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Obama's Wrong: He Must Take Sides in Iran

He's deserting the brave revolutionaries: Krauthammer

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 19, 2009 7:12 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Electoral fraud fueled the protests in Iran, but now there is a full-fledged revolution brewing—and according to Charles Krauthammer, the demonstrators are desperate for just one signal that the US supports them. Instead, President Obama has pledged "dialogue" with a "clerical dictator" and left the green revolutionaries to fend for themselves. "The Khamenei regime is deciding whether to do a Tiananmen," writes the Washington Post columnist. "And what side is the Obama administration taking? None."

Only regime change can stop Iran's nuclear program, not "absurd" talks with a dishonest partner. And with Hezbollah on the ropes in Lebanon and Iraq finding its way, the fall of "Islamist dictatorship" in Iran would trigger a wave of democratization in the Middle East. For Krauthammer, "our fundamental values demand that America stand with demonstrators opposing a regime that is the antithesis of all we believe"—making the president's silence all the most disgraceful.

President Barack Obama delivering remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2009.
President Barack Obama delivering remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
A supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, tries to put green cloth onto a statue of Abulgasem Ferdowsi, who is considered to be one of the greatest Persian poets in Tehran, Iran, on Thursday June, 18, 2009.
A supporter of Mir Hossein Mousavi, tries to put green cloth onto a statue of Abulgasem Ferdowsi, who is considered to be one of the greatest Persian poets in Tehran, Iran, on Thursday June, 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ali Zare)
Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi listen to his speech at a demonstration in Tehran on Thursday June, 18, 2009.
Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi listen to his speech at a demonstration in Tehran on Thursday June, 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ghalam News.)
Tens of thousands of black-clad protesters filled the streets of Tehran again Thursday, joining Mir Hossein Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed election.
Tens of thousands of black-clad protesters filled the streets of Tehran again Thursday, joining Mir Hossein Mousavi to mourn demonstrators killed in clashes over Iran's disputed election.   (AP Photo/Ghalam News.)
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, center, speaks to supporters at a demonstration in Tehran on Thursday June, 18, 2009.
Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, center, speaks to supporters at a demonstration in Tehran on Thursday June, 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ali Zare)
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This revolution will end either as a Tiananmen (a hot Tiananmen with massive and bloody repression or a cold Tiananmen with a finer mix of brutality and co-optation) or as a true revolution that brings down the Islamic Republic. -

People aren't dying in the street because they want a recount of hanging chads in suburban Isfahan. They want to bring down the tyrannical, misogynist, corrupt theocracy imposed by the very baton-wielding goons that today attack the demonstrators. -

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
brawne
Jun 20, 2009 10:30 AM CDT
Just cause you're being mean, I will start with the fact that you need a hyphen between ill and informed since they are both equally modifying the noun 'views'. Then cause you are ill informed, I will mention that I don't need a hyphen since there is no noun to modify. I read somewhere that an argument based on personal attack is therein nulled. So, what else 'ya got?
brawne
Jun 20, 2009 10:12 AM CDT
Ad hominem? Why not make it difficult and specify standing on your head with a goat nibbling your hair? Krauthammer's nicely worded desire for our personal intervention in another country's rebellion as a way to democratize the entire region has no more validity than our attempt to stop the 'domino effect' of communism by interfering with Vietnam.
kokuaguy
Jun 20, 2009 8:59 AM CDT
Why do you bother with us libo-fascist dolts? Go get your gun collection cleaned and fully loaded. 2010 will be here before you know it. Tick, tick, tick.

I never thought I'd be rooting for Iran
Haaretz (Israel)

They want freedom, just like us
Times (UK)

 
Iran • Barack Obama • US foreign policy • Tiananmen Square • revolution • green revolution • Iranian politics • Obama administration • neoconservatives • Iranian election

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