    50

    Americans opened new oil fields144 and trained and equipped the

    Iranian military.145  American corporations started subsidiary

    operations in Teheran. The American government gave the Iranians

    money, helped place the country on the road to development, and

    propped up the Iranian ruler, the Shah, counseling him on every

    nuance of policy from internal security to the management of his image

    in the Iranian newspapers.146  Then American executives and advisors

    moved into luxury villas in  walled-off Iranian suburbs, hired Iranian

    servants, and lived like kings.

    Some American actions were Machiavellian.  Others were

    generous.  Both were destined to incur resentment.  After all, giving

    lavishly is often the best way to remind the recipient he's beneath you.

    It wasn't long before the Iranians felt their old sense of humiliation and

    realized that they were still in the pecking order's lower depths.  Even

    the Shah felt the Americans despised him.  According to his occasional

    confidante, the Soviet ambassador, the Shah picked quarrels with the

    United States on minor issues to release his frustration--the frustration

    of a chicken who feels how low on the pecking order he has slid.147

    In the '50s, one Iranian leader championed a move that would

    shame the Americans and restore Iranian pride.  His name was

    Mohammad Mosaddeq.  His position: Iranian premier.  His plan:

    snatch the oilfields from the British and Americans.  Make them

    Iranian national property.

    When Mosaddeq spoke of Islamic pride, he literally brought

    tears to the eyes of his fellow Iranians.148  Islamic extremists were

    willing to kill in Mosaddeq's name.  And kill they did.  Among others,

    they assassinated the incorruptible Prime Minister Ali Razmara.  Fear

    of Mosaddeq's fanatical supporters was so great that no imam could be

    found to say prayers at Razmara's funeral.  When one holy man was

    offered three thousand pounds to perform the services, he answered

    that "he valued his life at a higher rate than this."149  Terrified by

    Mosaddeq's growing power, the Shah fled the country.150

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