Rethugs will use Iran situation to attack Obama. Pence has started.

[Are_grits_groceries]

On Iran, the Power of Obama's Silence
"Help us." That was a comment, translated from Farsi, that was posted on the blog that I manage for the National Iranian American Council yesterday. It came from a reader in Tehran, imploring that someone in the West do something to stop what he or she calls "a military government" being set up in Iran.

For those watching intently for any bit of information they can grasp, it is a painful waiting game. Even for those of us who are relatively well connected to Iranians--either through friends or family--it is difficult to find out any really conclusive news. The mainstream media has largely taken the weekend off from this story--due in part to the government's suppression and intimidation of journalists--leaving the heavy lifting to new media and the blogosphere (which has performed amazingly well over the past 48 hours). And it is most likely that our government doesn't have much more information that the rest of us, as illustrated by the relative silence coming from the White House and the State Department on the events of the weekend.

Though Obama, Biden, Clinton and Gibbs have all gone on record with brief statements about the election, they have been extremely prudent, preferring to "monitor the situation" and "wait and see"--a stark contrast to some of their predecessors, who jumped on every opportunity to call for uprisings in the Middle East. In a remarkable display of message restraint, public pronouncements coming out of the White House have made no mention of anything that could even remotely be seen as trying to influence the outcome of the weekend's events.

Given Iran's well-known allergy to foreign meddling--and the hardliners' adept ability to justify their harsh repression by blaming alleged foreign plots--the Obama administration is doing exactly the right thing. Just as the absolute worst thing the US government could have done in the days leading up to the elections was impose new sanctions to "cripple" Iran's economy, the worst thing the administration could do now is take sides in the political infighting before knowing that its help would actually be welcome.

Of course, there are some who view this weekend's events as an opportunity for the US to support a particular Iranian faction loudly and clearly; Indiana Republican Mike Pence said that he hopes President Obama will throw his support behind Mousavi by the end of the day. But these people are playing with dynamite. At the moment, lectures on democracy and Jeffersonian diatribes against tyranny are the last thing the Iranian people need. At best, such grandstanding would give the hardliners in Iran a reason to paint the reformist camp as a stooge of the West; at worst, it could incite the crowds even more and risk blowing the top off an already tumultuous situation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-disney/on-iran-the-power-of-obam_b_215407.html

The administration is doing the right thing. Iranian human rights groups have also said that the best thing the US can do is keep out of this situation now.

Obama's silence is the response needed at this time, but that won't stop the Rethugs from making it a cause.

[Chulanowa]

1. Well, let's just kindly remind them of their own role in this

Who involved the US in the overthrow of Mossadegh? Eisenhower, a republican.

Who sold weapons to Iran in the 80's? Reagan, a Republican.

Who labeled Iran a member of the "axis of evil" and then took actions in Iran's neighbor that directly resulted in the election of a reactionary hard-liner? George W. Bush, a Republican

Who kept threatening Iran with war if Iran refused to give up its legal nuclear energy program, thus strengthening that reactionary hard-liner? Again, George W. Bush, a Republican

without the republicans, Iran could have become a centerpiece in Democracy, Hezbollah would not have been as well-armed, Ahmedinejad wouldn't have been elected, and his turnout wouldn't have been nearly as strong as it was, cheating or no.

Way to go, Republicans.

[BlooInBloo]

2. Yah - Sully's been good over the last few hours calling out the war mongers.

[Metta]

dupe, self deleted.

nt

[Metta]

3. If not this, then something else. They've become the party of throwing stuff at the wall.

And seeing what kind of drama they can stir up. Happy karma to them.

[Kahuna]

4. We rolled over for our own election theft. I doubt they seriously

expect us to help them.

[bluestateguy]

5. I will root for the rebels, on the sidelines, as we all should

It is neither appropriate nor feasible for the US to stick its nose in every hot spot in the world.

[C_U_L8R]

6. Haven't the Neocons screwed up enough stuff?

perhaps they should sit back and learn a little before
they start telling everyone what to do again

[Canuckistanian]

7. Obama has neither helped nor harmed what's going on in Iran

This is purely internal and it's been brewing for a LONG time.

It's American vanity to assume that US policies have had such a huge effect to have caused this.