Deposing Mossadeq was not a mistake: It was perfectly consistent with classic imperial doctrine of keeping colonies in a pre-industrial state in order to extract raw materials from them, while protecting domestic (that is, domestic in the suzerein country) companies from being bothered by uppity vassals.

That it was very much not a mistake can be seen from the long list of Western(TM) interventions during the so-called Cold War. The list is rather long - more than twenty-five entries, I believe. And if you can find us more than a handful of actual socialists - nevermind communists - among the deposed governments on that list, I'll buy you a beer next time you're in Copenhagen.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.