#american interventionism

[quotesfromall]

We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, Farewell Address

[zatdummesmadchen]

Durr surr the young people don't know anything bleh blah

Why do we even have to explain to AMERICANS that terrorism is bad. Don’t you have like umm,, an experience?? A memory??

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

”why are non Americans mad about this lol” believe it or not i have friends in America and it makes me sad to see them suffer. yes a trump victory (if that’s happening i don’t fucking know how your election system fully works) ain’t going to effect me as much as anyone in the US at all (though it will have Some bc like. trade and diplomacy exist. what happens to one country effects us all) but i also have compassion for people in America who are struggling and also y’know for people suffering in us backed war crimes. also like, climate crisis, that'd suck, that’s going to indirectly kill millions most likely and I have compassion for those people too. like is it going to effect me, a middle class white person in England? not drastically most likely? but also i care about people who aren’t me also.

[duckiemimi]

i would've loved to see more world politics commentary by gege actually.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

hmmm american accent havers in dr who are always soldiers or military related unless its being made by an american production company

[doomer-diva]

[pro-prin-prinny]

You want us to like start bombing Afghanistan again?

Hillel Neuer

[sir-adamus]

man rocks up to a foreign nation for a bi-annual event celebrating his nation losing one of the bloodiest wars in living memory, with his military. he then proceeds to release his troops onto the streets judiciously, bullies his way into control over the nation's security and is using the celebration as an excuse to surreptitiously test his new superweapon, and then when said weapon is destroyed and his troops are compromised and start gunning down civilians, he bends over backwards to act like none of this was his fault, and was in fact the fault of the allies he'd pushed out of power because he didn't like that he wasn't getting his way all the time

the commentary about american interventionism in foreign governments isn't exactly subtle with Ironwood, and it only got more blatant over time that not only was he well on the way to becoming a villain, but he was also just a fucking terrible person besides

[ghelgheli]

To understand the full context of the American-led ‘53 coup against Mosaddegh in Iran it is imo critical to recognize anti-communism as a proximate cause. Write-up below:

It is commonly understood that the early decades of the 20th century in Iran are characterized by British colonial extortion of material resources (mostly oil) within the boundaries of “Persia” (pre-1935) / “Iran” (post). The penultimate monarchical dynasty, the Qajars, were ousted in 1925—but the exile of the last Qajar Ahmad Shah was the direct result of the 1921 military coup led by then-Reza Khan (later the first “Pahlavi”, Reza Shah) which was directed by Britain. And at this time, British anxieties heavily featured concerns about Bolshevik encroachment from the Caucuses (not just through the newly-formed Azerbaijan SSR, but also through domestic sympathizers that fueled such projects as large as the transient Persian SSR, put down by Reza Khan after Soviet withdrawal).

This is stage-setting. Of course, by the 50s, in tandem with Cold War thread-pulling, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company constituted a thirsty tentacle of British imperialism sucking Abadan dry and contributing pittances to the local economy. It was in the midst of decades of growing resentment against this presence that Mosaddegh became Prime Minister in 1951 as the leader of the broad National Front coalition, and we are familiar with how intensely he campaigned for nationalizing the country’s oil and how pissy this made the British (here’s one and another post on the subject if not).

Here’s the detour: you may know that it was the CIA, an American institution, that orchestrated the ‘53 coup to oust Mosaddegh. But we were just now discussing threats against British colonial power in Iran. How did things get from B to A, as it were? We can’t take this for granted.

The British in fact spent the intervening two years trying to get Mosaddegh out by mobilizing the Shah and various right-wing (often clerical and mercantile) interests in Iran (this point, and much of what follows, draws from bits of Darioush Bayandor’s Iran and the CIA and Mostafa Elm’s Oil, Power, and Principle). They spent the same two years desperately trying to get the Americans on board with their efforts. But—here it is—the Truman regime and American foreign policy was in general intensely hostile to this strain of British interventionism in Iran, going so far as to issue warnings against it.

Why? Well, as you would expect, the Americans were concerned about Soviet influence in the region. Then-U.S ambassador in Tehran Henry Grady claimed that “Mosaddegh’s National Front party is the closest thing to a moderate and stable element in the national parliament” (Wall Street Journal, June 9 1951). This summarizes the American position at the time: Mosaddegh’s nationalist movement constituted the bastion against communism, and the US was very interested in the survival of this bastion lest Iran align with the USSR. 

What happened between 1951 and 1953 is that British pressure, operating through the Shah and more conservative elements of the Iranian government, jeopardized moderate support for Mosaddegh. With the right and center-right against him an entire wing of National Front coalition was falling off, and Mosaddegh found himself leaning more and more on the strengthening Tudeh Party, which had grown in numbers to militaristic significance during Mosaddegh’s tenure (including a network of at least 600 officers in the state military). Tudeh, of course, was the pro-Soviet communist party in Iran. And now the threads come together.

It was in this context of Mosaddegh, backed into a corner with almost only the communists behind him, that the CIA released a memo on November 20th, 1952 singing a very different tune:

It is of critical importance to the United States that Iran remain an independent and sovereign nation, not dominated by the USSR...

