> Of course it was wrong and no wonder things are 100x worse (if that) as a result.

OR you could say the pro U.S phase of Iran kept things alright (relatively to after the Islamic revoltion) until it was over and we have the freak show we have today. It is true that the Shaa was a corrupt dictator , but it is not clear to me that the U.S should have disengaged from him. Qatar, Saudi Arabaia, Egypt and Jordan are all different kinds of dictatorships that are relatively pro Western and that the U.S engages with (sometimes even by supporting the regime financially/militarily as with Egypt and Jordan). All in all, pro U.S/West Arab governments are in much better shape than Iran is today.