On the brink of his speech today, Benjamin Netanyahu is in a complicated position. The ongoing events in Iran have altered the landscape. The ruthless insanity of the mullahs is once again exposed for all the world to see. It would seem obvious – and it is – that Israel has to defend itself from a nuclear armed Iran in the hands of these religious psychopaths.
And yet the same few days have demonstrated once again the idealism and courage of a good percentage of Iran’s youth. Perhaps their candidate Mousavi is not worth their loyalty, but his followers themselves are clearly laudable. Who would want to hurt them?
Whatever the Israelis do, I would hope they take these young people into account.
It is also a defining moment for Barack Obama. These same despicable mullahs are the ones that arm the terrorists of Gaza (Hamas) and Lebanon (Hezbollah)and instigate their activities. It is time for Obama to take that much more deeply into account and stop sounding like a Jimmy Carter clone. He should refocus away from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which will only be resolved when Hamas loses power, and onto the issue of Iranian freedom, the much larger issue for the world. It would be inspiring to see the American president, in his words at least, standing by the side of those Iranian students.
UPATES: Dept. of Unfortunate Phone Calls – Karzai congratulates Ahmadinejad.… Dept. of Predictable Phone Calls – Hizbullah congratulates Ahmadinejad. Dept. of Astonishing Phone Calls – Carter endorses settlement block!
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31 Comments
1. Dave:Those students are pro-American. There is not a snowball’s chance in Hell of Obama
giving them the time of day.
He, and his core support, are cowards. They are only nice to hostiles. Friendlies are there to be beshat upon.
Interesting times ahead.
Jun 14, 2009 - 4:07 am 2. David Thomson:“They are only nice to hostiles.”
Only the so-called hostiles are perceived as authentic representatives. In Obama’s way of looking at the universe—the Third World crazies are totally justified in hating white America. Our president is truly a self-hating American. And this should not surprise anyone who was paying attention before the election. The evidence was abundantly clear. Unfortunately, many people preferred to delude themselves.
Jun 14, 2009 - 5:32 am 3. Dale Weeks:Obama is either a knave, or willfully ignorant.
On Friday, he was “excited about the robust debate” in Iran and said “Whoever ends up winning the election in Iran, the fact there has been a robust debate hopefully will advance our ability to engage them in new ways”.
By Saturday, when it was clear that Ahmadinejad had “won”, his administration did a 180 and began decrying “irregularities” in the election. What changed, but the outcome? Didn’t he say something about “whoever ends up winning”?
Anyone who didn’t EXPECT a fraudulent election in Iran has no knowledge of the situation. Did he actually think that his Middle East trip could change the hearts of religious despots by virtue of his smooth talk, Muslim family members and his middle name?
Pollyannaish doesn’t seem to be a strong enough word to describe this!
I pray that the people of Iran have the will and the means to clear out this Mullahocracy on their own. I also hope that they don’t count on Obama for help for they may well be sadly disappointed.
Jun 14, 2009 - 5:36 am 4. Instapundit » Blog Archive » ROGER SIMON: Netanyahu, Obama and the Iranian Coup d’Etat….:[...] ROGER SIMON: Netanyahu, Obama and the Iranian Coup d’Etat. [...]
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:01 am 5. Brownie Matlack:I agree with you, in theory, that those very brave young people should be helped and protected as much as possible. However, what about the bomb that the Iranian gov is working on so feverishly? And that will in all likelihood be aimed and perhaps sent Israel’s way? And, sadly, those young people who are protesting and putting their lives on the line really don’t have much in the way of a real plan to replace the present gov.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:14 am 6. Paul A'Barge:“Obama is either a knave, or willfully ignorant.”
What is wrong with you people. It’s been 6 months and you can’t figure this one out yet?
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:15 am 7. Parabellum:0bama would have to have cast iron cojones to say ONE WORD about election fraud.
coughcoughACORNcoughcough…
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:26 am 8. John Steele:“And, sadly, those young people who are protesting and putting their lives on the line really don’t have much in the way of a real plan to replace the present gov.”
And, I predict, that if they are successful in ousting the mullahs whatever replaces it will be just as intransigent, just as troublesome, just as determined to have the bomb and just as much a state sponsor of terrorism. The fruit does not fall far from the tree.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:27 am 9. wolf t.:Take into consideration Iranian youth? How utterly stupid a request! The government of Israel, as every other government in every other country has a single responsibility; the youth, therebye the future, of its own country. Youths in other countries do not matter except in the abstract.These same Iranian youths would be cannonfodder, conscripted, willingly or not, to fight Israel.Their future does not enter into any equation.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:32 am 10. Increase Mather:CNN…is still not covering the post election riots.
Must have a deal with the Iranian government.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:39 am 11. RandyChandler:Obama’s twisted sense of justice is destined to turn America into a sprawling Third-World country — unless enough people rise up to stop him.
If this is our country, when are we going to take it back from the rotten-to-the-roots government?
