Iranian leadership
Re “The surrealism of Iraq,” Opinion, Dec. 4
Niall Ferguson makes sense until he starts looking for rational leadership in Iran. He states that you need to go back to 1979 to find a realistic leader in Iran, implying that Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlevi was not a tyrant. Although pro-West, he was tyrannical in his treatment of the opposition, which led to the Iranian revolution. You probably have to go back to 1953 to find the last realist leader. However, Mohammed Mossadeq was overthrown with the assistance of the CIA and its British colleagues because he dared to nationalize oil deposits, which many countries have done in subsequent years.
DALE COLYER
Morgantown, W.V.
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