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June 22, 2007

Roger Morris On Robert Gates, Part II

Part II of Roger Morris' fantastic Robert Gates history is up at Tomdispatch.

I particularly like this quote from Archie Roosevelt in the 1960s about the Baathists on the CIA payroll:

"They're our boys bought and paid for, but you always gotta remember that these people can't be trusted."

Man, it's so hard to get trustworthy quislings these days!

BONUS: Archie was the cousin of Kermit Roosevelt, who ran the CIA coup in Iran in 1953. Via All the Shah's Men, here's what the British discovered at the time in a psychological study of Iranians:

The ordinary Persian is vain, unprincipled, eager to promise what he knows he is incapable of or has no intention of performing, wedded to procrastination, lacking in perserverance and energy, but amenable to discipline. Above all he enjoys intrigue and readily turns to prevarication and dishonesty whenever there is a possibility of personal gain. Although an accomplished liar, he does not expect to be believed. They easily acquire a superficial knowledge of technical subjects, deluding themselves into the belief that it is profound.

It's quite strange the way the countries with all the oil are filled with such awful people. I guess we've just been very unlucky.

Posted at June 22, 2007 05:47 PM | TrackBack
Comments

But on the bright side it is truly wonderful that we are so wonderfully clever which is of course why we should run their lives for them while we steal everything they have. I think that this is ever so clever of us. What we really, really ought to do is to install mirrors on every wall in every room in every building so that we can admire ourselves wherever we go. We could also put mirrors on the outside of buildings as well. That way we could make sure we always have enough of ourselves.

Posted by: rob payne at June 22, 2007 06:18 PM

Persians? For some reason I thought it said Etonians.

Posted by: darrelplant at June 22, 2007 06:42 PM

they forgot our love of camels, totalitarian rule, and Peugeots. motherfuckers.

Posted by: Jonathan Versen at June 22, 2007 06:45 PM

Obviously "They" are all savages that can't be "civilized" and so MUST be bombed back to the STONEAGE. (the white man's burden)

Posted by: Mike Meyer at June 23, 2007 11:31 AM

It's strange how only those orientals are all these things... you know things like vain, unprincipled, eager to promise what he knows he is incapable of or has no intention of performing. It's really strange, cuz we westerners are completely opposite!

Posted by: Omar at June 23, 2007 04:51 PM

and who's gonna destabilize the region? why Us of course!

Posted by: almostinfamous at June 23, 2007 09:43 PM

I beg to play Devil's Advocate here, but I think what was said about Iranians is the truth, but only half of it. After all, part of Imperialism's design is to create in the end, submissive subjects without initiative, perseverance and energy by discouraging these traits through divide and rule, and that would in the end bring on new, ready-to-be-converted consumers for the new market. So if any Imperial subject is devoid of initiative, perseverance, energy and knowledge, it is in the design and nature of Imperialism.

Posted by: En Ming Hee at June 23, 2007 11:04 PM

It's quite strange the way the countries with all the oil are filled with such awful people.


Quite true. My intelligence reports say the same thing about the inhabitants of Texas.

Posted by: Carl at June 24, 2007 03:09 AM

The quote from "All the Shah's Men" works just as well if you replace the word "Persian" with the word "neocon," and the word "technical" with "geopolitical."

Posted by: jjcomet at June 24, 2007 12:28 PM

Easy on, Carl! There are a handful of decent Texans - we just don't enter politics.

Posted by: jjcomet at June 24, 2007 12:31 PM

Wow! It's like they're describing me!

Posted by: Michael at June 24, 2007 09:00 PM