Kermit Roosevelt, Jr.

Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt, Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000) was a member of the Roosevelt family of the United States, notable as the CIA agent in charge of Operation Ajax, which overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran and Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh. Twenty-six years later, Kermit Roosevelt took the unusual step of writing a book about how he and the CIA carried out the operation. He called his book Countercoup to press home the idea that the CIA coup was staged only to prevent a takeover of power by the Iranian Communist Party (The Tudeh) closely backed by the Soviet Union. Roosevelt was thus arguing that Mossadegh had to be removed to prevent a communist 'takeover,' whereas the Truman administration had felt that Mossadegh had to be kept in power to prevent one.

Related Topics:
February 16 - 1916 - June 8 - 2000 - Roosevelt family - United States - CIA - Operation Ajax - Democratically - Elected - Iran - Prime Minister - Mohammed Mossadegh

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Stephen Kinzer, in his book All the Shah's Men, aserts: "It is not far-fetched to draw a line from Operation Ajax through the Shah's repressive regime and the Islamic Revolution to the fireballs that engulfed the World Trade Center in New York." http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2003/07/20030709_a_main.asp

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He was born in Buenos Aires, eldest son of Kermit Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt.

Related Topics:
Buenos Aires - Kermit Roosevelt - Theodore Roosevelt

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There is some speculation that Kim Roosevelt may have been part of a British plot to maintain an anglophile alliance with the United States. Roosevelt was strongly pro-England and pro oil industry.

Related Topics:
Anglophile - England

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He is the father of Mark Roosevelt

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