The Law of War

Churchill told the United States that Mosaddegh was "increasingly turning towards
communism." The pro-Western shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, assumed control as an
autocratic monarch. The shah's policies included the banning of the communist Tudeh
Party of Iran and general suppression of political dissent by SAVAK, the shah's
domestic security and intelligence agency.
In Guatemala, a CIA-backed military coup ousted the left-wing President Jacobo Árbenz
in 1954. The post-Arbenz government—a military junta headed by Carlos Castillo
Armas—repealed a progressive land reform law, returned nationalized property
belonging to the United Fruit Company, set up a National Committee of Defense
Against Communism, and decreed a Preventive Penal Law Against Communism at the
request of the United States.
The non-aligned Indonesian government of Sukarno was faced with a major threat to its
legitimacy beginning in 1956, when several regional commanders began to demand
autonomy from Jakarta. After mediation failed, Sukarno took action to remove the
dissident commanders. In February 1958, dissident military commanders in Central
Sumatera (Colonel Ahmad Hussein) and North Sulawesi (Colonel Ventje Sumual)
declared the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia-Permesta
Movement aimed at overthrowing the Sukarno regime. They were joined by many
civilian politicians from the Masyumi Party, such as Sjafruddin Prawiranegara, who were
opposed to the growing influence of the communist Partai Komunis Indonesia party.
Due to their anti-communist rhetoric, the rebels received arms, funding, and other covert
aid from the CIA until Allen Lawrence Pope, an American pilot, was shot down after a
bombing raid on government-held Ambon in April 1958. The central government
responded by launching airborne and seaborne military invasions of rebel strongholds
Page 195 of 265