mustangdriver wrote:
In my opinion the person to be upset with is not the person or group that had the Tomcats scrapped, but the person or group that managed to give Iran F-14's. I wouldn't give Iran a coffee pot.
Back in the 70's Iran's order for 79-80 F-14s helped Grumman avoid big money troubles.
At the time, the Shah's government was one of the U.S.'s few allies in the region, helping America in the Cold War and being tolerant of Israel.
Then the largely western educated liberal/intellectual elements in Iran, got fed up with his rule, and merged with the pro-Islamic religious elements to start a revolution which brought the Ayatollah Khomeini back from exile.
But instead a being a more liberal government, it became a hard line theocracy...and the intellectual elements either had to go along and grow beards or leave the country. U.S. trained military personnel were shot, "converted" to the new government, or forced to flee. I remember a story at the time about a former fighter pilot working at a 7-11 somwhere and getting killed in a holdup
In short, what was once America's best friend and most stable allie in the region became a US enemy.
The Shah was sick with Cancer, Jimmy Carter allowed him to come to the US for treatment (at Willford Hall at Lackland AFB) andf Iran took over the US embassy...something not even Hitler or Japan did in the days leading to WWII.