Poirot,

You are conveniently forgetting that Iran was holding all the US embassy hostage in the 80s. The US was using Iraq as a proxy to kill as many Iranians as possible.

SM,

Yes, I take your point - although the Islamic uprising I believe was attributable to the U.S. inspired events in the fifties.

What everyone seems to overlook with this region is that it has been over the years colonised so comprehensively by Britain and France and later America. Every time it attempts to throw off the yoke of imperialism, tumultuous events follow as the population leans towards a religious autocracy as the route to autonomy

Poirot,

That is a very long bow!

Yeah, I suppose it is....although being ruled by an American puppet for all those years would have had something to do with it.

It is interesting, as I've mentioned, that these populations tend to gravitate towards strict theocracies or dictatorships. But then what does Iran make of circumstances when their chance at a democratically elected government was nullified by American and British interference.

Shadow Minister,you are sounding like a war mongerer.Western Forces are in Syria killing and stirring up trouble.It has nothing to do with democracy.

Arjay,

Predictably you focus on rumours of western involvement in the uprising rather than the 20 000 unarmed protesters murdered by the brutal Syrian regime.