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:46 am 12. William:What did you expect when you elected a man with a liberal education and absolutley no experience in anything but local politics? On the other hand, whoeverer is behind the curtain should know better.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:58 am 13. Morton Doodslag:it is an INSANE DELUSIONAL conceit to assert that Mousavi supporters are “pro-American”. But sadly it’s a congenital habit among many in the West. The propaganda that there’s some magical constituency of “moderates” in Iran, (or ANY cluster of Muslims ANYWHERE) has dangerously deflected our attention from the steady progress the filthy Nazi regime in Tehran has made since 1979. today on the brink of nuclear Islamic terror, tired lazy fools keep repeating this narcotic bromides of various Islamic unicorns, including the Iranian “reformist”, the “moderate” Muslim, and the “pro-American” Iranian student.
It’s basically self comforting but ultimately suicidal B.S.
Jun 14, 2009 - 7:09 am 14. Martin:It was Joseph Stalin who said: “It’s not the vote that counts- it’s who counts the votes.”
Obama will interpret the Iranian election results in the way that best suits his own agenda.
Anyone willing to place any bets on what that agenda might be?
Jun 14, 2009 - 7:26 am 15. Terrye:The biggest and scariest problem with Iran getting the bomb, is the mullahs. If there really was a way to replace that regime with someone more responsible and less insane..the idea of them having the bomb would not be a good thing, but it would not be so scary either. Kind of the difference between Pakistan and India having a nuke. If you see what I mean.
Jun 14, 2009 - 8:45 am 16. Daily Pundit » Shut Up, Roger, You Dim Bulb:[...] Roger L. Simon » Netanyahu, Obama and the Iranian Coup d’Etat And yet the same few days have demonstrated once again the idealism and courage of a good percentage of Iran’s youth. Perhaps their candidate Mousavi is not worth their loyalty, but his followers themselves are clearly laudable. Who would want to hurt them? [...]
Jun 14, 2009 - 9:06 am 17. SukieTawdry:After the fall of Saddam when cries for increased individual liberty rumbled from within Iran, I spent some time on Iranian blogs trying to gage just how deeply felt those sentiments were. I concluded that yes, young Iranians did want a more secular government, better relations with the West (and, in particular, the US) and certainly more individual liberty. But those same young Iranians did not seem especially disposed towards the hard work that necessarily predicates such change. They did not favor revolution or any other kind of action that would result in bloodshed (in particular their bloodshed). They certainly did not favor an Iraq-style invasion of their country even one with a narrow goal of deposing the current government (which was fine with me because neither did I). In fact, they didn’t seem to want to actually do much of anything. It was as though they expected change by osmosis or, perhaps, by sufficient wishing, hoping and dreaming with a smattering of idle talk. I judged them profoundly unserious about their lofty aspirations.
But since that time, new young Iranians have come of age. Perhaps they are more serious. Perhaps they have a greater understanding of what’s involved in omelet making. Perhaps we’ll see; perhaps we won’t.
Oh, even those young Iranians who claimed a desire to embrace western ideals of individual liberty regarded Iran the proper purveyor of power in the ME and Persians its rightful leaders. And none of them saw any reason why Iran should not have nuclear weapon capabilities.
Jun 14, 2009 - 10:03 am 18. Morton Doodslag:SukieTawdry : Iranians are an arrogant bunch. Their fierce pride in the supremacy of Iran, despite its heinous slide into Islamic barbarity, is nigh infinite, and you’ll rarely hear any of them, even the so-called secularists among them, point the finger squarely at Islamic doctrine as the origin of their downfall. Instead they adhere to a peculiar reality-defying narrative which is pure magical thinking. Also, it seems that the bigoted supremacist tenets of Islam dovetail nicely with their predisposed cultural sense of superiority to render them useless in the fight against fascism. They have never mounted a serious challenge to the black cancer that has gripped them – and we are fools to dreamily pretend or assert that three are in any way prepared to jettison the Islamic ideological shackles that have reduced them to seething Jew-hating America loathing fascists..
Jun 14, 2009 - 10:17 am 19. Sibyl:CNN and other female reporters are covering their heads — literally! Oriana would weep (actually, maybe she would slap them). She stood up (well, she was sitting on the ground with him for the interview) to the Ayatollah himself, throwing off the scarf they tried to place upon her head, prompting even him to remark, “Why should she follow our ways?” Meanwhile, how will MSNBC live down immediately calling the election for Mousavi and attributing it to the affected “Obama Effect.” Time for the Bibi Effect?
Jun 14, 2009 - 10:27 am 20. M. Report:Is it too late to restore the Shah’s son to the throne ?
The US, after 50 years of politically expedient choices
resulting in the current pre-Apocalyptic situation, asks
Israel to avoid collateral damage when it takes military
action to ensure its national survival.
If the US is concerned for the Westernized youth of Iran,
Jun 14, 2009 - 11:01 am 21. disturber:let it spend the blood and treasure to remove Iran’s
nuclear capabilities, decapitate the current regime,
and then leave the reconstruction to the W.Y.
