Ben Shapiro

We stuck with it and verified he was alive and not captured.

And those who knew him said he's religious.

One of the ways they were able to identify who it was that was talking is because he said God is good, which is just, just crazy and super American and wonderful in every way.

And if it doesn't make you want it, this whole story doesn't make you want to pick up an American flag and start waving it.

I don't know what's wrong with you.

Whenever you open Axe or TikTok, you're guaranteed to be subjected to the most backward, historically illiterate takes imaginable about a lot of things.

These days, a lot of those takes involve Iran.

Axe will tell you that the United States is the aggressor in the region.

They'll tell you that if we just played nice, if we just apologized to Iran for our history, then peace would break out everywhere.

Yeah, so that's bullshit.

So as the war in Iran continues, let's look at exactly how we got here from the beginnings of the conflict right up until the current day.

If you've ever argued with a college sophomore who just took an intro to Middle Eastern studies class, they will immediately shout Operation Ajax at you.

That, of course, is the operation the CIA initiated in 1953 to remove Mohammad Mossadegh, who was the prime minister of Iran.

They will tell you that Iran was a beautiful, flourishing, utopian democracy until the evil, nefarious CIA swooped in

overthrew Mossadegh and installed a brutal dictator in the Shah.

Therefore, everything that Iran does today is simply understandable blowback for American imperialism.

Now, what's weird about this is a few things.

First of all, let's point out the Shah was removed by the Ayatollahs.

So why the Ayatollahs would be upset with the United States for removing Mossadegh

who was a Marxist secularist in 1953, is confusing.