Posted on 06/19/2009 10:24:56 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON (AP) - In the strongest message yet from the U.S. government, the House voted 405-1 Friday to condemn Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications.
The resolution was initiated by Republicans as a veiled criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been reluctant to criticize Tehran's handling of disputed elections that left hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.
Rep. Mike Pence, who co-sponsored the resolution, said he disagrees with the administration that it must not meddle in Iran's affairs.
"When Ronald Reagan went before the Brandenburg Gate, he did not say Mr. (Mikhail) Gorbachev, that wall is none of our business," said Pence, R-Ind., of President Reagan's famous exhortation to the Soviet leader to "tear down that wall."
Democrats, who are quick to voice their support for Israel anytime the Jewish state is seen as under siege, easily agreed to push through the mildly worded resolution.
Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the resolution, said "it is not for us to decide who should run Iran, much less determine the real winner of the June 12 election.
"But we must reaffirm our strong belief that the Iranian people have a fundamental right to express their views about the future of their country freely and without intimidation," added Berman, D-Calif.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., have proposed a similar measure in the Senate, although a vote was not certain.
The policy statement expresses support for "all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law" and affirms "the importance of democratic and fair elections."
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
....said Bernie Maddoff.
We haven’t left yet.
I knew that would raise your hackles.
Well...I suppose if you can't handle someone who disagrees with you (except for calling them names), we can't have a conversation. We agree on that much apparently.
Glad you shared your alternate universe with us -- it was almost entertaining.
The Mullah's are eventually going to lose this fight. It may not be this time, but it will certainly be the next. Do you want to be on the winning side, or the losing side?
If we stand with the young and the professionals, they'll remember that when they're in power. Just like the Islamic fundamentalists remembered that we stood (at least for a little while) with the Shah. Look how that turned out.
I haven't offered my views on the Constitution because I don't think it's an issue here. It doesn't surprise me that Ron Paul *does* think it's an issue though. He's entitled to his opinion just as you are.
Don't say though, that nobody's ever explained to you why we're there. That's the only reason I responded to you. If you want to debate the Constitutional merits of it, then I'm not interested.
With all due respect, you are contradicting yourself. The very fact that we picked someone to "stand with" in the first place wss the source of the original problem. Had we let Mossadeq remain in power, for example, Iran might now be a vibrant democracy and friend to the U.S. As with domestic policy, you can't solve the problems created by intervention with more intervention. The best solution is to get out of the way and let the Iranians create the own revolution.
I haven’t had hackles since 1979. :)
Right. So let’s move on.
So where is Obama’s statement?
“Oh sh*t.”
_____________________________
Naaaaaah. Zero made another ‘deeply concerned’ comment about the ‘I-a-told-ya’s’ threat about what will happen to the protesters if they continue.
Bravo, perfect.
No, we just picked the wrong horse in a two horse race.
By Ron Paul's reasoning, and by extrapolation I presume your's as well, we wouldn't have intervened in the Berlin Airlift because we shouldn't have "picked a side".
When you are are the world's sole superpower, and the beacon of freedom for fledgling Democracies, when you don't pick a side, you're still picking a side.
Has anybody asked if the “generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy (Obama)” that Biden spoke of has happened yet?
We stood with Stalin against Hitler. One of FDR’s VPs even saw Stalin’s gulags firsthand.
What do we get out of this condemnation?
We get our honor back.
“but at least Ron Paul is consistent in his beliefs”
No he isn’t. Here is Ron Paul condemning Israel and America. He claims America is a ‘participant’ in Israel’s invasion of Gaza by not condemning Israel. He claims that America has antagonized the Muslim/Arab world by not condemning Israel:
http://disinter.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/ron-paul-condemns-israeli-terrorism/
Yet he opposes any condemnation of the Iranian regime as meddling in other nations affairs.
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