The West Loves Democracy, in Theory

In Africa, the U.S and other Western countries have come a long way from the time they backed military despots such as the Zaire’s (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) Mobutu Sese Seko, but their attitude to the Middle East has remained the same. Experts say that because of oil and protection of Israel, dictators have often been given a pass because they are allies. These leaders may be harsh and murderous, but because they are the West’s thugs, and that’s fine. And where democratic governments strayed from the Western line, it was okay to procure their removal. Iran is now Public Enemy No. 1 in the West, but few remember that the seeds of the religious autocracy that rules the country today were sown when the U.S. and U.K. authored a 1953 coup that removed democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, paving the way for the rule of the Shah of Iran. We know how that story ended, and the West is now reaping the whirlwind. The handling of Morsi’s removal shows the West has still not learned the lessons of history.