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US strategy overestimates bombing over history
“We have a tendency in America to view things in very short periods. Our year in Iraq, or in my case, five years in Iraq. Yeah. But we tend to come in and say, we are going to fight the war to end all wars, at least in our minds. But it really starts in 1953, when the US and British intelligence services overthrew the constitutionally-elected prime minister and put back into power the peacock regime of the Shah.”
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The 1953 coup fuels current Iranian hostility
“They oppressed the people tremendously, particularly through SAVAK, the secret police. So when the Iranian Revolution erupts in 1978, we may be surprised. The Iranian people are not surprised. And when they suddenly say, death to America, most Americans will say, what's your problem? Why are you angry at us?”
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Axis of Evil labeling hardened Iranian resolve
“So then after 2002, when George W. Bush names Iran to the Axis of Evil, reportedly to their surprise, you start to continue this set of grievances. So I try to remind people, whenever we think of what's happening now, if we don't understand that journey to this point, we don't understand the attitudes that are going to drive decisions people make.”
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Iran-Iraq War created a resilient veteran class
“And so Iran survives this eight-year, extraordinary experience, twice as long as the First World War. And it sets a mark upon the Iranian population that we shouldn't forget to this day, because the baby boomers are veterans of that experience. And the clerics get a lot of support from them.”
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Iranian opposition lacks clear leadership structure
“I don't know, because the Iranian opposition is not really evident. We saw in 2009, they came in the streets and they were sort of beaten back into submission, and then reportedly thousands of Iranians protesting were killed by the regime in recent months. But I couldn't name the opposition leader. I couldn't tell you the liberation front.”