America and the welcoming of the Shah

It is a common practice to say that hindsight is 20/20; however, there are those times when you wonder what people were thinking. One such situation is the White House decision to let the Shah back into the country. The American Revolution was against a king, and we created a government form to be sure that a monarchy never prevails in America again. It is odd that we easily forget our own anger at our tyrant when it comes to another county. Before letting the Shah into the country the US and Iran were already on thin ice with one another, and whoever thought that letting the Shah into America was not thinking of how it would look to the Iranian people. It was not impossible that America was preparing to force the Shah back into government, it was certainly not beneath us. It was dangerous to do something so stupid when there were Americans, with little defense, in the country we were insulting. It also allowed for the more radical govenrment to step in. I understand that he needed treatment, and that we were once allies, but there are ways to get around that. We should have found a way to treat him outside the U.S, because that would have been safer for the Americans at the embassy. It may have also lead to a less radical government and a better relationship between the U.S. and Iran.