President Obama’s tepid response to the evidence the Iranian election was stolen from the people of that country by current president President Mahmoud The United States has no military role to play with regard to Iran. In fact, too many threats in the past have made it hard for the United States to speak effectively–and have raised fears that a strong statement from Washington would simply give Ahmadinejad an foreign “enemy” to rally against. But Obama must recognize that he is not George Bush. He has credibility that his predecessor lost, and the world wants to hear him speaking as the leader of a great country that stands on the side of democracy. The United States does not need to make threats to explicitly and unequivocally champion democracy and the right of peoples in countries around the world to advance the cause of their own freedom. Such championship requires truth-telling and blunt language. Unfortunately, Obama is avoiding hard truths and speaking far too softly.