Present trends in Iran are unfavorable to the maintenance of control by a non-communist regime for an extended period of time. In wresting the political initiative from the Shah, the landlords, and other traditional holders of power, the National Front politicians now in power have at least temporarily eliminated every alternative to their own rule except the Communist Tudeh Party...

It is clear that the United Kingdom no longer possesses the capability unilaterally to assure stability in the area. If present trends continue unchecked, Iran could be effectively lost to the free world in advance of an actual Communist takeover of the Iranian Government. Failure to arrest present trends in Iran involves a serious risk to the national security of the United States.

And (!!!)

In light of the present situation the United States should adopt and pursue the following policies:...

Be prepared to take the necessary measures to help Iran to start up her oil industry and to secure markets for her oil so that Iran may benefit from substantial oil reserves...

Recognize the strength of Iranian nationalist feeling; try to direct it into constructive channels and be ready to exploit any opportunity to do so

It took two tries for the CIA to bring about a coup that removed Mosaddegh from power, but the objective of this coup was not the preservation of British control over Iranian resources; it was the maintenance of the Western sphere of influence against communist revolution (this was further prioritized by the arrival of the Eisenhower administration). In fact, after the coup the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now renamed British Petroleum) had to make room for six other companies from the US, France, and the Netherlands as part of a consortium, and this consortium would split profits with Iran 50/50. This is, to be clear, still colonialist extraction! But it constitutes a huge blow to British economic interests, because they were never the CIA’s goal. This is part of why the post-coup government is characterized far more as a US puppet than a British one.

It does remain that this was a sequence of events very much set in motion because of actions taken by the British government; by the time they managed to get shit to hit the fan, though, it was very much no longer in their control where the shit was flying.

[giucomix]

well ok, thats not necessarily true. they're going to be satisfied so long as they dont have to worry about the wars possibly reaching them

anyone who really believes trumps whole anti-war isolationist shtick is in for a surprise

[quotesfromall]

No realistic American can expect from a dictator's peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression, or freedom of religion -or even good business. Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors.

Franklin Roosevelt, Annual Message

[velvetvexations]

I know this isn't relevant to the current hot topic on velvet nation but I came across something disgustingly awful and I need to vent.

It is a well known fact that Tumblr doesn't give a shit for Latinoamérica but seeing one of the biggest users here, "wholesome" ex skitty dude downplaying the suffering of Venezuela under the very obvious dictatorship is honestly heartbreakingly dissapointing. Like I am not gonna pretend I am an expert on the situation but I am also not that big of an idiot, they believe that since the opposition wasn't pro palestine then everybody who want Maduro off power are suddenly evil zionists or people who want USA interventionism, like no, if there's one thing a lot of latino people from several different countries have in common is hating the USA. We all agree that zionism is bad, the thing is, maduro may be pro palestine but also he is CLEARLY DOING A DICTATORSHIP, he is arresting people who post opposition online, opening "reeducation prisons" and the whole possibility of the elections being fraudulent.

We all understand why someone would prioritize their own culture's genocide over other world problems but when they act like Venezuelan people are an acceptable sacrifice then Venezuelan people could go and say palestinian people are an acceptable sacrifice but that would be needlessly cruel, isn't it?

I am not from Venezuela, I am from chile, a country that already has a serious problem of xenophobia against Venezuela, it is specially common among people praising themselves as progresive people, it is disgusting. Honestly it is not so different, they all love sharing post about being performative and sharing that fucking "you are not inmune to propaganda" Garfield meme only to go and do that exact same thing because they all convinced themselves that only other people are capable of that.

Shit, When the estallido social happened in Chile or several of the most severe fires, most of Tumblr didn't give a fuck, no matter how hard I was trying to spread the word since those affected me personally yet I still reblogged posts about USA and Palestinian problems because I genuinely care for them and want their situations to get extremelly better. It is painful to get reminded how much first world countries don't give a shit about Latinoamérica.

He may not be be a gringo but he sure feels like an honorary one with that attitude.

"How dare you give a fuck what happens in your own country" is also the argument for not voting against an American president who'll make things ten times worse for Palestinians, ironically.

Also, Maduro may be pro-Palestine, but he's so pro-Russia he's currently using Russia's Neo-Nazi PMC group to help suppress dissent. Tankies stay fucking losing.

[dostoyevsky-official]