This fraudulent election is a major foreign policy defeat for the administration. As pointed out in the Ledeen article, Obama said absolutely nothing in his Cairo speech in support of democracy in Iran. When it appeared that the reformers would win, Obama came out and took credit in the form of that very speech for what they expected to be a dramatic change. When “change” did not materialize, Obama made a mildly critical statement. What he failed to recognize is that his administration’s perspective of the politics of Iran is simply wrong and naïve. In the meanwhile, if the various blogs are correct, Chavez is sending his thugs to Iran to support the corrupt regime and many of the riot police are Arabs recruited from outside of Iran. It is hard for me to believe that the Iranian police are enthusiastic about beating up their own children. This is the time for Obama to step out and condemn the regime, but he and his advisors are completely befuddled. He cannot recognize that there is real evil in the world and he certainly doesn’t believe that the US should criticize such evil. Democracy is among his core values. I suspect this is the first of many foreign policy blunders that we will experience. The world is certainly not a safer place because of our president.
Jun 14, 2009 - 11:27 am 22. SukieTawdry:Meanwhile, how will MSNBC live down immediately calling the election for Mousavi and attributing it to the affected “Obama Effect.”
I read the typical Mousavi supporter is not the young idealist now demonstrating in the streets, but the more affluent, modern suburbanite who thinks he and, in particular, his wife project a good image for Iran. Maybe it is the “Obama Effect” after all.
Yes, Morton, arrogance. Very applicable.
Jun 14, 2009 - 12:11 pm 23. Akatsukami:“And yet the same few days have demonstrated once again the idealism and courage of a good percentage of Iran’s youth. Perhaps their candidate Mousavi is not worth their loyalty, but his followers themselves are clearly laudable. Who would want to hurt them?
Whatever the Israelis do, I would hope they take these young people into account.”
So does every cowardly thug hiding behind “human shields” hope we will reason.
Jun 14, 2009 - 1:51 pm 24. disturber:I made a mistake in my post No. 21. I meant to say that “Democracy is not one of Obama’s core values>”
Jun 14, 2009 - 1:51 pm 25. Terrye:Europe went right, maybe that was the Obama effect too, in reverse.
Jun 14, 2009 - 3:17 pm 26. Craig:Though I agree with Carter this time [first time since he deregulated the airlines], he is nothing but an inconsistent fool. Where was all this sympathy for Israel while George Bush was president? It’s too obvious that he wishes now to throw his weight around when it might be helpful to President Obama. I doubt the latter will have the wisdom to aprreciate it.
Jun 14, 2009 - 5:28 pm 27. Dero:Western interjection into Iranian politics provides fodder for Iranian propaganda. You want to know how Iran keeps milking the american backed 50’s coup after all these years? Because americans are too self absorbed to know when to sit down and shut the hell up. Our options are refusal to recognize a winner and condemnation of media suppression and police brutality. THATS IT. Anymore interjection just makes it easier to paint the opposition as the foreign backed candidate. These demonstrations have to lead to widespread support. It has to be more than just students that rise up to get a real revolution. That can be cut off at the knees by giving Ahmadinejad ammo for his propaganda.
Strongly worded letters to make Roger Simon feel better and inspire him are simply not in the equation. This is about the iranian people. Not Obama. Not Roger Simon. Not America.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:36 pm 28. Dero:“Europe went right, maybe that was the Obama effect too, in reverse.”
The right in europe is protectionist and supportive of labor issues. Be careful who your bedfellows are.
Jun 14, 2009 - 6:39 pm 29. glc:The “election” was a sham.
Even I know it, and I’m just a humble California attorney. (Self-employed mind you–just paid more estimated taxes today because it’s June 15)
Unfortunately, our administration is deaf, dumb, and blind to millions of Iranians protesting for democracy and freedom in light of their “election” having been stolen from them.
It is refreshing to see so many wonderful Iranian students in the streets protesting in the recognition that their “election” was stolen from them. They’re waking up, aren’t they?
Obama is an idiot to think that we Americans believe that his speech in Cairo prompted a “healthy debate” among Iranians. He’s also an idiot to think that any election in Iran is not rigged.
At least President Bush fought for freedom and democracy. Obama is against freedoms and democracy. He’s already stealing them from sleeping citizens here in America.
America had better wake up.
I believe that in light of events, Israel will be forced to defend itself from Iran with military force against Iran. Obama will stand by with his head up his ass.
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:35 pm 30. Derek:I’m sorry, perhaps I live in an alternate reality but Ahmadenijad got elected under Bush in the FIRST DAMN PLACE. Fought for freedom and democracy? He took out Iran’s two biggest rivals and played right into Ahmadi’s hands. Putin bitched Bush the same way. Kim jong-il has bitched both Bush and Obama so I’ll call that one a wash.
Neocons… ignoring the past and having no plan for the future since 2001. But thanks for the nuclear NK and Hamas getting elected in Gaza. Also thanks for not finishing your wars in Iraq or Afghanistan.
What you people calling for some grandstanding on iran need to “know” is that you don’t “know” anything.
Jun 15, 2009 - 9:06 pm 31. Aussie:If you think it is just students involved in the uprising then you have not been following the story. There are not 3 million students in Iran.
Jun 16, 2009 - 1:47 pm