Radio FARDA | President Bush: My message to the young in Iran is that someday your society will be free. And it will be a blessed time for you. My message to the women of Iran is that the women of America share your deep desire for children to grow up in a hopeful society and to live in peace...Well, I think the people of Iran are going to have to come to the conclusion that a free country is in their interest. We, of course, support freedom movements all around the world. We are supporting a freedom movement on the Iranian border, in Iraq. We are promoting and helping the Iraqis develop a free society. By the way, a free Iraq will help the Iranians seek the blessings of a free society. There's no doubt in my mind that the women will be leading freedom movements in Iran and elsewhere, and the role of the United States is to provide moral support and other support without undermining their cause. It's worth noting that those laudable words of Bush were made at a time of civil calm in Iran. Whether he would make them now and appear to be fomenting revolution at a time when there is civil instability is another question.
Cheering from the sidelines while Iran's rulers ponder how to cope with this upheaval is simply inviting them to crack down hard.
It is most likely because of those words that the freedom loving people of Iran held out the hope that they would be supported in their quest for freedom, and have the courage to fight for it right now.
President Bush believes in the freedom of oppressed people, and was always willing to speak up for and fight for it.
He may voice the sentiment in slightly different words, but the idea that he would not voice them at all is inconsistent with who he is and how he conducted himself throughout his eight years in office.