Why Syria Matters to the Kremlin

Syria is important to Moscow because intervening there in 2015 allowed Putin to reverse the narrative of Russian decline that had taken hold since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia would no longer be what then-President Barack Obama dismissed as a declining “regional power”—it was to be a decisive great-power patron of the Assad regime, and as such, it would rewrite the playbook of outside intervention in the Middle East. American-led interventions, such as the invasion of Iraq and the NATO campaign in Libya, shattered states and bred chaos. Russia would have the opposite effect, preserving Syrian sovereignty and regional order. To understand Russia’s military position in Syria, consider that when Moscow first intervened there, in September 2015, it did so with a surprisingly light footprint and a long-term plan to modernize and strengthen the Syrian military. Moscow deployed just 2,500 to 4,500 personnel to Syria at any given time, focusing on air power, air defenses, and special forces, while relying on Iran and its proxies to supply ground forces. Ultimately, the Kremlin sought to build the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) into a professional fighting force capable of independently securing Assad’s rule, and so it poured resources into modernizing the SAA’s command structures, improving battlefield coordination, and equipping units with advanced Russian weaponry. [...] The collapse of regime defenses revealed that Russia’s long-term strategy to professionalize Assad’s military had failed. These setbacks will not drive Russia out of Syria, however. The Kremlin has too much at stake. It has already leveraged its Syrian intervention to rebuild its Middle Eastern influence, positioning itself as an essential mediator among Iran, Turkey, the Gulf states, the United States, and Israel. Moscow has also secured lucrative economic contracts for the reconstruction of Syria. Given the stakes, Moscow will be compelled to adapt rather than withdraw. It will likely seek to strengthen military cooperation with Iran, including by finding a role for Iraqi militias and recruits in Syria. As consuming as the war in Ukraine has been for Russia, the Kremlin does not see it as superseding its Middle East ambitions. That’s because Syria is not just a military outpost. It is a cornerstone of Russia’s claim to great-power status, a theater where it can demonstrate its diplomatic reach and its counternarrative to Western interventionism. This explains why Russia continues to invest in Syria even as it fights a costly war in Ukraine. Moscow may adjust its tactics, but abandoning Syria would mean surrendering something far more precious than territory: Russia’s hard-won position as an indispensable power broker in the Middle East.

3 December 2024

[corvidcaeneus]

surprising no one, Ukrainian Liberal tries to promote American Interventionism and cites fucking Venezuela as being in the same category as Palestine

[sciderman]

the only mcu thing i can kinda get behind is iron man is fucking dead

god, you know, my relationship with the mcu really shifted over time - i remember really loving the first iron man movie and - honestly, from a filmmaking standpoint, it's still a really good movie (probably the mcu's best - it's just. really well-made, and fresh, and predates all the quickly established marvel formula that all the following movies just spiral into) - but i kind of can't enjoy it anymore now that i'm kind of - so hyper-aware now of all the miltary-glorification that kind of pervades the entirety of the mcu. there's this glorification of american interventionism and it's - naturally, not something i pick up on as a kid, and think "HEHE guy in cool robot suit!! he's a hero!!" - looking back on it now, the entirety of the mcu is sullied by this - and this kind of - obsession with tony stark. and how he's vindicated in death. he was right. we need armour to protect the world. we need child soldiers, and suits with insta-kill protocols.

kind of - everything bad in the marvel universe is caused by tony stark inadvertently? and it carries onto peter parker, too. peter parker also, never at any point in the movies, saves people that he didn't put in danger in the first place. i think the same can be said about tony. that's the thing - if you carry a gun, you're not making the place safer. the place is less safe now because you brought a gun there.

i think all forgiveness for tony should've been revoked after ultron - he should have been imprisoned. an entire nation of people almost died because of him. but he gets vindicated. because his "intentions" were "good"? and i guess he makes a good gun next time (vision) and he's redeemed in death. he's like, this saviour figure. i KNOW marvel is hoping most people won't question it, and just take it at face value - he's wearing a cool suit. kids buy action figures of him. he's the good guy. like he isn't actually directly responsible for like, 90% of all the deaths in the mcu and like, the supervillain origin story of practically every villain on earth.

maybe i'll always be team cap - solely for the symbolism of his weapon of choice being a shield, rather than a gun.

[fae-morrigan]

I had no idea Gamorra was DC's stand on for Japan/South Korea. I'd never heard of it outside of anything having to do with Jay. Do you know some other comics it's appeared in?

Its not a stand in, those countries still exist in universe, but rather- Okay this is hard to explain. Wildstorm. Lets start there.

Back in the 90s, Jim Lee (who you may know for his amazing art and the fact he is currently DC's chief of editorial) created Gamorra alongside Brandon Choi for their work with Wildstorm Comics. Yknow, wildstorm, the comic company that gave us Midnighter & Apollo. You may note Lee & Choi are both Korean, which obviously has a history of colonization by Japan. Gamorra, both in its earlier and later works, was partly inspired by critiques of Japanese colonialism's influence in Korea. This is seen in the fact that in most appearances of it,

It was a principle location in the 1990s runs of The Authority... which... I cannot recommend in good faith because not only is that book written by noted sex pest Warren Ellis, but its also racist. Like, REALLY racist. However racist you're thinking it is, its worse. Look at this.

Oh, 90s, oh warren ellis. How I don't miss you.

Anyways, sometime in the 2000s, DC buys Wildstorm and becomes The Jim Lee Show (no complaints, bye bye didio), which means.. Gamorra is now canon. Even though Japan & Korea also exist within DC. This causes some synthesis issues across the board but its fine we're fine.

For a GOOD book involving Gamorra, I HIGHLY rec Waller vs Wildstorm by Spencer Ackerman. Spencer Ackerman (who you may know as he's writing the current Iron Man run over at marvel) is a journalist who's built a career off actively criticizing american imperialism & interventionism. As a result, the book is really good. Lois Lane is there and she rules.