Word: ruthless
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. In 1953, right-wing monarchists in the army unsuccessfully attempted to depose Mossadegh; the Shah was forced to flee to Rome. A few days later, however, a countercoup sponsored by the CIA restored him to the throne. The Shah launched a ruthless purge, particularly of remnants of the Communist Tudeh Party, which had been outlawed in 1948. He also organized a secret-police network, SAVAK, that was to become one of the most notorious in the world...
...aborted coup further intensified the factional rivalry that still threatens to destroy the Khomeini government from within. Banisadr's clerical opponents seized the chance to press demands for a ruthless purge of the armed forces-a convenient means of gaining control over the military at the expense of the President, who is commander in chief of the armed forces. Denouncing what he called the mullahs' "opportunistic gestures," Banisadr pointed out that loyal military personnel had discovered the conspiracy in their own midst and had played the most important role in thwarting...
Banisadr, meanwhile, seems powerless to deal with the country's problems, mainly because of ruthless political opposition from fundamentalist mullahs led by Ayatullah Seyyed Mohammed Beheshti, president of the Supreme Court. Defending himself against his critics, Banisadr bitterly complained that he could "not fight on ten different fronts" and announced that he had given Khomeini a standing letter of resignation to act on whenever the Ayatullah sees fit. Says a senior government official: "Banisadr is trying in vain to convince Khomeini that he should allow him to govern. But Khomeini is suspicious of anyone who does not wear...
...very young man he formed a company that developed an Indian minicar that he called the Maruti, after a Hindu wind god. The factory produced a few prototypes of the Maruti but never put it into full production. Sanjay's critics, who dismissed him as arrogant and ruthless, charged that he had received government licenses and financial backing through favoritism and chicanery. Later they blamed him for some of the worst excesses of Mrs. Gandhi's 1975-77 state of emergency, including the sterilization and slum-clearance campaigns, the unpopularity of which led directly to the fall...
...October, 2000 turned out to try; a substantially larger show of force seems unlikely this time. Police and National Guard from around New England met them in numbers large enough to present convincing force. The police arsenal included tear gas, high-pressure hoses, mace, and dogs. More organized, more ruthless, and better equipped even than the most Tom Swiftian of the anti-nukers, they held all the cards, and they only played a few. If the protestors had been more numerous or more successful at any point, police could easily have turned an organized rout into a total massacre...