Out with the Shah...
Reader comment on item: A Neo-Conservative's Caution

Submitted by Robert B. Arbetman (United States), Mar 13, 2005 at 15:06

... In with the.... I'm sure most of you know the rest of that story.

The overthrow of the Shah of Iran remains the classical example of what Dr. Pipes is talking about. I remember that I was taking a class in Middle East History at the time the Shah was overthrown. Professor Ernst Dawn (University of Illinois) predicted that there would not be an "Islamic Republic" in Iran because there had NEVER BEEN an "Islamic Republic" anywhere in history. Within a few weeks he was humbled by his remarks. The Middle East has not been the same since.

There have been other elections in the Arab/Muslim world that proved problematic in the manner Dr. Pipes has mentioned. Didn't Algeria suffer a military coup after Islamists won elections?

Turkey's military always seems to be around for a "veto" should Islamist politicians pass their pain threshold.

I suppose it shouldn't surprise anyone that Hamas has announced their intention to run in PA elections. This will be interesting to observe and compare the results to Dr. Pipes' article.

The important thing to remember is that Islamo-Fascism like we are seeing today is a fairly recent phenomenon of the last 85 years.

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