by John Pat

Created on: May 12, 2008

The definition of what constitutes a terrorist has exercised some of the best minds in history, but in answer to the question "When is a terrorist a terrorist?" the current US President replies, "When I say so..."

OK, he didn't actually use those exact words, at least not in public, but he did say this about Saddam Hussein in 2006:

"He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the (US) government had declared, you are a state sponsor of terror."

Iran/Iraq -

More recently the entire Iranian Republican Guard a force of over 125,000 elite soldiers was labeled a terrorist organization by Bushco for allegedly supplying dissident factions in Iraq with weaponry. Never mind that successive US administrations have a hideous and prolonged history of doing the same thing with vicious terrorist groups and sadistic despots, just as long as they were ideologically aligned to the government of the day.

Perhaps the most edifying example is the sale of WMD to Saddam by the US under Ronald Reagan to support his ambitions and keep Iranian fundamentalism at bay. Exports included biological agents such as anthrax, vital ingredients for chemical weapons, and cluster bombs - all delivered by a CIA front organization in Chile... Obviously this was all well before Iraq's psychopathic tyrant fell out of favor by invading Kuwait.

In this instance it is fair to ask - who are the real state terrorists in the Middle East?

American political dualism (ie hypocrisy) allows the current White House incumbent to holler about his thrust for democracy and trumpet his war on terror while threatening Iran all the while ignoring the USA's disgraceful interference in that country's affairs.

Operation Ajax -

This unholy military support for Saddam is just one recent example of the US acting against the interests of the citizens of Iran. Back in 1953 the CIA ran Operation Ajax with the aim of overthrowing Iran's democratically elected government to re-install the Shah as an autocratic pro-western puppet.

The operation was seen as a triumph for US Middle Eastern foreign policy at the time, but was hardly a proud moment for American's who believe their country has long stood as a champion for democracy and human rights. But then again, most of them will never hear about it as such travesties barely rate a mention in mainstream US media.

The truth is that the good ole US was responsible for strangling Iranian democracy at birth and thrusting an autocratic monarch back on the people. The Shah ruled with an iron

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