Posted on 06/19/2009 7:50:47 AM PDT by lewisglad
There has been fierce debate in the United States about President Barack Obama's reaction to the Iran protests -- with some saying he has not given enough support to the Tehran demonstrators.
Senator John McCain, Obama's Republican rival in last year's US election, described the president's response as "tepid," and blasted him for abandoning the "fundamental principles" of the United States.
Obama has stressed that universal rights of peaceful protest should be honored in Iran, but has refused to pick sides.
He warned that US "meddling" in Iran's internal politics would be counterproductive, and vowed to push forward his engagement policy with Iran.
It is a stance that has left lawmakers fuming.
"Their silence on the issue of human rights violations is very troubling to me," said Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives.
"America has a moral responsibility to stand up for human rights around the world and to condemn abuses that are occurring in Tehran today," he said
Daniel Brumberg of the US Institute of Peace said he views the issue as "a debate about the legacy of the Bush administration."
In 2002 president George W. Bush lumped Iran, Iraq and North Korea into an "axis of evil," part of a neoconservative policy to promote pro-American democracy by pressuring such governments until they crumble.
With Obama "it's a debate about how much the US should be at the forefront, trying to speak about pushing for democracy," said Brumberg, a Middle East expert.
The debate has agitated the Obama administration. The New York Times reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had hoped Obama would lend more vocal support to the demonstrators.
And Vice President Joe Biden privately believes Obama's remarks on Mousavi were a "mistake," say sources familiar with Biden's position on the matter.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
not surprised in the least by Obama in this regard.. condemn Israel for building settlements, but don’t condemn Iran for murder and oppression, vote fraud, etc.
yep, makes sense.
interesting.
in Iran, 0bama “...has stressed that universal rights of peaceful protest should be honored in Iran...”
but here in U.S.A., people who protest are “low level terrorists”
US presidents have always spoken out against oppression and tyranny and spoke up in favor of liberty and freedom but since Obummer does not believe in the latter but in the former why should it come as a surprise when he does these things.
Oshama won't push for democracy because he doesn't really believe in it.
He believes that Gov't elites should run things, thus will not back the people of Iran.
When even Joe Biden is throwing you under the bus, Zero is in bad straits indeed...
we all know by now that THE ONE speaks out of both sides of his mouth.
Yeah The One loves “debate” and folks protesting as long as they aren’t protesting him or his policies. The WH is fond of reminding people that “they won”. Well yippy skippy we didn’t elect him to permanent dictator and overlord ——though he may think so
It being a Clinton thing, one must assume that this "leak" was very carefully managed for some longer-term purpose.
At the very least, it's a spiteful "I told you so" comment.
But I have to think that Hillary! is also trying to position herself for the possibility that Obama either won't run for re-election in 2012, or he'll be so damaged politically that he will face a serious primary challenge (sorta like Ford vs. Reagan in 1976).
It could shape up to be an interesting few years.
How can he critisize Iran for election abnormalitys when he’s a product of them?
He's right. Public support for freedom is definitely a characteristic of the Bush administration that the current one is avoiding.
Somehow I don't think that's what he meant...
“Their silence on the issue of human rights violations is very troubling to me,” said Eric Cantor, the number two Republican in the House of Representatives.
____________
Duh! Hello? As if he gives a sh*t about their rights. He’s too damn busy stripping us of ours. Please don’t bother the dictator wannabe with trivial things in other countries. He’s trying to take over this one. Granted, it’s easier than he thought it would be, but still a big job ahead of him if he wants to remain in power forever.
Comments from Iran:
They have always tried to find an excuse to crack down on people. This time they had no excuse as the United States and the Europe were keeping silent and were not even condemning the vote fraud. But we saw today that they have no other excuse to put pressure on people other than accusing foreigners of meddling in our affairs. I’ve heard on satellite television that some analysts have criticised the west for not reacting enough on what’s happening in Iran, so it’s ridiculous that Khamenei is accusing the US or the UK for meddling in our affairs.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/19/iran-reaction-khamenei-speech-protest
Whoops, and thanks AdmSmith!
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