoyed a monopoly on the production of crude petroleum. In 1951, its Iranian holdings were nationalized by the government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The company returned to Iran in 1953, following a coup that put the Shah in power. It was finally expelled again in 1979, following the Islamic Revolution.”
If you look at the problems of the world in the last forty years, so many are affected by Iran. The 1953 revolution left great resentment, which became manifest in the 1979 revolution. Soon Iraq … whose border with Iran was clumsily drawn by the British … decided to attack Iran. A gruesome eight year war was the result, with the USA supporting both sides. The idea was, if they are fighting each other, they will leave Israel alone.
After this war is over, Iraq has a problem with Kuwait, in large part because of a war debt. Another war is the result, with the USA involved. Iraq is vanquished, but some in the USA are not satisfied, and after a few years the USA invades Iraq again. That war is still raging.
The biggest winner of the US-Iraq war (aka World War W) is Iran. This new influence in Persia is very troubling to Israel, which is loudly rattling its nuclear saber. When Israel makes noise about Iran, it takes attention away from the Palestinian tragedy.
Tom Dispatch is still publishing content. The situation with countries-that-start-with-I is worse than ever. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Arthur S. Siegel took the social media picture in August 1942. “Interlochen, Michigan. National music camp where 300 or more young musicians study symphonic music for eight weeks each summer. Couples dancing at a Monday night dance jamboree” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah