The Cold War – The Middle East

Iran

• In March 1951, the pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara was assassinated

• Parliament then voted to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and not allow British technicians not work with the new National Iranian Oil Company

• The government of Britain was concerned about its interests in Iran and convinced the U.S. that Iran's nationalist movement was Soviet-backed

Iran

• Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Dwight D. Eisenhower planned the overthrow of the government in Operation Ajax

• In 1953, they installed a Shah who was able to rapidly modernize Iranian infrastructure with U.S. aid, but he simultaneously crushed all forms of political opposition and was increasingly autocratic

Iran• In 1978, strikes and demonstrations

paralyzed the country• The Shah fled in January 1979 and

was replaced by an anti-Western Islamic Republic

• In November 1979, Iranian students seized 52 hostages from the U.S. embassy and held them for 444 days

• They wanted the Shah in exchange for the hostages, but he died in 1980

• In the Algiers declaration, the hostages were released after the U.S. agreed to not meddle in Iran’s affairs and undo all trade sanctions

Lebanon

• Egypt’s President Nasser was upset that the Lebanese Christian President didn’t break relations with Western powers during the Suez Crisis

• Lebanese Muslims pushed the government to join the newly created United Arab Republic (intended to be a pan-Arab state) with Egypt and Syria

Lebanon

• In Operation Blue Bat, 14,000 marines landed in Beirut, the capital

• They replaced the President with a popular impartial president that both Christians and Muslims liked

• Only four U.S. marines were killed, 3 in an accident

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan was traditionally a buffer zone between the British and Russian empires

• They both tried to gain influence over the country

Afghanistan

• In 1953, Mohammoud Daoud became Prime Minister

• He wanted to modernize the army and first approached the U.S. to purchase military equipment

• When the U.S. rejected his request, he turned to the USSR

• Over a period of time, a relationship with the USSR was developed

Causes of the War

• Eventually Daoud’s non-Marxist, but pro-Soviet government gave rise to discontent:– He failed to carry out much-needed economic

and social reforms– He repressed his political opponents

• In Spring 1978, he tried to eliminate the PDPA (People’s Democratic Party) by arresting its leaders– Khalq – led by Nur Mohammad Taraki and

Hafizullah Amin– Parcham – led by Babrak Karmal

Causes of the War• This provoked a coup by army leaders

in the PDPA, during which Daoud was killed

• PDPA leader Nur Mohammed Taraki tried to introduce Marxism and promoted the establishment of:– Women’s rights– Land reform

• This threatened Afghan cultural traditions and the wealth of the landowners

Causes of the War

• This led to widespread resistance in the summer of 1978

• In March 1979, Hafizullah Amin became Prime Minister, while Taraki was demoted

• Amin began massacres throughout the countryside

The Soviet Invasion

• Anarchy spread through the country• Alarmed at disorder which might cause

the U.S. to intervene, the USSR decided:–To get rid of Amin–To take control of the country

• Amin was tricked into inviting Soviet aid. Instead, in Dec. 1979, Soviet forces invaded and executed Amin

The Soviet Invasion

• Babrak Karmal would be brought back from the Soviet Union, where he had been an ambassador, to become the new Prime Minister, President, and Secretary General

• Widespread resistance against Babrak’s regime and his Soviet backers led to the Afghan war

U.S. Reaction

• The U.S. provided funds, weapons, and support for the mujahiddin (fighters united against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan)

• The invasion would be unpopular with the Muslim world. The U.S. saw an opportunity to side with the Arabs

• The U.S. saw the Soviet invasion as part of the onward march of Communism and the Soviets attempting to gain power in the oil-rich Middle East

U.S. Reaction

• It was a distraction from the humiliation of the U.S. in the region (Iran hostage crisis)

• U.S. boycotted the summer 1980 Moscow Olympic Games

• Banned grain sales to the USSR• Broke off SALT talks

Course of the War

• The high-technology Soviet troops fought a war of attrition against a low-technology, ill-disciplined, but highly motivated guerrilla force

• Considerable Soviet forces (up to 100,000) were tied up for a long time

• Soviet troops controlled the cities and had air superiority, but not the countryside

Course of the War

• The U.S. provided:– Funds– Weapons (from rifles to missiles)– Training camps– Satellite reconnaissance of Soviet targets– Plans for Soviet military operations– Intercepts of Soviet communications

• This was the largest U.S. aid program since WWII

Course of the War

• With no serious progress being made, no end in sight, and many deaths, Soviet morale dropped

• In 1988, Gorbachev announced gradual withdrawal from Afghanistan. This was completed in 1989

• After the Soviet withdrawal, the war continued until 1992, when the pro-Communist troops were defeated

Effects of the War• Soviet losses were:

– 15,000 dead– 37,000 wounded

• 1 million Afghanis died

Effects of the War

• The Soviet Union was regarded as aggressor by Third World states

• The Soviet invasion assisted Western leaders Reagan and Thatcher in creating anti-Soviet propaganda to justify a return to the Cold War and to increase defense spending

• The War contributed to the breaking down of the Soviet economy and downfall of communism

Effects of the War

• The Afghan Mujahiddin consisted of several different groups, with no unified organization

• When the Soviets withdrew, the Afghan factions fought each other for power, beginning a long civil war

• This led to the rise of the Taliban, a Muslim fundamentalist regime

Effects of the War

• The Mujahiddin sold U.S. Stinger missiles on the international arms market

• In order to try to prevent them falling into the hands of terrorists, the U.S. offered to buy them back at $100,000 each, but the offer was not taken up

Effects of the War

• The U.S. played a major role in boosting and arming the rise of Islamic fundamentalism

• Among the many foreigners drawn to Afghanistan to fight with the Mujahiddin was a young, wealthy Saudi, Osama bin Laden

Effects of the War

• When the USSR left the war, so did the U.S.• The U.S. did nothing to stop the civil war• The U.S. did not help with reconstruction, but turned

over interests to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, who proceeded to tear the country apart– Forged relations with warlords– Cut down forests

• All this led to Bin Laden’s resentment of the U.S.• The Mujahiddin victory inspired pro-democratic

movements in the Eastern Bloc